Tour Operators in Scandinavia and Finland on the Net: A European Perspective

CARL H. MARCUSSEN
Research Centre of Bornholm

ABSTRACT
Package tours, which are an important type of holiday in Scandinavia and Finland, known as the Nordic region, have also been among the top sellers on the Internet. In the Nordic region package tours are typically sold directly from the tour operators to the holidaymakers, which is also the case for online sales. Foreign groups now own 90% of the industry. A model of website functionality for tour operators is proposed. The Scandinavian and Finnish package tour market(s) in general is reviewed. The functionality of the websites of the main tour operators on the Scandinavian and Finnish market(s) is described and a brief overview of the functionality of the websites of the main tour operators in the rest of Europe is given. Finally, a European perspective is taken, where the development in online sales of package tours is compared with other types of travel services. Some of the major players in the online package tours market are highlighted.

Keywords: Internet, package tours, tour operators, online, Web, Scandinavia, Europe.


ICT Development and Small Tourism Enterprises in Europe

GRAEME EVANS* - JANET BOHRER** - GREG RICHARDS***
*Centre for Leisure and Tourism Studies, University of North London
**Centre for Leisure and Tourism Studies, University of North London
***Department of Leisure Studies, Tilburg University

ABSTRACT
Small tourism enterprises make-up a large element of the European tourism economy, notably in hospitality as well as in independent cultural and visitor attractions, travel agencies and tour guides. However, the opportunities and impacts arising from the development of Information Communications Technology (ICT) raise particular problems for the small firm which risks being bypassed in e-commerce and further disadvantaged in marketing and the customer inter-face. This paper discusses the findings of a comparative survey of ICT usage by over 800 SMTEs in three contrasting destination regions ? London UK, the Aragon province in Spain and The Netherlands. Within the largely fragmented SMTE supply sectors and regions themselves, the approach to and adoption of ICT has been uneven, whilst the micro-enterprise also differs in its attitude towards ICT in contrast to the medium-sized firm, in some respects refuting the claim that SMEs are simply "lost in the electronic marketplace".

Keywords: ICT, e-commerce, Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprise (SMTE).

SMEs in European Tourism: The "Virtual Enterprise" Model of Intervention

ANDREW J. FREW* - ELISABETH DAVENPORT**
Hospitality and Tourism Management, Queen Margaret University College
Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus

ABSTRACT
The challenges faced by SMEs in the European tourism industry are broadly discussed, and a number of EC funded initiatives, which seek to address the problems of establishing local presence in a globalising industry, are described. With a current EC project (Net_Quality) as a focus, 'virtual enterprise' as an intervention model is discussed in the context of encouraging small businesses to cooperate in dimensions of destination management. The paper concludes with a critique of this approach, which draws on analyses of small firm networks and their role in regional economic growth

Keywords: SMEs, Tourism, Enterprise, Education, ICT.

Eco-tourism to Protect the Reserve Mangrove Forest the Sundarbans and its Flora and Fauna

M. ABDUS SALAM* - G. ROSS LINDSAY** - MALCOLM C. M. BEVERIDGE***
Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling.
Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling.
Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling.

ABSTRACT
Nature based tourism is increasing throughout the world. Most is based in national parks and restricted areas. UNESCO has declared 28% of the world"s largest continuous mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, as a world heritage site in 1987. But having the world"s densest population, it is difficult to protect the flora and fauna unless there are economic benefits to the country as well as to the local people. This paper suggests that nature-oriented tourism can be one means to help achieve sustainability in the reserve forest as well as protecting the important world heritage site. Well-planned tourism could provide economic and political incentives for proper management and for conservation and could bring additional benefit to local communities and regional economies. The paper focuses on how to minimise the impact of tourist intervention in the reserve forest using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a tool, Information Technology (IT), and Landsat TM remote sensing imagery as primary data sources.

Keywords: Bangladesh, mangrove, eco-tourism, sustainable, planning, GIS.