With the rapid development and wide application of computer technology and network communication, modern society has entered the information age, and the influence of informatization is everywhere. As far as tourism is concerned, hotels, travel agencies and tourism authorities have begun to pay attention to the use of computer networks for tourism booking and marketing. It is a new task for the tourism industry to actively build a tourism information network and use it for tourism reservation and marketing.
First, the development trend of tourism network marketing
With the development of computer network, tourism enterprises begin to make travel reservation and marketing on computer network. The computer reservation system of airlines, the central reservation system of hotel groups, the global distribution system organized by GDS and the tourist destination information system of a country or region have become important tools for online reservation and marketing of tourism.
The computer reservation system of airlines is first used for travel reservation and sales. From 65438 to 0959, American Airlines and IBM jointly developed the world's first computer booking system (SABRE). SABRE eventually evolved into a complex computer reservation system (CRS). 1978, the United States passed the air traffic control cancellation act, and airlines cooperated with travel agencies to extend the airline's computer booking system to travel agencies. The business scope of computer reservation system is gradually expanding, including booking air tickets, booking rooms and renting cars. The computer booking network of China Airlines is now very developed. For example, the computer reservation service of China Southern Airlines has been networked nationwide.
The central reservation system of large hotel groups has a history of more than 30 years. The earliest central reservation system was Holidex-I, which was established by Holiday Inn Group on July 1965. At present, Holiday Telecom Network has been upgraded to Holidex-II and has its own dedicated satellite. Through Holidex-II, guests can book rooms of different grades in more than 200 hotels and resorts around the world of Holiday Inn Group, and get confirmation in a few seconds. Holidex-II can handle the booking service of 70,000 rooms every day. Sheraton Group's reservation center reservation system was opened on 1970, 1976 completed its reservation on 100000, and 1983 set up the first computer reservation center office in the Middle East. At present, Sheraton's CRS offices have spread all over the world. In addition, the Hilton computer reservation system of Hilton Group in the United States handles 6.5438+0.5 million guests' reservation services every month, and the Forte-II central reservation system of Ford Hotel Group in the United Kingdom can conveniently handle the reservation services of 937 hotels with different grades in more than 60 countries around the world, such as PROLOGIN of Accor, ROOMFINER of Ramada, and Stolin Hotel & etc. Resorts, world hotels and globe. Resort is also a powerful tool for hotel groups to control the tourism market. Shangri-La Hotel Group introduced Merlin as its central reservation system, while Chinese mainland Hotel Group still lacks its own central reservation system. Because the establishment of central reservation system needs a lot of money and professional management, hotel groups in Chinese mainland have established their own dedicated central reservation system.
Global Distribution System (GDS) is a new type of tourism marketing network that has developed rapidly since 1990s. GDS is a sales system jointly established by international airlines, connecting hotels, resorts, car rental companies, railway companies, travel companies and other tourism-related industries, and providing comprehensive booking and marketing services such as air ticket booking and reservation. Through SITA's special communication network, the "sellers" (that is, airlines, restaurants, car rental companies and other product and service providers) and "agents" (that is, travel agencies around the world) who have joined GDS are connected into a professional tourism network system, and the sales are made to "end users" (travelers around the world) through the "agents". At present, the well-known GDS are Galileo/Apollo, Amadus/System One, Sabre, Worldspan, Axess, Sahara, etc. All hotel groups or independent hotels that join the global distribution system can use GDS to make reservations. By the end of 1994, the number of hotels using GDS had reached 10 103, with 2.56 million rooms. It can be said that GDS has become popular all over the world. With the rise of GDS, small and medium-sized independent hotels can also make online reservations and sales through GDS. Since then, small and medium-sized independent hotels and large hotel groups have stood on the same starting line. GDS fever has also spread to travel agencies. At present, almost all travel agencies in the United States are using GDS. In France, 85% of travel agencies have GDS, and in Europe, about 40% of travel agencies have GDS. In China, hotels joining GDS are basically three-star or above. As of March, 1998, 33 hotel groups or hotel organizations in GDS have their own member hotels in Chinese mainland. * * * 65,438+068 hotels in Chinese mainland made GDS reservations through these 33 hotel groups or hotel organizations. After deducting the factor of repeated internet access, there are 157 hotels, accounting for 17% of the total number of hotels with more than three stars. At present, there are two major hotel organizations that provide GDS booking and marketing services for non-international hotel chains in Chinese mainland, namely Utell International and China Tianma System.
