1. Teleinformatics (ICT – Information and Communication Technologies)

Information and Communication technologies is a broad definition for many different types of devices / technologies used to provide information for its users and also to generate them, store them and perform all the other operations somehow related with those activities. Depends on what kind of device is being used, different types of activities can be done. Of course, some of them can be very similar but generally there is always some distinction between them and different devices are designed to do different things and have different application. Since long ago ICT have a great influence on tourism industry, some features of it have changed the way the industry promote itself and also how they manage all types of processes to provide a service. It also has a great influence on environment, sustainability and carbon footprint. But before that, it is important to get better understanding of what technologies are included in ICT.

Information and communications technologies are extension of information technologies (IT) which uses computers, developed networks, computer software and other digital or electronic devices to manage and transmit information, while ICT is defined as the use of computers and other digital technologies to assist people or organizations in accessing, operating, storing, applying and manipulating information. It includes all the communication technologies like internet, video-conferences, cell phones, and social networks. It is also known as connection between audio-visual technologies and computer or telephone networks. It is hard to define ICT as the concept of it is rapidly changing and the technology is evolving every day, but the simples one might be that it is designed to help people and organizations use information in digital form.

The tourism industry is heavily influenced by implementation of ICT. Since it was first introduced, the whole market changed entirely and allow it grow to be bigger than ever. Especially in terms of marketing, communication and management. The whole concept of ICT in tourism can be categorized in 6 different groups and each of them help its users to perform different types of activities with help of different devices and software. The categories can be divided as follows:

• computer technology
• communication media
• multi-channel communication
• media enabling the recording of information
• complex information technology (IT) systems
• telecommunications technology

Every category has some similarities and distinction but all of them needs some specific devices or software to fulfil their functions for different type of context they can be used in, like tourism, education or health care. Although most common devices mentioned in ICT description are cell phones, tablets, television and computers. Beside that ICT uses technologies like satellites, internet or network hardware and a whole spectrum of software that integrates those technologies for the purpose of communication and handling of information.

Information and Communication Technologies are essential for tourism industry nowadays but different categories of it might not be fully understandable for everyone. As mentioned before there are six main categories of ICT used in tourism industry.

• Computer technology

Computer technology is a general term that is built of hardware, software, network and can be described as a combination of these terms. It is implemented in almost every company on the market. It allows them to advertise, manage projects, gain knowledge. It is designed to expand possibilities in many different fields for humans, and to do it in the easiest way possible.

Hardware are physical things related to work of devices like computer, smartphone and so on. Things like hard disk that allow devices to store information, processor which is responsible for performing the operations based on instructions given by users or monitor, mouse, all are part hardware group. The tendency is designing the hardware is to make that it smaller, more efficient and to use less energy.

Software is the programs or application that allow user to perform actions on devices. Their operations are possible thanks to work of hardware. Everything that is inside our devices is a software, starting form operating system, to things like Internet browser, communication media, multimedia edition apps and so on.

Networking is everything related to Internet connection. It covers Internet as it is but also things like cables, servers, routers. It is what enables to connect with others online, exchange files, share our thoughts on social media and run businesses. Since its beginnings in 20^th century, networking technologies have gone through incredible process of development that refers to speed of connection and accessibility. In the early stages Internet has been very slow, the amount of information to find there was relatively small and the cost of connection was much higher than today. Now almost every household is connected to the global network but also to small local network are created so the devices can cooperate with each other. Also, almost everyone is connected to Internet via mobile phones which create constant availability of people online and possibility to reach then at whatever moment with instant reply.

Even though there is a big spectrum of applications of computer technologies there are still countless possibilities for further development. For many first thing that can come to mind is an artificial intelligence that will surely be responsible for drastic changes in all fields of life. Other than that future invention will be related to robotics, 5G and other next generations of network, virtual, augmented and mixed realities or all the further improvement of communication tools.

• Communication Media

This is probably most commonly known category of ICT for regular tourism services user and also for technology users in general. Those are the channels that enable the movement of information from the sender to the recipient and they are considered as essential to provide communication not only with clients but also within the organization or partnership. It can also be described as a process of sending and receiving. It is often confused with communication devices which are just a tool to enable the use of communication media. Some of the most commonly used devices in this category are TV, Radio and most importantly computers and cell phones. They allow digital message to be send to a user through images, videos or by software which was created to make this communication possible. Beside these there are also some forms of media communication that are not digital like images, posters, travel magazines, brochures or tour guides. But in today’s age of technology, they are being slowly forgotten as digital messages have wider range of recipients and impact of it is immediate. Their goal is to create a relation with customers and to share information about activities, events, sales and basically whatever might be happening in the company at the moment and is worth sharing with people from outside.

