文獻(xiàn)翻譯：電子商務(wù)與旅游業(yè)

1、信息學(xué)院畢業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)(論文)外文資料翻譯系 別 電子商務(wù)系 專 業(yè) 電子商務(wù) 姓 名 學(xué) 號(hào) (用外文寫)外文出處 E-Business: The E-Business Legal Survival Kit（Writer: J.T. Westermeier and Lee J. Plave） 附 件：1.外文資料翻譯譯文；2.外文原文指導(dǎo)教師評(píng)語(yǔ)： 簽名： 年 月 日附件1：外文資料翻譯譯文電子商務(wù)與旅游業(yè)摘要電子商務(wù)的鼎盛時(shí)期已經(jīng)過去還是僅僅只是在休整？商業(yè)和股市期望沒有得到滿足。但是，拋去其強(qiáng)硬的經(jīng)濟(jì)問題和數(shù)量稀少旅客，電子商務(wù)在諸如旅游和旅游業(yè)的網(wǎng)上交易的一些部門依然不斷增加。這個(gè)行業(yè)是在B

2、2C（企業(yè)對(duì)消費(fèi)者）領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)型應(yīng)用。而在其他行業(yè)有較強(qiáng)的堅(jiān)持傳統(tǒng)工藝，旅游業(yè)正經(jīng)歷一個(gè)電子商務(wù)的接受過程，該行業(yè)的結(jié)構(gòu)正在發(fā)生變化。網(wǎng)絡(luò)不僅用于收集信息；通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)訂購(gòu)服務(wù)正在被接受。一個(gè)新型的用戶正在出現(xiàn)，接受成為他自己的旅行社，并建立自己的旅游套票。在2002年美國(guó)在線旅游市場(chǎng)增長(zhǎng)了45至27億元。占市場(chǎng)總值的14.4，歐洲在線旅游增加了67，占市場(chǎng)總額的3.6（根據(jù)區(qū)域與旅游研究，www.crt.dk丹麥中心）。同年美國(guó)32的旅客已使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)預(yù)訂旅游安排（見 ，其他的市場(chǎng)研究機(jī)構(gòu)發(fā)布其他，高和低，編號(hào)。這些統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)問題，他們是基于不同，要么寬或窄、定義：要么區(qū)分：電子商務(wù)和電子商務(wù)(看

3、到后者作為部分的第一)或不是 ，并且使用不同的變量和測(cè)量方法。但是，即使證明不同的定義，給出了所有的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字旅游域點(diǎn)向上。然而，在所有這些定義虧缺了一個(gè)重要方面我們可以看出在旅游案例：他們是所有交易和商業(yè)導(dǎo)向和忽略了這個(gè)事實(shí)，即網(wǎng)絡(luò)也是一個(gè)中等的好奇心、創(chuàng)建社區(qū)或剛一件有趣的事，所有這一切都可能發(fā)生，也可能不會(huì)獲得業(yè)務(wù)。特別是旅游產(chǎn)品與情感體驗(yàn)，有趣但并不僅僅是業(yè)務(wù)。一、關(guān)于這個(gè)行業(yè)旅游及旅游業(yè)作為一個(gè)全球或者說全球化的行業(yè)體現(xiàn)了非常具體的特點(diǎn)：1. 旅行和觀光的代表了大約11%世界范圍內(nèi)(GDP)旅游衛(wèi)星賬戶后舉行的世界旅游的方法和旅游委員會(huì))；2. 將有十億國(guó)外游客在2010年世界旅游組織

