Small Tourism Businesses and E-Commerce: Victorian Tourism Online

The success of many destination marketing initiatives is dependent upon the effective engagement of a significant proportion of small tourism businesses. This represents a significant challenge for public sector agencies charged with the development and implementation of such initiatives, many of which have deliberately integrated e-commerce components in response to the re-engineering of tourism market places and supply chains. Drawing on associated literature and empirical research presented in the form of a case study, this paper makes a contribution towards understanding and knowledge pertaining to small tourism businesses, their engagement in e-commerce practices and consequential interaction with destination marketing organisations.

[1]  Edward Toomer,et al.  Qualitative Methods in Management Research , 1989 .

[2]  Grant Mccracken.  The long interview , 1988 .

[3]  A. Strauss,et al.  Basics of Qualitative Research , 1992 .

[4]  Robert Goffee,et al.  Understanding family businesses: issues for further research , 1996 .

[5]  Hillary C. Main,et al.  The Expansion of Technology in Small and Medium Hospitality Enterprises With a Focus on Net Technology , 2001, J. Inf. Technol. Tour..

[6]  Pauric McGowan,et al.  Small business and enterprise development: questions about research methodology , 1999 .

[7]  R. W. Wright,et al.  A model of e-commerce use by internationalizing SMEs , 2001 .

[8]  Dimitrios Buhalis,et al.  Information technology in peripheral small and medium hospitality enterprises: strategic analysis and critical factors , 1998 .

[9]  Susan M. Ogden.  Comment: benchmarking and best practice in the small hotel sector , 1998 .

[10]  Paul Weeks,et al.  Sites for Sore Eyes: An Analysis of Australian Tourism and Hospitality Web Sites , 1999, J. Inf. Technol. Tour..

[11]  T. Lituchy,et al.  Bed and Breakfasts, Small Inns, and the Internet: The Impact of Technology on the Globalization of Small Businesses , 2000 .

[12]  Maria Lexhagen,et al.  Swedish and Norwegian Tourism Websites: The Importance of Reservation Services and Value-added Services , 2001 .

[13]  J. Goyder,et al.  The Silent Minority: Nonrespondents on Sample Surveys , 1991 .

[14]  Profiling the Strategic Marketing Activities of Small Tourism Businesses , 1998 .

[15]  Matthew Gorton.  Overcoming the structure – agency divide in small business research , 2000 .

[16]  J. Clarke,et al.  Marketing in travel and tourism , 1988 .

[17]  Darren Lee-Ross,et al.  Research methods in service industry management , 1989 .

[18]  H L Michael,et al.  MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH. INTRODUCTION , 1973 .

[19]  David J. Silverman,et al.  Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook , 1999 .

[20]  Elisabeth Davenport,et al.  SMEs in European Tourism: The ‘Virtual Enterprise’ Model of Intervention , 2000 .

[21]  A. Gibb.  Small Firms' Training and Competitiveness. Building Upon the Small business as a Learning Organisation , 1997 .

[22]  A. Morrison.  Small Firm Statistics: A Hotel Sector Focus , 1998 .

[23]  Caroline Stenbacka.  Qualitative research requires quality concepts of its own , 2001 .

[24]  Len Tiu Wright,et al.  Exploring the in-depth interview as a qualitative research technique with American and Japanese firms , 1996 .

[25]  Raimar Richers.  The theory of economic development , 1961 .

[26]  P. Forer,et al.  Small business development and tourism: Terra incognita? , 1999 .

[27]  Dimitrios Buhalis,et al.  Tourism in an era of information technology. , 2001 .

[28]  Alison Morrison,et al.  Small hospitality businesses: enduring or endangered? , 2002 .

[29]  G. Richards,et al.  ICT Development and Small Tourism Enterprises in Europe , 2000 .