In business there are also two groups of communication media which are non-verbal and verbal. Non-verbal communication, especially in business is only complementary to verbal communication. Parts of it are for example body language, facial expression, gestures, eye contact and voice modulation. All of those are very important part of presentation and make it more engaging, interesting and every professional that wants to master skill of presentation must be familiar with them. They can also be useful in negotiation or sales. To learn how to use and read them can be very beneficial for anyone as majority of received information in face-to-face conversation is considered to be non-verbal. Although it is important to keep in mind that non-verbal language may vary in different cultures and can be easily misunderstand.

Verbal communication doesn’t always mean that there have to be a direct or face-to-face interaction between the sender and receiver cause this group is also divided to oral communication and written communication, but it always requires the usage of words. Oral communication is performed by speaking in variety of forms.

Although it doesn’t always have to be face-to-face conversation, it is one of the ways to do it and it’s being used the most not only in business but also in everyday life. It is the most effective way of communication as it eliminates any form of misunderstanding caused by bad connection, hardware issues and other problems of that nature. It provides quick feedback and a space for discussion or explanation. The problem with it is that it is not always possible to meet in person with the receiver of information, that might require traveling and without that the information cannot be communicated to bigger audition.

These issues can be eliminated with the help of telephone communication which is another form of verbal communication that can eliminate disadvantages of traditional conversation but possibility of miscommunication is higher. It doesn’t require the physical presence of both or more parties in the same place so there is no need for traveling long distances to have a discussion. Nowadays telephones are widely available so there are no concerns about the access to them.

Digital presentation is a form of media communication that is a combination of speaking and presenting. It can be done stationary, which require the presence of people interested in the discussed topic, and remotely. That allows sender to reach bigger audition with no need for their physical presence in the same place. This is more formal type of communication and usually is concentrated on some specific topic. Presentation consists of not only speaking but also preparing some additional materials like text, pictures and so on. It is designed to deepen the understanding of receiver about the topic and present it in accessible and interesting way. To archive that it is necessary for a person responsible for presenting to have some particular skills in that field. Frist of all the process of preparing of presentation is crucial and need to be done with help of some software like for example PowerPoint. What is included inside the presentation is also extremely important and can’t be too overwhelming for the receiver. The process of presenting is even more complicated and preparation to it might consume a lot of time and knowledge. Thing like proper communication with audience, showing enthusiasm and use body language are just some examples of effective presentation traits. Like mentioned before the presentation can be delivered in face-to-face condition but also with help of digital software like Zoom, Microsoft teams etc.

There are also few other forms of verbal communication like public speech, interview and meetings. Each of them needs a person that will be responsible for leading the communication and the group of people that listen and interact with him/her.

Beside oral communication there is written communication. It is most commonly used to share data, information or messages. What gives it advantage over oral communication is that information given in written form allow its recipient to have time to analyze it with no time pressure or any bias that might come from any form of manipulation that can come with oral expression.

One of the forms of written communication media is e-mail. It’s widely used in business environment and also for personal matters. It allows to send and receive files or information globally. E-mail is a base to perform any activity on the Internet. That happen because almost every website, service or platform needs its user to provide it with e-mail address to register and access it. Mostly it guarantees some kind of personalization of an account, accepting terms and conditions but also allow future communication with customer. Without that registration on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter would be impossible, and professionals in any kind of modern business cannot afford giving up on these platforms. It’s fast and global medium that makes the communication personal and providing possibility of contacting with many different users at the same time, what leads to more efficient work flow and increased productivity. It is the first-choice form of communication in business also because of the features it offers, just to mention a few: provides safe storage place for sending and receiving important document, allow to generate automatic replies to messages which is especially useful when a person is out of reach and want to let others know about that and when they can expect a reply, with internet connection and specifically designed app it is possible to use e-mail anytime and anywhere. With all this e-mail remain non-invasive way of communication, there is obviously a possibility to reply within seconds but purpose of it is different. With such extensive tool must come some disadvantages as well, like spam, which can be avoided if e-mail is used responsibly, or viruses that can affect work of your whole work station, so it is necessary to have some understanding of how to use e-mail properly or use some additional software that can provide some defense mechanism.

Other forms of written communication media are brochures, proposals, newsletters, reports, posters. All serve businesses to communicate some kind of information to the public or partners. Those can ensure others access to what is planned, in progress or already done, depends on the current stage of realization or a desired outcome.

