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.

There was general consensus that e tourism policies and strategies will play an increasing role in integrating tourism enterprises, particularly SMEs, into global tourism markets.

Some experts stressed the current low level of development and adoption of ICTs in developing countries and asked how ICTs could help them to improve their tourism development and the global visibility of tourism enterprises, particularly small tourism enterprises.

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.

However, the eventual adoption of e business practices will facilitate the evolution of traditional tourism systems and the integration of tourism enterprises into the digital economy.

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.

Tourism enterprises in developing countries, particularly SMEs, face challenges in taking full advantage of opportunities because of their slow adoption of ICTs.

Panellists cited change management adapting existing business processes and practices as the main difficulty for destination management organizations (DMOs) and tourism enterprises.

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.

Furthermore, experts emphasized that Governments also have a role to play in facilitating access to or adoption of ICT solutions by tourism enterprises.

The last session focused on challenges and opportunities in the adoption and usage of e business practices by tourism enterprises in developing countries.

In May 1997, the Government decided to execute a support programme for industrial, agricultural and tourism enterprises (LL 24 billion in interest subsidies).

It addressed capacity building issues and identified areas where technical assistance and training are needed to assist tourism enterprises in building up efficient DMS.

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.

(a) The Asociación de Mujeres y Familias del Ámbito Rural (AMFAR) (Association of Rural Women and Families), which offered four courses on crafts, rural tourism, management of small and middle sized enterprises, and rural tourism and sustainable development

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.

Recurrent practical impediments to the development of e tourism in developing countries include the low level of ICT access among tourism enterprises, particularly those in remote areas, the level of education and available human resources, and the rapid evolution of technology.

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.

The private sector should drive the commercial activities, and, to facilitate the participation of tourism enterprises in a DMS, their inclusion should be free of charge.

WTO (Tourism) World Tourism Organization

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.

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

The public sector should be a facilitator, playing a central role in encouraging the participation and inclusion of regional, national and local tourism enterprises within a common DMS.

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.