In recent years, the construction of tourism destination information system has also attracted extensive attention in the tourism industry. The main function of tourist destination information system is to provide tourists with comprehensive tourist destination information, such as tourist facilities, tourist items, prices, etc. At the same time, you can also carry out travel booking services. Tourism destination information system is an important tool for tourism promotion. The information it provides is helpful for tourists to plan and organize tourism routes, and is also conducive to the conclusion of tourism market transactions. Tourism destination information system has three organizational structures. The first is a country-centered organizational structure, which generally centers on the National Tourism Administration and sets up network nodes in tourist information offices, local tourism bureaus, hotels and companies, scenic spots and overseas offices all over the country. The information system stores the information of tourist facilities all over the country, such as the Danish database information system. The second is the regional-centered organizational structure, which is mainly an information system covering local tourism institutions established in developed tourism areas. This kind of information system only stores the information of tourist facilities in this area, such as the Austrian Tyrol Information System and the Swiss Penzel Information System. The third is the regional network structure, which is formed by networking several regional information systems. The Netherlands took the lead in establishing a regional networking system, while Britain and the Netherlands are working hard to achieve system networking between countries. In China, the National Tourism Administration recently launched the China Tourism Network, which is a country-centered information system.
Internet\Intranet\Extranet technology has a profound impact on the development of tourism information network. The Internet swept the world in the 1990s, affecting people's entertainment, leisure and business activities. Tourism is also deeply influenced by the Internet, and all kinds of tourism information networks adopt Internet\Intranet technology to connect with the Internet. For example, China National Tourism Administration China Tourism Network will set up an intranet in the tourism departments of various provinces and cities. Tourism enterprises such as hotels and travel agencies are also keen on networking with the Internet. As of1996,65438+February, 20 of the top 25 hotel management groups in the world have access to the Internet, and all of them can make online reservations. For example, Hilton Group earned $654.38 million through online booking within three months. The best? Western international companies have recovered all their investment in the Internet within one quarter, and the website of Outrigger Hotel has 654.38 million+visitors every week. The most potential customers of the Internet are young and skilled managers, mainly high-paying white-collar workers aged 30-40, who are keen on modern facilities such as the Internet. However, at present, there are not many websites and information on the Internet in the tourism industry. Although there are many websites related to hotels on the Internet at present, many hotels only briefly introduce hotel information, lacking detailed information such as meeting facilities and entertainment facilities. In China, China Merchants International Travel Company, Beijing Kunlun Hotel, Jinglun Hotel, China World Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Yuyang Hotel, Chengdu Minshan Hotel, Shenzhen Sunshine Hotel, Guangzhou International Hotel and other hotels, as well as Zhejiang Tourism Bureau and Huangshan Scenic Area, have all joined the Internet.
Second, China tourism network marketing development strategy
The construction of tourism information network in China has just started. Developing China tourism information network and actively carrying out online booking and marketing have become the top priority of tourism development in China. This paper holds that the development strategy of China tourism network marketing is as follows:
(A) improve the tourism information infrastructure.
Tourism information network is the basis of online booking and sales. China's tourism information infrastructure is backward and the degree of information processing automation is low. Except for air ticket sales and hotel industry, computers are widely used to process information, and the degree of computerization in other fields is low. Therefore, China's tourism industry still relies on traditional information dissemination and processing methods such as tour guides, travel brochures, telephone calls, letters, faxes and travel consultation to a great extent, while new electronic information dissemination and processing methods such as video transmission system, CD-ROM and personal computer connected with the tourism electronic market are not developed enough. Vigorously developing tourism online sales requires improving the computerization of information processing and speeding up the construction of tourism information infrastructure. Further improve the computerized management of air ticket sales and hotel management, and realize the computerization of tourism information processing in travel agencies, scenic spots, parks, museums and tourism bureaus as soon as possible. Another important aspect of tourism information infrastructure is networking. With the continuous development and complexity of tourism, tourism information is increasingly rich and complex. In order to meet the needs of extensive dissemination and rapid acquisition of tourism information, information processing must be networked. It is necessary to establish various horizontal and vertical links within the tourism industry and form a complex network to promote the dissemination and acquisition of tourism information. Through the construction of information infrastructure, the interconnection among hotels, scenic spots, travel agencies and tourism bureaus will be realized, and a reasonable network system will be established.