Before moving on to some communication media that changed the market entirely in last decade or so, it is important to mention that before internet era, television was the main source of advertising of tourism. The audience for this type of communication was huge but it was just one way communication as the receivers have no possibility to reply, leave feedback or somehow confront their experiences with what was presented on the screen. After times when main source of communication with wider audience was radio, posters or magazines, audiovisual way of advertising was very attractive to the audience but as the time on the air was very limited, not so many had a chance to take advantage of that technology. It was strictly reserved only for the biggest companies.

The invention and development of Internet changed the whole word and also touristic sector. Unlike television, internet allow everyone to promote their business without necessity of spending big amount of funds and it was only matter of good marketing strategy to reach wide audience. Today Internet is the biggest communication medium with unlimited possibilities to do basically anything. It provides tools for advertising, communicating, negotiations and many more. Companies can also share and acquire knowledge from each other as there are plenty of resources online. Popularization of Internet as a tool for advertisement and communication created new professions such as online marketer or most recently influencer which was added to dictionary in 2019. Their job is to create positive image of a company in web and reach new audiences through online platforms that evolving and providing new possibilities all the time.

Websites are most essential piece of internet. This is main source of information about business, or anything else as content of it is unlimited. Usually it is built from text, images, video and all other kind of media. In tourism industry websites are used to promote and inform interested public about the place and services that are available for customers. Included information are usually related to how does the place look like, what are possibilities in terms of capacity and equipment of rooms, contact information, prices, additional services or activities provided to the customer. Usually there is also some kind of reservation feature which allow page visitor to book a place and make a payment directly from the position of website. It is usually enriched with pictures, videos or reviews from former visitors. Some places also provide an interactive map with exact location and direction to make sure that client won’t have any problems with finding the right spot. Plenty of other features can be implemented into the website as its design is totally dependent on what company wants to be included and capabilities of IT specialist responsible for creating it. Usually this is live chat with facility stuff, this allows instant communication with customer in some urgent cases.

If someone is seeking information outside of the main page of company, they usually looking for a group forum. There are many of these on the internet and it is possible to find one for any specific topic. Users there are not related to company so the opinions found there are usually reliable. They are asking questions, sharing experiences, knowledge, opinions and so on.

Blogs were the thing of early internet. They were created by individuals or companies and they were designed to allow its users to create longer forms of articles available to the whole world through the websites. Bloggers that gain a certain level of popularity were often offered collaboration with companies to advertise them among certain target group. Beside text blog articles were enriched by photos and videos and review.

Vlogs are the next step in evolution of blogs, and are created only in video format. Vloggers achieved popularity thanks to services like YouTube or Vimeo. They allow audience to see the first-person view of a place or service with informative or educational goal which gain them a lot of popularity in recent years and surpass blogs. Video format is much more accessible than text, gives better inside of discussed topic and mostly they are created to entertain as well. Also, they create some kind of bond between author and viewer, it strengthens the trust for information and makes it more attractive for business owners to engage in cooperation.

Other communication media that are based on video is live video conferencing. Covid 19 pandemic gave a huge boost for popularity of these communication method, when all the companies and people were forced to work from home, this technology allowed them to communicate efficiently. There are two types of video communication, first one is live video. In business term it is mostly used for giving presentation or lectures as it is kind of one-way communication. The meeting is usually created and managed by the host and this can be one or more people, and it’s their duty to provide the content to the audience that can only write comment in the chat section but they can’t appear on the screen and take more active participation. To have two-way communication it is necessary to use some video conferencing device. This allow each party to appear on the screen, be heard by others and have discussion. Also, it allows to give presentation by sharing the screen with others.

For tourism industry and for business in general the most important communication channel for advertising and communication with their potential clients are social media. These allow anyone to create a personal or business page on which pictures, videos and updates are posted and delivered to interested ones that decided to follow the particular page. This feature significantly decreased the amount of costs generated by activities related to marketing and in the same time make them much more meaningful. Some of the most commonly used platforms are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. They allow its users to interact with each other by direct messaging function or comments and reaction to media that are being uploaded there. Social media got so big that almost 70% of all Internet users have an account on at least one platform. That amount of potential receivers’ forces business to create specific strategies for social media advertising that can attract new customers, get their feedback and build loyalty and even use them to make the advertisement range even bigger. Big advantage of social media is that they are available not only through computers but also through smartphones with specifically designed application that provides constant connection and possibility to interact within seconds.