4、，平均而言，旅游增長(zhǎng)速度超過其他的經(jīng)濟(jì)部門；3. 作為一個(gè)傘業(yè)它涉及到許多部門，如文化或體育運(yùn)動(dòng)，超過30種不同的工業(yè)部件，服務(wù)已確認(rèn)的旅行者；4. 解釋了整個(gè)行業(yè)的非均質(zhì)性，因?yàn)樗闹行∑髽I(yè)結(jié)構(gòu)(尤其是拍照的時(shí)候目的地的觀點(diǎn))，它有一個(gè)巨大的重要性了區(qū)域發(fā)展。例如,在歐盟的飯店和餐廳部門占了超過130萬(wàn)個(gè)企業(yè),這些8.5都是歐洲的企業(yè)。95%的企業(yè)是非常小的,例如有的企業(yè)只有1 - 9名員工；5. 供給與需求面形成一個(gè)世界范圍的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，兩種生產(chǎn)和分配規(guī)律是基于合作。6. 該產(chǎn)品是具有階段性和復(fù)雜性的，（1）一個(gè)賓館房間的床上，不賣一晚代表一個(gè)失落的收入。供應(yīng)商面臨著潛在危險(xiǎn)，而這種危險(xiǎn)通過獲得

5、的信息的可能得意減少；(2)旅游產(chǎn)品本身是一種“捆綁型”的基本產(chǎn)品。支持相當(dāng)復(fù)雜的捆綁產(chǎn)品必須有很好定義與尊重對(duì)消費(fèi)者需求、價(jià)格或者還經(jīng)銷渠道的接口。旅游是一種以信息為基礎(chǔ)的業(yè)務(wù)，給予一個(gè)先于體驗(yàn)的綜合評(píng)價(jià)它的特質(zhì)是不可能的。游客不得不離開自己的日常環(huán)境消費(fèi)產(chǎn)品。此刻的決策，只可得到一個(gè)基于一系列的信息通過后天的多套頻道(網(wǎng)絡(luò)、電視、小冊(cè)子或朋友) 的產(chǎn)品的抽象模型。這一特點(diǎn)的旅游產(chǎn)品信息都需要消費(fèi)者和供應(yīng)商兩個(gè)方面，面對(duì)高信息搜尋成本，導(dǎo)致信息市場(chǎng)的不完善。所有這些反過來使其建立起相應(yīng)的信息和價(jià)值的長(zhǎng)鏈。圖1.市場(chǎng)結(jié)構(gòu)視圖 12圖1區(qū)分了供給和需求側(cè)和各自的中介。鏈接標(biāo)記的關(guān)系以及信息的流動(dòng)

6、。它僅僅顯示最相關(guān)的鏈接，節(jié)顯示點(diǎn)的參與者在各自區(qū)域的相關(guān)類型。在供應(yīng)方面，我們與“主要的供應(yīng)商”指企業(yè)如酒店或餐館里，大部分中小企業(yè)。對(duì)于這些公司在泛函數(shù)微分在同一水平為“大”的成員，像航空公司。旅游經(jīng)營(yíng)者可以被看作是產(chǎn)品匯集者，旅游代理充當(dāng)信息經(jīng)紀(jì)人，提供最終用戶提供有關(guān)信息和訂的設(shè)施。CRS / GDS(中央預(yù)訂系統(tǒng)/全球分銷系統(tǒng))，出于航空訂票系統(tǒng)已經(jīng)發(fā)展了他在60年代，還涉及其他產(chǎn)品，如打包度假，或者其他方式的交通工具。而中介機(jī)構(gòu)在右邊可以被看作是“專業(yè)”連接供給與需求之間(主要是基于電子基礎(chǔ)建設(shè)和功能的CRS /(GDS)，左側(cè)是相關(guān)的管理、規(guī)劃和品牌的一個(gè)目的地。這些國(guó)家、地區(qū)和

