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Pan-European project improves tourism e-services

15 July 2009

Location of areas that took part in the iSeT project

A major pan-European project designed to enhance online tourism services has been successfully completed by BU.

Tourists are set to benefit from improved online services thanks to the successful completion of a European-wide project led by BU.

The International Centre for Tourism & Hospitality Research (ICTHR), based within BU’s School of Services Management, has successfully completed iSeT, a project co-funded by the European Commission to support the continent’s tourism industry by improving online services.

Led by renowned e-tourism expert Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, the project involved the testing of an online tool designed to support Small and Medium Hospitality Organisations (SMHO) by providing telecommunication services identified as:

The “Before” service where the customer visits the SMHO and gets tourism information as well as reservation service.
The “During” service where the customer gets (through wi-fi connections) internet access and a virtual concierge service (information related to the local weather, transport etc.)
The “After” service where the customer gets selected customised information, special offers etc and loyalty management services.

The tool also provides an easy to use management system for employees that permits the administration of the all the above activities, and a portal for hotel owners dedicated to clustering and networking activities of local tourism organisations.

Following tests in Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain, insights and data from the project have been used to develop a Deployment Strategy and Business Plan to position the i-SeT tool-set in the European market.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis explains: “Small hotels around the world are realising the power of the internet for their promotion and sales but also for the satisfaction of their clientele.

“This European project enabled us to do research with both small and medium tourism enterprises, tourism boards and other stakeholders and develop a powerful technological solution to support their operations, networking with other organisations and increase customer satisfaction.”

He added: “We look forward to take the results forward in other regions and to support small business around the world to take advantage of the internet revolution.”

iSeT is one of the eTEN projects run by the European Community Programme, designed to expand the availability and use of telecommunication networks (e-services) in the European Market.