• Multi-channel communication

As technologies are constantly developing, companies are facing the challenge to communicate with their potential clients through multiple channels. Amount of these channels creates a need for a tool that can help to manage and create some kind of common ground between them. Multichannel communication tools are the answer for that need. Those are platforms that allow companies to have an access to all the communication channels from one place with specific strategy implemented for it. The goal of adapting this solution is to create better customer experience, better personalization of communication and make the receivers of the messages being more engaged in companies’ activities by making the communication tailored for a specific target group.

The communication is usually referring to social media, SMS, e-mail and push notification implemented into application that must be installed on the user mobile device like smartphone or tablet. This is designed to have the biggest possible impact of each one of used communication channel and seek for the opportunities to promote company’s name. One of the examples of it is e-mail marketing campaign which can be performed by sending newsletters to potential clients.

That allow customers to choose from variety of channel and pick the one that is best for them, use it to get familiar with company’s offer, make orders and communicate efficiently. What makes multichannel platforms attractive is that it allows company’s clients to keep the communication between them among different platforms without necessity to explain the topic of the conversation from the beginning. Customers can also switch between different devices without worrying about losing the progress that was made in discussion or during process of ordering the product or service. The features of these multichannel communication platforms are designed to create a loyalty of customer and make their experience better which is facilitated by analytic tools implemented into platform, it helps to see which channel performance can be improved.

Important factor to consider is what kind of communication to use. There are two main types of communication that these platforms provide: multi-channel communication and omnichannel communication. Multi-channel communication means that different information is being delivered to the customer through different devices. For example, the communicate delivered through SMS have different contents then e-mail. Also, it is only one-way communication as reply from potential receiver is not expected which is opposite of what omnichannel communication propose. The feedback from received is an important part of communication. By choosing this platform companies have much more flexibility as they can jump through different channels and keep the ongoing communication with customers. The provided information is the same for every channel and that allow receiver to decide on any channel he want without worrying about missing anything or start the whole process of communication or ordering product/service from the beginning.

• Media enabling the recording of information

Modern digital technology enables its users to record and store the information. The digital signal which is filled with data is saved on devices that are capable of storing and making it possible to see or read them depends on what kind of device is used and what kind of information is being processed. The information can be easily manipulated with high speed and used for whatever purpose is needed. In this manner, modern devices are successors of traditional paper which was used to save information and access them when necessary. Nowadays the devices are based on electromagnetic and electrooptic technologies. They allow to record media such as text, image, sound or video in digital form which in general are referred to as data and with usage of right device and software can be edited and displayed. It allows to reduce the costs and number of resources such as paper, needed to store them.

The most popular devices that enables storing information are hard drives. Each computer, laptop or smartphone have to be equipped with one as all the data and software are written on it. Hard drives been constantly evolving and capacities and speed of accessing and saving information are improving. Right now, also external hard drives are available and they allow users to expand the space provided by internal hard drives and exchange the data between different device without need of being connected to the Internet.

Invention of databases have changed the way storage and recording of information was perceived. They allow digitalized information to be kept on devices and with combination of connection to the Internet it changed the way they have been shared. Knowledge become universally accessible and easy to find.

The newest technology of storing information is cloud drive. Cloud is not an object but it is a space to which it’s users can access through web. It allows to access data from many different types of devices and from any place. It is often used to exchange big files between users that don’t have possibility to be present in the same place. Also, this technology eliminates the possibility of physical damages of storage device and loosing access to them. As recently many companies changed the working condition to remote, cloud technology is increasingly more popular.

• Complex information technology (IT) systems

Some companies have implemented complex IT systems. This is basically a network of different technologies created to archive goal of better communication and data management. The system is not always the same. It might depend on what activities are going to be perform, what kind of data are being processed and what channels of communication are being used. The most complete system is built from technologies like:

• Cloud Computing
• Virtualized Infrastructures

Virtual infrastructure is a set of software-defined elements that make up an organization’s IT infrastructure environment. Virtual infrastructure delivers the identical IT functionality as physical assets, but via software, so that IT teams can allocate those virtual assets to many systems in a timely manner across a variety of company needs.

• Big Data

Is used to describe the tendency to search, acquire, collect and process available data. It is a method of collecting information from a wide range of sources, analyzing them and using them for their specific purposes. The outcome is a profile of the consumer, which is used, to increase accuracy of delivered content. The most important aspect of Big Data is the processing of information, which is then used, to increase sales. Big Data is more the process of transforming information and the use of the findings than the collection of data itself.

• Analysis and Visualization

This is the process of using the received data and presenting them in the form of charts, graphs or some other form that can enable easier analysis of it to obtain specific benefits for the sake of company activities.