7、地方旅游組織通常是政府資助的，以及代表所有的供應(yīng)商在目的地和不從事預(yù)約的過程。上游流按照?qǐng)D1的流程構(gòu)成產(chǎn)品信息，而下游流動(dòng)報(bào)告主要在于在市場(chǎng)行為，主要表現(xiàn)在條款的統(tǒng)計(jì)上。兩個(gè)信息流動(dòng)創(chuàng)造一個(gè)旅游信息網(wǎng)綁在一起，而且很明顯地反映了所有市場(chǎng)參與者之間的經(jīng)濟(jì)關(guān)系。二、層業(yè)務(wù)正在改變（一）新的產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)網(wǎng)絡(luò)引導(dǎo)兩個(gè)新的方法來滿足改變消費(fèi)習(xí)慣他們并不忠誠(chéng)，往往會(huì)使更多但更短的假期、決策之間的時(shí)間和消費(fèi)減少，整個(gè)旅游價(jià)值鏈的“信息化”也是如此。這允許不同的策略來產(chǎn)生價(jià)值11：1. 增加價(jià)值的提取效率，降低物流成本，如：自動(dòng)化的具體進(jìn)程或外包給客戶，自我入住酒店的客人或航空公司的乘客。2. 價(jià)值捕獲：客戶端

8、和銷售數(shù)據(jù)用來支持營(yíng)銷，例如，數(shù)據(jù)挖掘的預(yù)報(bào)或產(chǎn)量的管理。3. 價(jià)值增長(zhǎng)：一個(gè)線性組合價(jià)值的產(chǎn)品及服務(wù)，創(chuàng)造更豐富的產(chǎn)品捆綁，例如，新服務(wù)品質(zhì)為消費(fèi)者通過將無線服務(wù)，以現(xiàn)有的網(wǎng)站給游客建議購(gòu)買他們的服務(wù)。4. 價(jià)值創(chuàng)造：把重點(diǎn)放在網(wǎng)絡(luò)效應(yīng)，例如，游客們?cè)谝粋€(gè)目的地參與服務(wù)的定義和規(guī)劃。這樣，不但過程變化，而且能自行設(shè)計(jì)新服務(wù)延伸的范圍和配置選項(xiàng)來定制產(chǎn)品。定制過程在基于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)的規(guī)模定制下進(jìn)行了描述有個(gè)性的產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)。配置是指產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)捆綁的不同成分的綜合，公司結(jié)合他們的核心產(chǎn)品與層附加的服務(wù)。（二）新商業(yè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)動(dòng)力學(xué)和部門的已經(jīng)很有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力的電子市場(chǎng)，幾乎所有的利益相關(guān)者已經(jīng)實(shí)施了他們的策略。

9、同樣，旅游業(yè)也成為了新入者的發(fā)展領(lǐng)域，不論是初創(chuàng)企業(yè)還是公司來自媒體和IT領(lǐng)域。自從旅游是一種以信息為基礎(chǔ)的業(yè)務(wù)，它非常適合各自的背景。一個(gè)可以觀察進(jìn)一步專業(yè)化的趨勢(shì)并不斷解構(gòu)由成員和產(chǎn)品并聯(lián)集成的價(jià)值鏈。最新評(píng)論的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)和合作的同時(shí)，在邊界行業(yè)內(nèi)是模糊的，所有類型的市場(chǎng)參與者都受影響。1. 游客們被更多的成員訪問，但是他們同樣也在說明它們的服務(wù)例如，用反向拍賣網(wǎng)站中扮演更積極的角色。2. 旅行社在銷售渠道看到一個(gè)渺茫的權(quán)力，后果是他們將重點(diǎn)更多地放在咨詢和更復(fù)雜的產(chǎn)品上。3. 進(jìn)一步提高網(wǎng)絡(luò)旅游網(wǎng)站提供了新的市場(chǎng)功能和技術(shù)，焦點(diǎn)集中在對(duì)旅行者的個(gè)性化智能工具見在主要網(wǎng)站使用的建議功能)。目的地

