Disintermediation in Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Disintermediation in Tourism - Essay Example The impacts of disintermediation are various. It has impacted the travel and tourism industry significantly. The supply chain of travel and tourism industry involves tour operators, travel agencies, travel agents and others. Traditionally prospects and people have been depended on these mediators largely for their information and booking needs. Development of web technologies helped the service providers in travel and tourism industry such as airlines, car rentals, hotels and others to offer their services and information through their website. In the image below (Image 1) of WTO 2001 report on E-Business for Tourism, it clearly presents the number of intermediaries which are replaced by the Internet. However, it is evident that these intermediaries co-exist with the internet even in the countries where the internet users are high in number. The use and growth of website services depend on the number of factors like number of internet users, technological platforms available and many others. There are various reasons of disintermediation in the tourism industry. The primary reason is the development of technological platforms offering alternates to the traditional intermediates. The other reason is the cost reductions due to the removal of intermediates. The Internet offers a platform where tickets can not only be booked online but various tourism packages can be customized more effectively than the traditional methods. It makes the marketplace highly competitive as information available to the consumers as well as the options available to them is numerous. More destination choices, there detailed information including videos and availability of an interactive platform such as internet benefits the customer groups. The service providers are able to offer services at the lower cost as the commissions and charges involved for the intermediates are reduced.