Tourism marketing: A study of the use of information and communication technology in travel agencies and tourism of Balneário Camboriú (SC, Brazil)

Abstract

The information and communication technologies (ICT) have significant effects on the market in an increasingly competitive landscape. In the services sector, because of its intangibility, the quality of communication with all stakeholders connected directly to the organizations make all the difference to your business success. The agency in tourism sector has been adapting to new ICT tools. This study aimed to investigate, from a descriptive quantitative approach, the level of use of ICT for some travel agencies and tourism city of Balneário Camboriú (SC, Brazil) in its relationship with customers, suppliers and partners, as well as in marketing their products and services and their promotional strategies. As methodological procedures adopted the literature and field research, which consisted of the application of questionnaires to travel agents and tourism sites. The results showed that tools like email still has the same level of use that the fixed and mobile telephony and social networking featured prominently only in the relationship with customers. It is believed that a qualitative research with consumers can contribute to a better understanding of the use of ICT tools by travel agents and tourism.

Keywords

• Marketing turístico
• Tecnologia de informação
• Agências de viagens e turismo
• Ferramentas de comunicação.