Современные информационные технологии/1.Компьютерная инженерия.
Student Pitsyk T. A.
Assistant Oleshitskaya O.V.
Krivoy Rog Technical University, Ukraine
Use
of information technologies (IT) in tourism
At present one of the most and a vitally important problem for managers
of any level is use of information technologies in decision development management.
Modern level of business progress presents principal new requirements to
information services, including provision of sent information rate, its urgency,
validity and timeliness of its granting to final user. In sharp competitive
fight those organizations survive and achieve success, in which managers have
skills to take efficient decisions, using more possibilities, which modern
information technologies grant.
Demand for information and information services provide development,
spreading and more efficient use of IT. Radically changed take place in control
technologies under influence of new information technologies. For instance,
processes of motivation and decision making, their execution are automated,
qualification and professionalism of specialists, involved into management
activity, increase. Penetration of IT into all spheres has not left aside
tourism, as economic field, spheres of activity and employment.
Modern technologies of information processes organization are connected,
first of all, with use of computer technologies we understand the process,
using set of methods and realization facilities of collecting, registration,
transmission, accumulation and information processing by means of computer and
computer networks for solving management tasks of economic object. Notion
“information technologies” refers to the whole transformation of information,
including paper information processing on the basis of computer use.
Tourism is global computerized business nowadays. It joins the largest
air companies, hotel chains and tourist corporations of the whole world. Modern
tourist product becomes more flexible and individual, more attractive and
available for user.
Personal computer and the Internet, their accessibility and reliability
promote penetration of new information technologies into all spheres of modern
society. These technologies are possibly the first in mankind history,
providing productivity growth in sphere of services.
Tourism and information are indivisible:
·
trip decision is taken on basis
of information;
·
tour itself at the moment of
buying is only information too;
·
all participants of tourist
market exchange information hundred times a day.
This means, you should know how to work with information, collect it,
process and take on its basis the only sound decision. Local Tourist Systems
help us solving these tasks. Therefore development of IT in tourism must be one
of priority tasks for our country.
In spite of the fact that many travel agencies are still skeptical to
the Internet, pluses of using this computer network become more and more
obvious. Ukrainian travel agencies, connected to the Internet, have already
estimated its information possibilities. The Internet offers large number of information
necessary for tourist agency work (from hotels addresses and flights schedules
to visa and customs rules and special offers of Russian and foreign tour
operators). Volume of information impresses as well (from price-lists to the
whole catalogues).
So, according to opinion of the director of London travel agency “Comet
Travel”, information e-mailing to 2000 agencies addresses saves now about
$5000. Moreover, information in the Internet is available to users (agencies or
clients) 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Cheap phone calls and e-mail is
another important advantage of the Internet. According to many experts, exactly
this factor will become determinant for clients and other travel agencies attraction
to the Internet in the nearest future. It is not a secret that even average travel
agencies spend monthly several thousands of dollars on long-distance and
international calls. Available Internet programs, for example Cool Talk, allow talking
to any place of the world under the price of only several cents a minute that is
5-10 times cheaper than traditional calls. Also many agencies working in the Internet
prefer fax mailing to traditional paper mailing because it is cheaper, quicker
and more convenient.
Tourism in Ukraine is one of the most perspective and quickly developing
industries. Constraint for its qualitative growth is low information literacy
and weak communications. However, there are ready decisions on business
processes automation and Internet connection for successful use in Ukrainian
tourism.
Management, personnel and automation are factors which will give to the
company a chance to overcome competitiveness and make progress. Using
advantages of computer technologies, modern tourist company works successfully
today, laying foundation for future prosperity.
Information technologies system, used in tourism, consists of looking
computer system, system of conferences conducting, management information
systems, electronic information systems of airlines, electronic money
transferring, telephone networks, etc. Consequently, we deal with integrated
system of information technologies, which is being spread in tourism. It is
possible to mark out the following stages of automation:
·
office organizational
technologies (telephone, fax, xerox);
·
computer with standard software
(for instance, Microsoft Office);
·
specialized software named
BackOffice, its connection with global reservation systems;
·
own Internet-shops.
One of the leading systems of reservation is system Galileo. It was the
first system provided agencies with Windows – version of reservation system.
Program Premier allows agencies full work automation on client servicing. For
example, control database, create own screen forms and menu, save the most
frequently repeated requests, etc.
Tours became recently the most popular tourist service, which can be
booked on-line. Some tourist firms permit their clients to form tour according
to clients’ desires on-line: to choose time, hotel, and kind of trip, board and
extra services. Practically use of IT in tourist business is being effectively
improved and accelerated. There is classical scheme of tourist circulation
(systems of economic and legal relations, which appear between tourist and
tourist industry and show direction of tourist flows, tourist product,
investments into tourism development and inpayments to the budget from tourist
activity incomes).
Scheme of tourist circulation
According to the scheme of tourist circulation, tourist services include
several steps from their direct producers to consumer. They are: tourist
services producer → tourist operator → tourist agent → tourist.
When releasing tourist services on-line, you don’t need any middlemen, because
one tourist operator has corresponding contracts with tourist services
producers. By means of the Internet tourist operator has possibility to give
full information about its tourist products to the consumer and sell him
services without any middlemen. In this case tourist operator is simultaneously
tourist agent and chain of tourist services realization looks like: tourist
services producers → tourist operator (he is tourist agent at the same
time) → tourist. This allows decreasing expenses on tourist agents’
services.
Thus, use of modern IT can make tourist business more dynamic; increase
tourist amount arriving in Ukraine, raise incomes of Ukrainian economy from
entry tourism.
Literature:
1.
Гуляев
В.Г. «Новые информационные технологии в туризме.» – М.:"Издательство
ПРИОР", 1999.
2.
Папирян
Г. А. «Международные экономические отношения: маркетинг в туризме.» – М.:
Финансы и статистика, 2001.
3. Плотникова Н.И.
«Комплексная автоматизация туристского бизнеса. Информационные технологии в турфирме.» – М.: Советский спорт, 2000.
4. Под ред. проф. Титоренко Г.А. «Информационные
технологии управления» – 2-е изд., доп. – М.: ЮНИТИ-ДАНА, 2003.