10、管理機(jī)構(gòu)在目的地開發(fā)合作模式，在那里他們會(huì)占據(jù)一個(gè)新角色作為經(jīng)驗(yàn)和集成服務(wù)商，例如愛爾蘭。4. 旅游經(jīng)營(yíng)者基于規(guī)模化定制和靈活的配置(例如，意大利操作員科斯塔Crociere已經(jīng)開發(fā)了一種個(gè)性化的巡航建造者)，總是將個(gè)體之間和包裝旅游的邊界模糊。5. CRS / GDS顯示了一個(gè)“英特爾內(nèi)置”的營(yíng)銷戰(zhàn)略，利用鏈接到主要旅游網(wǎng)站提高其交易額，同時(shí)進(jìn)行直接銷售以增加零售環(huán)節(jié)。6. 供應(yīng)商將日益形成同盟和支持電子直銷，增加價(jià)格競(jìng)爭(zhēng)和價(jià)格，重新分化過程，如電子的票務(wù)客戶或自動(dòng)登機(jī)手續(xù)。這導(dǎo)致了市場(chǎng)的一種進(jìn)化，形象地描述為一個(gè)進(jìn)行中的相互影響的集中(例如，如美國(guó)與全國(guó)各大網(wǎng)站，例如Expedia在線旅行

11、，Orbitz或Travelocity)和同步的新進(jìn)入的新成員。增加了復(fù)雜性，但是也生成了需要新的服務(wù)項(xiàng)目，如提供透明訪問，市場(chǎng)概覽，或價(jià)格的比較，這反過來又會(huì)促進(jìn)創(chuàng)新，將更加強(qiáng)調(diào)技術(shù)創(chuàng)新。三、IT系統(tǒng)：特點(diǎn)和發(fā)展趨勢(shì)新興的商業(yè)場(chǎng)景是基于靈活的網(wǎng)絡(luò)結(jié)構(gòu)和一個(gè)消費(fèi)者不斷提高的整合。如果一個(gè)人增加旅游生命周期考慮到流動(dòng)性方面的旅游者可以得出以下的簡(jiǎn)化圖中的鏈接各自的旅游階段與公司的過程。圖2.旅游生命周期和公司的進(jìn)程(供應(yīng)商和中介機(jī)構(gòu))很明顯，公司合伙人得交叉過程促進(jìn)了了分布式的b2b2c的形成，并且支持移動(dòng)通信公司和消費(fèi)者之間的合作。技術(shù)基于一種普遍深入人心的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施將變得透明，對(duì)消費(fèi)者來說是無

12、形的；信息就會(huì)出現(xiàn)在家中、工作中和在旅行中。在這樣一個(gè)場(chǎng)景的IT系統(tǒng)應(yīng)該具有以下特點(diǎn)：1. 支持異構(gòu)數(shù)據(jù)格式和 業(yè)務(wù)功能以及分布式數(shù)據(jù)來源，因?yàn)樗麄儽仨毧紤]的不同類型的參與主體與他們的功能差異；2. 有彈性和開放性，關(guān)于地理和功能擴(kuò)展。他們會(huì)支持整個(gè)消費(fèi)生命周期和所有商業(yè)階段；3. 使各自的參與者擁有充分的自主權(quán)，而是增強(qiáng)合作行為，為供應(yīng)商提供復(fù)雜工具以及進(jìn)行動(dòng)態(tài)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)配置；4. 移動(dòng)和固網(wǎng)服務(wù)的整合，促成服務(wù)的多渠道訪問，提供像先前描述的所有不同類型的成員；5. 支持細(xì)心的用戶界面和通過廣泛的開發(fā)的用戶模型的個(gè)性化，考慮到用戶的行為、認(rèn)知以及感情方面。交叉的研究和開發(fā)工作已經(jīng)在著手解決旅游及

13、旅游業(yè)應(yīng)用上述主題，并取得了一些顯著的成績(jī)。很自然地，很多這些活動(dòng)遵循一個(gè)基于AI途徑。接下來，我們參考他們中的一些人，集中關(guān)注于那些更有影響力，已經(jīng)或即將有重大作用的途徑。這些都是具有相當(dāng)水平的技術(shù)，它能在不同的應(yīng)用中被開發(fā)，如旅游規(guī)劃與調(diào)度、來訪者導(dǎo)引系統(tǒng)、個(gè)人定價(jià)、反向拍賣，或工作流管理支持合作的市場(chǎng)中。1信息提取。旅游信息門戶網(wǎng)站仍然很大程度上基于非結(jié)構(gòu)化的信息。因此，發(fā)展中的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵問題在于存取數(shù)據(jù)的分布式系統(tǒng)為人類使用格式化并把它們轉(zhuǎn)換成一個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu)化的數(shù)據(jù)格式，如XML。這個(gè)問題通過包覆技術(shù)得到妥善解決來學(xué)習(xí)高度精確提取規(guī)則，適應(yīng)結(jié)構(gòu)的改變網(wǎng)站確保正確的抽取數(shù)據(jù)(5，6)。2信息集成