(B) to strengthen the development of tourism information
Tourism information is the main content and foundation of tourism online sales. Therefore, one of the keys to tourism online sales is to strengthen the development of tourism information and provide comprehensive, detailed, accurate and timely tourism information. Tourism information should be comprehensive and detailed first. The richer the tourist information, the better the tourists know about the tourist destination, and then find the tourist facilities and projects they are interested in. Due to the diversification of tourism behavior, suppliers are objectively required to provide all-round and detailed tourism information to meet the needs of various tourism groups for different tourism information, and then take corresponding tourism behaviors. Tourism enterprises and tourism authorities should try their best to meet the needs of tourists for all kinds of tourism information. The competent tourism authorities shall provide all-round tourism information within their jurisdiction, including accommodation, scenic spots, parks, museums, art galleries, tourism projects, laws and regulations on entry and exit management, health inspection, public transportation, weather conditions, etc. While providing all-round information, try to be as detailed as possible, such as providing detailed information such as mode, price, timetable and destination. Tourism enterprises pay attention to providing detailed information, such as room facilities, prices and other detailed information. Secondly, tourism information should be accurate and timely, which is a requirement for the quality of tourism information. Tourist information such as tourist facilities, tourist projects, tourist traffic schedules, weather conditions, entry and exit management, etc. We must help tourists to determine the corresponding travel plan or complete the scheduled travel activities accurately. On the contrary, inaccurate travel information may affect the completion of scheduled travel plans, such as failing to reach the destination on time. The timeliness of tourism information is also the status quo of information. Tourism information, such as house price, ticket price, tourism items, etc., is time-sensitive and easy to become outdated information, so it must be updated in time to ensure its status quo.
(3) Formulating policies and regulations on network marketing.
Formulating corresponding policies and regulations is the legal guarantee for the prosperity of tourism online sales. Tourism online sales, as a new thing, need the protection and support of policies and regulations, and provide legal and policy guarantees in the construction, development and e-commerce of tourism information networks. In order to promote the construction of tourism information network and the development of tourism informatization, it is necessary to make an overall and long-term master plan for the development of tourism informatization and determine its legal status. At the same time, the policy will be tilted to attract a large number of funds, technology and talents to invest in the development and construction of tourism informatization. Thirdly, formulate laws and regulations to regulate tourism e-commerce activities in order to promote the healthy development of tourism network marketing. Finally, gradually improve network security control, strengthen the prevention of network hackers, and formulate laws and regulations to combat computer hackers.
Multi-channel online booking and sales.
China tourism should actively use CRS, GDS, destination information system and Internet to develop tourism marketing. 1. At present, the computer booking network of airlines is very developed, so we should pay attention to technological innovation, such as implementing "ticket-free travel" to promote sales. 2. Large hotel groups can establish their own central reservation system. Independent hotels can join the open reservation network operated by professional companies and accept online reservations as members of the network. 3. Domestic non-international hotel chains can join GDS through hotel organizations such as Utel International and China Tianma System, and carry out international market booking and marketing services. 4. Do a good job in the construction of tourist destination information system. China is rich in tourism resources and has many prosperous areas, so it is suitable to establish a regional networking system or a country-centered tourism destination information system. Based on the China Tourism Network of the National Tourism Administration, we can consider gradually networking with local tourism authorities and intersecting with the information networks of relevant departments to provide all-round and multi-level tourism information services. Tourism booking and sales on the Internet have great potential, and people in the industry are generally optimistic. China tourism enterprises should actively use the Internet to carry out tourism marketing and expand their customers. Networking with the Internet is low in cost and easy to realize technically. Hotels, scenic spots and travel agencies should actively surf the Internet.