Eco tourism, cultural and natural heritage tourism, health and medical tourism and adventure tourism are some of the tourism niches that are increasingly marketed by destinations and tourism enterprises in developing countries.

The environmental impact of tourism is heavily influenced by the decisions taken by private sector investors and operators of tourism enterprises.

Part A considers the role of ICTs for tourism development in developing countries and the strategic challenges for local tourism enterprises to successfully participate in international tourism markets.

Contributing factors for the successful integration of local tourism enterprises into international tourism markets are adequate e tourism strategies that focus on tourism innovation in terms of tourism products and adoption of e business tools such as destination management systems.

With regard to B2B, DMSs provide tourism enterprises with the means to be better integrated into tourism supply chains by promoting personalized and enriched tourism experiences directly to a large number of consumers.

The systems should facilitate interoperability between local tourism enterprises and foreign brokers and tourism portals, including traditional tour operators, online agencies, Internet travel specific search engines or online intermediaries specialized in tourism niches.

It focuses on the practical modalities of new business models that destination management organizations and tourism enterprises should adopt to improve their competitiveness in tourism markets.

They should create awareness of the potential of e tourism and provide incentives for the development of tourism enterprises' websites (for hotels, for instance) that could be referenced on the DMO e tourism website.

The adoption and usage of e business practices will facilitate the evolution of the traditional tourism systems and the integration of tourism enterprises into the digital economy.

Public authorities, DMOs and tourism enterprises should fully understand the opportunities and challenges of e tourism and overcome the barriers that still hamper the use of ICTs.

The distribution of tourism information and products over the Internet is the main area where technological innovation has had the most profound impact on tourism enterprises (producers and distributors).

The distribution of tourism information and products over the Internet is the main area where technological innovation has had the most profound impact on tourism enterprises (producers and distributors).

According to the World Tourism Organisation, 85 per cent of accommodation enterprises in developing countries are small and medium size.

Tourism is a service industry composed of tangible elements, namely tourism products and services such as hotels, leisure enterprises and transport, and intangible elements such as rest, relaxation, culture, adventure and authentic experiences.

(l) Environmental purity To minimize the pollution of air, water and land and the generation of waste by tourism enterprises and visitors.

They should raise awareness among tourism enterprises about the potential of ICTs for tourism development. They should also develop capacity building through education programmes and training in relevant fields (including ICT, web management and marketing).

To implement the Phuket Action Plan, the World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with the international tourism community, has initiated a series of specific activities and actions including familiarization trips for the media and tour operators, communication campaigns, waiving of participation fees at international tourism fairs, assistance in channelling funds to small and medium sized tourism enterprises, workshops on risk management and repositioning of tourism products.

Despite the challenges posed by the adoption and use of ICTs in developing countries, tourism enterprises with well conceived websites are given an opportunity to access international tourism markets on an equal footing with competitors from developed countries.

The above environmental impacts of tourism need to be addressed by international agencies (information on the activities of the United Nations Environment Programme in the area of tourism may be found in document UNEP GCSS.IX INF 12), Governments, non governmental organizations, local communities and private sector tourism enterprises, working together.

Tourism enterprises of developing countries could gain autonomy and save costs by promoting and selling products directly to consumers provided they have an effective website.

A particular challenge is to engage medium size, small and micro enterprises, which make up the vast majority of tourism businesses, in addressing environmental issues.

Monitoring can be implemented mainly through measurements of the state of the environment and society and regular surveys of visitors, tourism enterprises and local communities.

Despite the challenges posed in respect of the adoption and usage of ICTs in developing countries, tourism enterprises with well conceived websites are given an opportunity to access international tourism markets on an equal footing with competitors from developed countries.

They disguise themselves as legal and illegal commercial enterprises that operate in various areas, such as tourism, entertainment, transport, fashion, culture, pornography industries and service agencies.

Governments can encourage this process by showing a lead themselves and recommending an agenda for reporting and auditing within the tourism sector Voluntary certification This involves the objective inspection of tourism enterprises against agreed criteria and recognition of those complying through a label.

However, the experience of several DMSs in both developing and developed countries shows that a free subscription for tourism enterprises guarantees their larger participation in the DMS.

The growing adoption of the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) standard based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) greatly facilitates the exchange of information between tourism enterprises such as airlines, hotels, car rental enterprises and travel integrators such as Cendant, Sabre, Expedia, Orbitz, and SITA.

They include the lack of infrastructure, affordable access to ICT, human capacity and vision about e business strategies and policies that enterprises and policy makers could adopt in order to develop and maintain comparative advantages in the global tourism market. DMOs and tourism enterprises should adapt their business processes to be able to meet consumers' needs and successfully distribute their products and services on a global scale.

The promotion of tourism niches by developing countries for which many of them enjoy a competitive advantage and the development of DMSs that offer tourism enterprises and consumers respectively an innovative way to promote and obtain tourism information (e.g. search engine, trip planner, interactive maps and virtual tours) are contributing factors to the creation of value.

Rural tourism, handicraft and service sector, crayfish and fish growing, and food processing in small enterprises have been supported (these fields of business often largely employ women workers).

(a) Economic viability To ensure the viability and competitiveness of tourism destinations and enterprises so that they are able to prosper and deliver benefits in the long term

Barriers to establishing a new small enterprise in the sector were quite low, which had led the World Tourism Organization to conduct research on the possible role of microfinance in the development of small and medium sized enterprises in tourism and development in poor areas.

When considering the main barriers that must be overcome in the integration of sustainability principles and approaches into the development and management of tourism, it is helpful to consider the position of three main types of player or stakeholder tourists private sector tourism enterprises and Governments.

This note aims at providing background information for this Expert Meeting by providing a broad understanding of the implications of ICT developments for the tourism industry and examining effective e tourism strategies that should be adopted by policy makers and enterprises in order to gain and maintain a strong position on the global tourism market. This note consists of three main parts

It represents a growing distribution channel, complementary to traditional ones, for consumers, tourism enterprises such as hotels, transport companies, leisure companies and distributors, including travel agencies, tour operators and DMOs.

Public authorities contribute to the development of a national brand image and the integration of tourism enterprises in DMSs, coordinate the interests of the various stakeholders and provide initial resources.

DMOs and tourism enterprises in developing countries urgently need to adopt ICTs and adapt business processes and management structures to globalization in order to become competitive in this new marketplace.

The state start up capital to enterprises gives preference to projects related to local production and use of local raw materials and projects for the development of the tourism service.

Considering the constraints faced by developing countries in terms of infrastructure, human capacity and limited local adoption of e business, public authorities and DMOs at the national, regional and local levels should play a central role in encouraging the participation and inclusion of tourism enterprises in global tourism markets.

To achieve effective and global e tourism inclusion, there is a need for DMOs to integrate tourism enterprises and partner with ICT companies in order to deal with technological solutions and with certification authorities, building alliances with local bodies or international providers that enable consumers to transact securely online.

Licensing processes can help to identify enterprises that comply with legislation and to deter others Land use planning and development control These combined instruments are critical in enhancing the sustainability of new tourism development.

Tourism

Tourism

Tourism

Tourism services