14、。包裝器可以利用頂部或結(jié)構(gòu)化信息來源的半結(jié)構(gòu)化來建立。這為解答基于多重包裝的數(shù)據(jù)的結(jié)合與提取的疑問的系統(tǒng) 4 搭建了舞臺(tái)。旅游相關(guān)資訊來源代表一個(gè)完美的應(yīng)用等技術(shù)。例如，TheaterLoc是一種信息集成的應(yīng)用程序，可以讓用戶檢索在美國(guó)的劇院和餐館的信息，這些信息來自5個(gè)不同的線上資源1。這個(gè)應(yīng)用程序的核心部件是一個(gè)開發(fā)AI規(guī)劃技術(shù)的媒介，是一個(gè)領(lǐng)域模型(含一種本體論)，它結(jié)合一套公理描述之間的映射關(guān)系與綜合性數(shù)據(jù)來源。當(dāng)查詢時(shí)，系統(tǒng)原因提出關(guān)于領(lǐng)域的模型的描述和來源，建立一個(gè)計(jì)劃數(shù)據(jù)檢索和整合。3信息的簡(jiǎn)報(bào)。旅游是一種特殊的文化遺產(chǎn)，是一個(gè)享有特權(quán)的應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域?yàn)橹悄苄畔⒔榻B技術(shù)10。自然語(yǔ)言技

15、術(shù)被用來建造語(yǔ)境演講，演講和手勢(shì)識(shí)別以及動(dòng)畫角色支持一條增量互動(dòng)性涉及用戶在欣賞文化遺產(chǎn)。應(yīng)用已經(jīng)開發(fā)出來，因?yàn)檫@才是真正的展覽的信息，即用戶混合，監(jiān)測(cè)，一組感測(cè)器，能在移動(dòng)設(shè)備上活化個(gè)性化的窗戶，那里提供在展的的信息 (例如，在一個(gè)博物館)。此外，即使是不請(qǐng)自來的對(duì)進(jìn)一步話題或?qū)ο笤O(shè)想都可以提供交付。4建議。建議系統(tǒng)建會(huì)推薦產(chǎn)品并未消費(fèi)者提供建議的產(chǎn)品信息以便于決策。有一些顯著的應(yīng)用聚焦于旅游目的地的選擇和應(yīng)用旅游產(chǎn)品捆綁(2，8)。在這些應(yīng)用中用戶關(guān)于對(duì)他的需要和系統(tǒng)被明確的要求，包括約束和基于內(nèi)容過濾技術(shù)、交互式查詢管理、和過濾寫作方法的變化趨勢(shì)或基于實(shí)例推理的，等級(jí)建議提取結(jié)構(gòu)化的目錄