• Internet of Things

Internet of Things refers to scenarios in which network connectivity and computing capabilities are extended to items, sensors and common objects that are not typically regarded as computers, allowing such devices to produce, share and consume data with only minimal human input.

• Telecommunications technology

Important part of ICT industry is telecommunication technology. It allows information to be distributed throughout the world by systems like radio, satellites, microwaves, telephone and other that doesn’t require the use of cable to find a connection between devices. To create that connection 3 components must be in place.

First is the transmitter, it is responsible for creating and sending an information. It is also responsible to transform the message into code that can later be send and received by one or more devices.

Second component is the medium that allows information to be transported. As technology evolved that medium become an atmosphere, which is a successor of traditional cables. Nowadays there is no need for any physical connection. Data can be transmitted through air and depend of what devices and technology is used, it can be long or short distance communication. That creates some security issues as the signal can be overtaken and manipulated along the way.

Last component is receiver which is also a device that don’t have to be the same kind as a sender. It takes digital signal and transform it into readable format so the person that the information is addressed to can easily read it.

Telecommunication technologies are designed to transfer voice, data, radio and television signals. The challenge that this technology has to face is the security issues but also the loss in quality that occurs during the transmission.

• Environmental impact of ICT

Environmental issues are one of the main problems that humanity have to face. Constantly growing greenhouse gas emission is something that needs to be tackled to make sure that quality of all the life on earth will not fall down drastically. Unfortunately, tourism industry has negative impact on environment as well. There are several factors that contributes to this situation. Depletion of natural resources, pollution or physical impact are just some of them. There is an urged need to implement changes to transform the industry to make it more sustainable.

Implementation of ICT technologies can have a great impact if will be implemented globally. It is an important move in direction to transition to circular economy. That transition is being introduced by implementing and developing ICT devices. As the technology is evolving the impact of ICT is growing. Not only because the newest devices have more possible implementation but also because the use of energy is getting smaller. Some devices are even becoming fully sustainable as they started to use solar energy to power them. Development of ICT tools can enable to even eliminate the physical devices and replace them with their electronical substitutes. ICT also allow to monitor the progression of climate changes and weather which can contribute to lower the greenhouse emission and deforestation.

ICT technologies, through for example video conferencing technologies can reduce the amount of traveling. Thanks to them the communication between any places around the world is possible with the use of communication device and medium. A lot of business trips can be replaced with video conference which reduce the caron footprint that has been left behind, significantly.

But not every meetening can be replace by video conference. Also, it is hard to replace all of the tourism activities with use of ICT technologies. Although, they can still impact environment. GPS is also part of ICT technologies. Their use can influence customers behaviors in terms of transportation. The efficiency of it is much higher as people use it to decide on their destination through devices, not printed maps, their tend to find their way much quicker, which can reduce time of traveling and the resources used to get there. Related to that, vehicle users can use smart parking apps which also reduce time needed to find a parking spot. Also access to information of public transportation is much higher and more people deciding on this form to travel, this reduces the number of vehicles in use and reduce the carbon footprint left by them.

Tourism information, advertisement, agreement with travel agencies, additional services, all that used to use a lot of paper. Now, these things are delivered to the customers via ICT devices which allow the use of paper in this industry to be reduced significantly. This dematerialization process is responsible for replacing material things with social media, e-tickets or e-commerce.

Tourism industry is not the only one that can benefit from development of ICT tools and devices. Plenty of other industries have changed many aspects of their work by implementing those tools into their activities. Some of them can be applicable globally and can contribute for many different industries across whole market. Influencing the soil condition is one of negative effects of tourism. But it also causes the changes in food industry, as the waves of heat, storms or floods have big impact on the work of farmers. With ICT tools they can better predict and somehow avoid the negative impact of it. That can influence the food quality and prices over all industries, including tourism.

Tourism is also responsible for generating huge amount of waste. ICT allows to create more efficient waste management chains, and to influence more eco-friendly behaviors in places visited by tourists. Also, when it comes to waste produced by the ICT devices itself, the dissemination of ways to recycle them so the materials can be reused to producing new devices can play a crucial role.

Summary There are many different components of ICT technology presented in this chapter. Some of them are related to hardware and some to software. In many cases they are complementary to each other and together they serve a purpose of communication or dissemination information. It is important to learn how to use them properly with sustainability as the main focus point of it so the environment can actually benefit from it. Questions for reflection How can ICT tools have even bigger impact on tourism industry in term of sustainability?