Technology Adoption in the Caribbean Tourism Industry

This book investigates the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Caribbean travel firms, particularly for sales and marketing purposes. By examining the decision-making process in tourism companies deciding whether to become more dependent on digital capabilities and artificial intelligence, this text seeks to understand the role of strategy and resources in technology adoption. Further, the author assesses the role of factors both external (such as culture) and internal (such as leadership) in this strategic process. Economies in the Caribbean are reliant on tourism to bring prosperity to the region, and with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is being forced to transform the way it operates. With implications for those studying organizational behavior as well as strategic and tourism management, this study analyzes rapid change in this pivotal industry.

Uses a hierarchical approach to explore all levels of technology adoption (computers, internet and ecommerce) Offers a theoretical model that illuminates the decision-making process involving technology adoption in Caribbean travel firms First book to focus on tourism in the Caribbean, as relates to its ability to exploit technological advances in service delivery

Auteur

Andrew Spencer is Deputy Executive Director and Senior Lecturer at the Mona School of Business and Management, as well as Head of the Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. He is the former Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company, the agency responsible for the maintenance, development and enhancement of the tourism product in Jamaica. He is the author of Travel and Tourism in the Caribbean, published by Palgrave Macmillan and has published extensively in international journals.

Contenu

1. Introduction2.- Leadership and Technology: Understanding Adoption Practices3.- Internal Firm Factors: An Examination of Travel Companies Resource base4.- External Factors: The Digital Divide, Closing the Gap5.- Transactional and Transformational Leaders: Their Influence on Technolog 6.- The Applicability of an Innovative Theoretical Model and its Implications.- 7. Conclusion <p