16、。旅游推薦提出關(guān)于其復(fù)雜性和無形的旅游產(chǎn)品的特殊要求。改進(jìn)措施必須設(shè)計(jì)多種產(chǎn)品(地點(diǎn)、吸引力、住宿、航班，等等。)，以提供有意義的圖片所提出的旅行。5語(yǔ)義網(wǎng)。語(yǔ)義網(wǎng)的設(shè)想將數(shù)據(jù)數(shù)據(jù)在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的定義并連接一個(gè)途徑通過這個(gè)途徑它可以被機(jī)器使用以實(shí)現(xiàn)自動(dòng)化、集成化和在不同的應(yīng)用程序重復(fù)使用，在上述技術(shù)提供了一個(gè)統(tǒng)一的觀點(diǎn)。該技術(shù)在旅游業(yè)有重大影響(見，例如，歐洲計(jì)劃3)。該行業(yè)基于語(yǔ)義網(wǎng)的整合與點(diǎn)對(duì)點(diǎn)網(wǎng)路服務(wù)提供了一個(gè)具有挑戰(zhàn)性的試驗(yàn)臺(tái)為點(diǎn)對(duì)點(diǎn)語(yǔ)義萬(wàn)維網(wǎng)服務(wù)。例如，服務(wù)尋找或整合資訊供應(yīng)者，最終需要直接開發(fā)資源用在其他沒有被中心服務(wù)器要求或申請(qǐng)過得結(jié)點(diǎn)，在這里結(jié)點(diǎn)可以直接加入并整合在一個(gè)特定的方式中。

17、6機(jī)動(dòng)性。旅游者希望從各種各樣的設(shè)備得到服務(wù)和信息，不論何時(shí)何地，只要他們需要它。在以下領(lǐng)域：航空公司、酒店、餐廳、交通、城市指南、交通、天氣條件、其它服務(wù)，像平移、貨幣轉(zhuǎn)換都可以發(fā)現(xiàn)典型的移動(dòng)應(yīng)用程序。移動(dòng)終端打開和改進(jìn)新的的方式以在旅游中支持游客。在新技術(shù)承諾了好處和附加值的同時(shí)，他們也會(huì)在不同的設(shè)備提高關(guān)于可用性，可達(dá)性的挑戰(zhàn)，誠(chéng)信和互動(dòng)性。面臨的挑戰(zhàn)是一個(gè)上敏感的、個(gè)性化、有效的考慮約束條件下的無所不在的訪問的互動(dòng)模型。但這里，做為被提前描述的建議體系，在旅游領(lǐng)域中被開發(fā)在開發(fā)的復(fù)雜的用戶模型可以在排除這些障礙中起到很大作用。四、結(jié)論旅游和旅游業(yè)表明電子商務(wù)將如何會(huì)改變這個(gè)產(chǎn)業(yè)的結(jié)構(gòu)和

18、商業(yè)運(yùn)作的方式，并且這樣的制造程序也帶來了新的商機(jī)。更多的專業(yè)服務(wù)的部署，靈活的網(wǎng)絡(luò)配置和進(jìn)一步整合會(huì)形成機(jī)敏消費(fèi)者市場(chǎng)，整合所有利益相關(guān)者。潛在的信息技術(shù)場(chǎng)景普及以及強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行這一發(fā)展表明，旅游業(yè)是一個(gè)有趣的應(yīng)用以及研究領(lǐng)域的。同樣它也將使其它行業(yè)產(chǎn)生學(xué)習(xí)這種發(fā)展和理解在這個(gè)發(fā)展新興電子市場(chǎng)的興趣。 附件2：外文原文（復(fù)印件）ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND TOURISMHas e-commerce past its prime or just resting? Business and stock market expectations have not been fulfi

19、lled. However, in some sectors such as the travel and tourism industry online transactions are continuously increasing, despite its tough economic problems and fewer travelers. This industry is the leading application in the B2C (business-to-consumer) arena. Whereas in other industries there is a st

20、ronger hold to traditional processes, the tourism industry is witnessing an acceptance of e-commerce to the extent that the structure of the industry is changing. The net is used not only for information gathering; there is an acceptance of ordering services over the Internet. A new type of user is

21、emerging, who seems to accept to become his own travel agent and to build his travel package. In 2002 the US online travel market increased by 45% up to 27 Bn. U$, accounting for 14.4% of the total travel market; and in Europe the online travel increased by 67%, making up 3.6 % of the total market (

22、according to the Danish Center for Regional and Tourism Research, www.crt.dk). In the same year 32 % of US travelers have used the Internet to book travel arrangements (see And 9 forecasts that by 2007 30% of all B2C transaction in the European German speaking countries will be done via the Internet

