The project to apply ICT to support the decision making process of players in a tourist destination presupposes knowledge of the existing relationships and exchanges of information among them. Analysis of information flows must be based on a representation of the complexity of the co-ordination problem, because corresponding to different levels of complexity are different applications of ICT. To this end, the paper presents a method for classifying the relationships among the players of a tourist destination. This method moves through three main phases: identification of the players involved in the development process in the destination, analysis of existing communication flow among the main players (context diagrams construction). definition of the potential application of ICT in support to the co.ordination. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-7091-6177-7_5

1. ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal, Quebec, Canada
A method for the classification
of relationships and information needs
of tourist destination players
Mariangela Franch, Luisa Mich, Umberto Martini
Department of Computer and Management Sciences
University of Trento, Via Inama 5, I 38100 TRENTO, Italy

2. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 2
Scheme
! The creation of a tourist destination as a
coordination problem: different levels of
coordination
! A method for classifying the relationships
among the players of a tourist destination
and to identify ICT-based tools

3. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 3
A tourist destination
! A geographical place with clear-cut
boundaries
! Flows of incoming tourists
! A complex of specific attractions
! Players with different roles who must be
coordinated

4. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 4
To create a destination ...
! The information needs depend on the
tourist market related to the destination
! Tourist activity based on intermediaries and
services supplied by large accommodation
companies
! ‘Do-it-yourself tourism’: not-organised flows of
tourists to resorts where the supply is based on
SME (<- tourism in the Alps)

5. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 5
The alpine resorts in the Dolomites
Flavia Deflorian

6. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 6
Destination and coordination
! The creation, promotion and marketing of a
tourist destination represents a
coordination problem:
! different operators control specific resources
or services which must be combined by the
tourist
! this combination gives rise to the single
product that competes with those of other
destinations

7. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 7
Sub-systems in a typical alpine resort
! Economic actors: deliver
basic services
! Local community
! Public administration:
manages support
services, promotional
activities and hospitality
infrastructures
! Tourists: reference
groups with different
expectations and forms
of interaction
Economic Actors
-accommodation
-catering
-shops
-entertainment
-sport facilities
-transport
Local community
- directly involved
in tourism activities
- not involved in tourist
development of
destination
Local Administration
- land management
- supply of services
(swimming pools, sports
halls, amusement parks)
- supply of infrastructure
- promotion
Tourists distinguished by:
- Place of origin
- segment
- knowledge of resort
- expectation, desires

8. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 8
Our approach
1 Analysis of the processes and identification of the
players involved in the destination tourist offer
2 Analysis of information exchanges and
classification of the communication flow among
the main players
‘context diagrams’
3 Assessment of the potential application of ICT to
coordination of the decision-making process in the
tourist destination

9. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 9
Analysing the processes
! To highlight the players in a destination we
have identified the following processes:
– management of tourist supply
– development and marketing of tourist supply
– promotion in the place of origin
– customer orientation in the tourist resort
– integration of supply
– relationships with suppliers
– administration
– administrative support activities
– financial support activities
– after-sales service

10. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 10
Identification of the players
! Process analysis yields the players to be
inserted in the context diagrams:
! hoteliers
! travel agencies
! car rentals and taxi services
! local promotion agencies
! public corporations
! museums and parks
! food and beverage
! trade associations
! ski-lift companies
! customers
! railways, motorways, airports
! sales consortia
! ICT and TLC suppliers
! product and service suppliers
! police
! advertising agencies
! banks
! suppliers of professional training
! congress organising committee

11. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 11
The relationships network
! In a tourist destination, each player must
coordinate him/herself with others,
creating a ‘many to many’ relationship
network
but
! This analysis does not exclude
reformulation of the existing process
according to a BPR approach

12. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 12
Context diagrams
! Modelling the relevant relationships
according to the point of view of a player
! The set of players in a destination for
which it is appropriate to develop a context
diagram depends on the characteristics of
the destination itself

13. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 13
Context diagram Hotel (1st version)
1
Hotel
4
Local
promotion
agencies
2
Travel
agencies
3
Car rentals
and taxi
services
18
Suppliers of
professional
traning
19
Congress
organizing
committee
7
Food &
beverage
5
Public
corporation
8
Trade
associations
9
Ski-lift
companies
10
Customers
6
Museums,
parks
11
Railways,
motorways,
airports
12
Other hotels
13
ICT and
TLC
services
15
Police
16
Advertising
agencies
14
Suppliers
17
Banks

14. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 14
Coordination levels
! Relationships can be classified considering
the coordination problems
structuring level of the problem
collaboration integration
codecision negotiation
degree
of
aim
sharing
high
low
low high

15. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 15
Classifying the relationships
! Coordination levels for the player ‘Hotel’
HOTEL CO-ORDINATATION LEVEL
Travel agencies Integration
Car rentals and taxi services Integration – Co-decision
Local promotion agencies Integration – Co-decision
Public corporations Integration – Co-decision
Museums, parks Integrazione – Collaboration
Food and Beverageg Integration – Co-decision
Trade associations Integration
Ski-lift companies Integration – Negotiation
Customers Integration – Co-decision
Railways, motorways, airports Integration
Other hotels Integration
ICT services and TLC Co-decision
Suppliers Negotiation
Police Integration
Advertising agencies Co-decision – Negotiation
Banks Integration – Negotiation
Suppliers of professional training Integration
Congress organising committees Integration – Co-decision

16. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 16
Context diagram Hotel (2nd version)
1
Hotel
4
Local
promotion
agencies
2
Travel
agencies
3
Car renting
and taxi
1.12 IN
1.3 CD-IN
1.14 NG
18
Suppliers of
professional
traning
19
Congress
organizing
committee
7
Food &
beverage
5
Public
corporation
8
Trade
associations
9
Ski-lift
companies
10
Clients
6
Museums,
parks
11
Railways,
motorways,
airports
12
Other hotels
1.9 IN-NG
1.6 IN-CL
1.16 CD-NG
1.19 IN-CD
1.17 IN-NG
1.10 CD-NG-IN-CL
13
ICT and
TLC
15
Police
16
Advertising
agencies
1.4 IN
1.8 IN
14
Suppliers
1.2 IN
1.5 IN-CD
1.13 CD
1.7 IN-CD
1.11 IN
1.18 IN
1.15 IN
17
Banks
Norms, report
Services, assistance
Services’ requests, assistance
Info requests
Services, invoicesoffert
Services requests, orders
References request, Info professional staff
Availability, Info events, hotel
Services requests
Availability
Info, promotion, advertising
Booking
Requets info and services, booking
Congress service
Services
Availability, promotion
Booking, requests, info, services evaluation
Convention
Services requests
Info
Requests, info
Requests, info, booking
Info availability, events
Info requests, booking of guided tours
Booking, Info events
Availability
Availability
Data, services’requests
Services
Availability, Info, organised tours
Info staff, references
Info and convention
Booking
Info clients
Info clients
Info gastonomic events
CL: collaboration

17. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 17
Analysing the information needs
! Arcs can be labelled with:
! data flows
! activities
! transactions
E.g. (vs. Hotel):
Player: Travel agencies (2)
Input: Availability
Output: Booking
Player: Car rental and taxi services (3)
Input: Booking
Output: Availability, Organised tours info
...

18. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 18
Design of ICT-based applications
! The choice and design of applications to
support coordination must consider first
the characteristics of the data and
activities connected with the different
levels of coordination:
! The structuring level of the problem influences
how the database is designed and queried
! The degree of aims sharing defines the kind of
support necessary for the players to be able to
communicate

19. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 19
Coordination levels and ICT applications
CODECISION
COLLABORATION INTEGRATION
NEGOTIATION
Groupware
Traditional
applications
Decision supports
systems
Information-retrieval
Data mining
Query
Database
e-mail
Elettronic diary
video-conference
...
EDI
Office Automation
CAD, CAM
...
Electronic sheets
DSS, GDSS
Espert systems
...
NETWORK

20. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 20
Conclusions
! Our research confirmed that context
diagrams:
! are useful to design instruments and
applications to support coordination among the
players in a tourist destination
! enable the adoption of a problem solving
approach in the planning of ICT-based
applications, starting from analysis of the
relationships network among the players instead
of the availability of technology

21. Luisa Mich - ENTER 2001 - April 24-27 - Montréal 21
Future developments
! The next stage of the research is analysis
of:
! the offering process in the Alps as tourist
destination
! the promotion process
! the orientation of the client in the destination