Information and communication technologies in tourism marketing: An empirical study on the web sites of the travel agencies

Along with the development of information and communication technologies and the internet, new strategies and applications have emerged in tourism marketing. As in any business, tourism establishments, which include travel agencies, have also been affected by such changes and have started to adopt new marketing insihgts. Today, travel agencies practice marketing via worldwide web sites they own, and leave traditional marketing techniques behind. In this system, consumers can access all sorts of information through web sites and they can carry out their reservation process as online. In recent years, the increasing numbers of web-based travel agencies force travel agencies to develop web sites which are more efficient and meet the needs of customers.In this thesis, it has been attempted to present the effects of information and communication technologies in tourism marketing. In the empirical part of the research, a study has been executed on the web sites of travel agencies, while the results of a questionnaire dealing with the characteristics of an efficient travel agency web site are presented from the perspectives of customers, who have bought a travel product within the past 12 months via the internet.