23、. However, other market research institutes publish other, both higher and lower, numbers. These statistics have the problem that they are based on varying, either broad or narrow, definitions: either distinguishing between e-business and e-commerce (seeing the latter as part of the first) or not, a

24、nd using different variables and measurement methods. But even when following different definitions, all the statistics given for the travel domain point upwards. However, all those definitions fall short in one important aspect as we can see in the tourism case: they are all transaction and busines

25、s oriented and ignore the fact that the Web is also a medium of curiosity, of creating communities or having just fun, all of which may or may not result into business. Especially the tourism product has to do with emotional experiences, with fun; it is not just business. 1 The IndustryThe travel &a

26、mp; tourism industry as a global (and a globalization) industry shows very specific features:· Travel and tourism represents approx. 11% of the world wide GDP (following the tourism satellite account method of the World Travel & Tourism Council).· There will be one Billion internationa

27、l arrivals in the year 2010 (following the World Tourism Organization), and on average tourism grows faster than the other economic sectors.· As an umbrella industry it relates to many sectors such as culture or sport, over 30 different industrial components have been identified that serve trav

28、elers.· This explains the industrys heterogeneity, and due to its SME structure (especially when taking a destination point of view) it has a huge importance for regional development. For example, in the EU the hotel and restaurants sector accounts for more than 1.3 million enterprises, these a

29、re 8.5 % ofball European enterprises. 95.5 % of these enterprises are very small, e.g., 1-9 employees.· The supply and the demand side form a worldwide network, where both production and distribution are based on cooperation.· The product is perishable and complex: i) a hotel bed not sold

30、for one night represent a lost income. Suppliers are in a risky situation, which can be reduced if access to information is available; ii) the tourism product itself is a bundle of basic products. To support the rather complex bundling products must have well defined interfaces with respect to consu

31、mer needs, prices or also distribution channels.Tourism is an information based business, the product is a “confidence good“; an a priori comprehensive assessment of its qualities is impossible. Tourists have to leave their daily environment for consuming the product. At the moment of decision-makin

32、g, only an abstract model of the product is available, which is based on a range of information acquired through a multiple set of channels (Web, TV, brochures or friends). This characteristic of tourism products requires information on both, the consumers and suppliers sides, entailing high informa

33、tion search costs and causing informational market imperfections. These, in turn, led to the establishment of comparably long information and value chains. Figure 1. Structural view of the market 12.Figure 1 differentiates between the supply and demand side and the respective intermediaries. Links m

34、ark the relationships as well as the flow of information. It only shows the most relevant links, the nodes indicate the relevant types of players in the field. On the supply side we denote with “primary” suppliers enterprises like hotels or restaurants, mostly SMEs. With respect to a functional diff

35、erentiation these companies are on the same level as the “big“ players like airlines. Tour operators can be seen as product aggregators, travel agents act as information brokers, providing the final consumer with the relevant information and booking facilities. CRS/GDS (Central Reservation Systems /

36、 Global Distribution Systems), stemming from the airline reservation systems already developed in the 60s, include also other products such as packaged holidays, or other means of transport. Whereas the intermediaries on the right side can be seen as the “professional“ connection between supply and

37、demand (mainly based on the electronic infrastructure and functionality of CRS/GDS), the left side is relevant for the management, planning and branding of a destination. These national, regional and local tourism organizations are normally publicly funded, act on behalf of all suppliers within a de

38、stination and are not engaged in the booking process. The upstream flow of fig. 1 consists of product information, whereas the downstream flow reports on market behavior, mostly represented in terms of statistical aggregates. Both information flows create a tourist information network tying together

39、 all market participators and, apparently, reflecting the economic relationships between them. 2 Business is Changing2.1 New Products and ServicesThe Web leads both to new ways to meet changing consumer behavior they are less loyal, tend to make more, but shorter vacations, the time between decision

40、 making and consumption decreases and to an “informatization” of the entire tourism value chain. This allows different strategies to generate value 11: · Value extraction: increases efficiency and reduces costs, e.g., automation of specific processes or outsourcing to clients such as self check

41、-in of hotel guests or airline passengers.· Value capturing: client and sales data are used to support the marketing, e.g., data mining for forecast or yield management.· Value adding: a linear combination of products and services to create richer product bundles, e.g., new service quality

42、 for consumer by linking mobile services to existing Web sites to advise tourists during their travel.· Value creation: the focus is on network effects, e.g., tourists within a destination participate in service definition and planning.Thus, not only processes are changed, but also new services

43、 can be designed, extending the range of options to customize and to configure products. Customization describes the process of individualizing products or services, based on IT enabled mass-customization. Configuration refers to the bundling of different product or service components to integrated

44、offerings. Companies combine their core products with layers of additional services. 2.2 The New Business NetworkGiven the dynamics of the sector and the already very competitive e-market, nearly all stake holders have implemented their strategy. Tourism has also become the playing field for new ent

45、rants, either start-ups or companies from the media and IT sector. Since tourism is an information based business, it fits well with their respective background. One can observe a trend towards further specialization and an ongoing deconstruction of the value chain paralleled by an integration of pl

46、ayers and products. Companies compete and cooperate at the same time, boundaries within the industry are blurring. All types of market players are affected: · Tourists are addressed by more players, and they are also playing a more active role in specifying their services (e.g., using reverse a

47、uctions sites). · Travel agents see a diminishing power in the sales channel, as a consequence they will put more emphasis on consulting and more complex products. · Internet travel sites are further enhancing providing new market functionality and technology, focusing on personalized inte

48、lligent tools for travelers (see the recommendation functionalities used by major sites). · Destination management organizations are developing cooperation models within destinations, where they will occupy a new role as consolidator and aggregator; see, for example, the case of Ireland. ·

49、 Tour operator will blur the boundaries between individual and packaged tour, based on masscustomization and flexible configurations (e.g., the Italian operator Costa Crociere has developed a personalized cruise builder). · CRS / GDS show an "INTEL inside" marketing strategy by linkin

50、g to major tourist Web sites for increasing their transaction volume, and they also move into direct sales for the retail segment. · Suppliers will increasingly form alliances and support electronic direct sales, increasing price competition as well as price differentiation, and they will redef

51、ine customer processes such as electronic ticketing or automated check-in. This leads to an evolution of the market best described as an ongoing interaction of concentration (e.g., as in the US with the major online travel sites such as Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity) versus the simultaneous enterin

52、g of new players. The related increased complexity, however, generates the need for new services such as providing transparent access, market overview, or price comparisons. This in turn will accelerate innovation, putting even more emphasis on technical innovation. 3 IT Systems: Features and Trends

53、The emerging business scenario is based on flexible network structures and an increasing consumer integration. If one adds the tourist life cycle taking into consideration the mobility aspect of travelers one can draw the following simplified figure of linking the respective tourist phases with comp

54、anies processes. Figure 2. Tourist life cycle and companies processes (both suppliers and intermediaries)Obviously, processes cross company boarders, leading to distributed b2b2c applications, supporting both cooperation between companies as well as mobile communication with the consumer. Technology

55、 based on a common pervasive infrastructure will become transparent, invisible for the consumer; information will be available at home, at work and during travel. In such a scenario IT systems should · support heterogeneous data formats and business functions as well as distributed data sources

56、, as they have to take into consideration different types of participating entities, with their functional differences; · be scalable and open with regard to geographical and functional extensions. They will support the entire consumer life cycle and all business phases; · enable full auto

57、nomy of the respective participants but enhance cooperative behavior, providing sophisticated tools for suppliers as well as for dynamic network configurations; · integrate mobile and fixed services, enabling multi-channel access to services, provided by all the different types of players descr

58、ibed previously; · support attentive user interfaces and personalization through extensive exploitation of user modeling, taking into consideration user behavior and cognition as well as emotional aspects. The research and development activities crossing travel and tourism applications have addressed the above themes, producing some remarkable results. Quite naturally, many of those activities follow an AI b