Chapter 6 Extension to B2E Mobile Tourism Service Classification
6.3 Research Result for B2E Mobile Tourism Service Classification
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立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
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feasibility, and cost-benefit effectiveness the proposed B2E mobile tourism services during the field interviews. After the B2E mobile tourism servi
sults in detail.
pport, and competence enhancement. The mobile services with values of efficiency and effectiveness were mobile communication services, mob
offices. It is famous for high-quality tours, especially the customized tour packages for incentive tours. It has no freelance tour leaders, and their tour leaders are also tour guides. Its main product line is the outbound tours to Japan. The fourth company was established by a newspaper mother company in 1999. It has one branch office now and focuses only on direct sales. The last company was opened in 2000. It has seven local branch offices. It is a leader in e-tourism market offering personalized tour packages for users with high income, high educational levels and high web surfing experiences. It even sells travel necessities like baggage, international phone cards, cameras, and local food on its website.
The respondents included a vice president, senior and middle level managers, and employees with tour leader/tour guide backgrounds. Each field interview lasted about one and half hours to two hours. First, we explained the research purpose to them. Then, they were asked to provide comments about the proposed B2E mobile tourism services. Thirdly, they were asked to score the importance,
ce evaluation, interviewees were asked to eliminate duplicate or similar items and to integrate them if possible. Finally, they were asked to evaluate the appropriateness of the mapping of individual B2E mobile tourism service with the B2E mobile tourism service classification framework.
6.3 Research Result for B2E Mobile Tourism Service Classification
In the first stage, based on the literature reviews and a case study of a large travel agency, we generated a pool of sixteen B2E mobile tourism services for the tourism industry. In the second stage, with the help of focus group participants of thirteen senior students from two tourism departments, we classified the B2E mobile tourism services into the B2E mobile tourism service classification framework. In the last stage, we asked five domain experts to evaluate the importance, feasibility, and cost-benefit effectiveness of each B2E mobile tourism service. The final B2E mobile tourism service classification was refined to have twelve B2E mobile tourism services. The following sections described the research re
Stage 1: B2E mobile tourism service identification result
Summarized from literature reviews, the mobile values in our research included time-critical and mobility-related needs, organizational agility, innovation, collaboration, efficiency, effectiveness, decision su
ile information services, mobile sale force support services, and mobile community services. Mobile services allowed communication, information access, transaction, and entertainment (Camponovo and Pigneur, 2002). Because this paper focused on B2E domain, mobile entertainment services were excluded. First of all, the mobile communication services were most used to get in touch with customers and coworkers. For example, a sales person would call the customer to inform about the hotel reservation confirmation. Secondly, the mobile information services facilitated the real-time feedbacks, like emergency handling
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advertising services were also interesting marketing tools; however, previous research indico apply this operation model to the tourism industry, when a group tour had a bus problem and they needed another bus to continue the tour, the nearest available
and tour guide need to take care of injured tourists in the hospitals while arranging nearby hotels for the uninjured group tourists at the same
e mobile services with values of organizational agility, collaboration, innovation, and decision-making included the mobile executive decision support services, the mobile tour ervices. First, the m
status reports, daily tour status reports, and real-time customer complain process reports etc.
For example, the road blocking event along with the new tour routes were reported to the operation centers via mobile devices. Thirdly, mobile transaction services were merged into mobile sale force support services (Rangone and Renga, 2006).Fourthly, mobile community services were included because they were interesting marketing instruments as well as information sharing channels (Prykop and Heitmann, 2006; Yu, 2005). For example, tour leaders interested in major event news like big earthquake near the sightseeing spots would access the latest news in the event community via mobile devices. Fin
ated that consumers generally had negative attitudes toward mobile advertising services unless they had specifically consented to it (Tsang, Ho, and Liang, 2004), so the mobile advertising services were excluded in our research.
Real-time job dispatch services, location-based collaboration services, location-based information services, and location-based decision support services offered mobile values such as time-critical, mobility-related, decision-making, and collaboration values. First, the successful implementation of real-time taxi dispatching services showed the possibility of real-time tracking and positioning of taxies to achieve greater productivity and customer satisfaction (Liao, 2003). T
bus was located and assigned to handle the remaining tour plan. Secondly, location-based collaboration services provided essential information to remote collaborators. For example, a group tour had a car accident and the tour leader
time. Location-based collaboration services helped the tour leader and tour guide to coordinate with multiple hotels at the same time. Thirdly, location-based information services offered nearby information like weather forecasts, event notification, and road conditions, etc (Hinze and Voisard, 2003). Fourthly, based on the location-based information, the location-based decision support services further offered decision-making suggestions (Basole and Chao, 2004). For example, the real-time road condition along with suggested routes would send to the bus drivers based on the current locations of the tours.
Th
planning & group decision support services, and the mobile tour quality control s
obile executive decision support services met the decision-making needs for executives on the move (Shim, 2002). For example, the executives would have video conference meeting and access decision-related information via mobile phones during the business trips. Secondly, the mobile tour planning & group decision support services enabled wireless discussions and decision supports along the tour planning process (Roth and Unger, 2001). For example, the tour planners who were on business trips would share cost estimation sheet with partners to discuss the tour route alternatives via mobile devices. Thirdly, the mobile tour quality control services provide real-time backend supports to ongoing tours (Yu, 2005). For example, if there was a big typhoon in Taiwan for several days and there were big flight delays and flight re-schedules, the operation centers needed to find out the affected ongoing tours and to send
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hearsal practices in advance at the night before the visit. The mobile community-based learning services enabled learners to access the discu
the latest feasible tour plan including the flight schedule, hotels, and restaurants to the tour leaders and tour guides of affected tours to ensure the tour service quality.
Mobile services enhancing employee competence included the location-based learning services, the mobile scenario-based learning services, the mobile community-based learning services, the mobile knowledge management services, and the personalized tour information services (Clarke, 2001; Derballa and Pousttchi, 2004; Roschelle, Sharples, and Chan, 2005;
Shen, 2003; Wei and Chen, 2006; Zurita and Nussbaum, 2004). Because the learners were on the move, the mobile technologies would enable anytime-anywhere learning (Roschelle, Sharples, and Chan, 2005; Wei and Chen, 2006; Zurita and Nussbaum, 2004). For example, the location-based learning services provided the tour guides with opportunities to review the latest museum exhibit information and to have the re
ssion forum or experts in the community via mobile devices. The mobile scenario-based learning services captured the customer complaint database and facilitated the self-paced learning process; from these scenarios, the tour leaders and tour guides learned how to react to events like sick customers, bad food, old buses, and overbooking hotels, etc. Moreover, the tourism knowledge was intensive, fast-changing, and distributed; thus, mobile devices would be attractive tools to capture knowledge (Derballa and Pousttchi, 2004; Shen, 2003). For example, the tour leaders would photo the first snow in Japan this year and update the sightseeing database. Finally, the personalized tour information services pushed the short messages of the latest Japan tour news to the subscribed employees based on individual’s preferences (Clarke, 2001). The summary list of B2E mobile tourism services was shown in Table 17.
Table 17. Summary of B2E Mobile Tourism Services
Mobile Service Definition & Example (Ex) Reference
Mobile communication services
To talk on the phone, to get SMS alerts, to send instant messages, and to get office to emails
(Ex) A sales person may use his/her mobile phone to call operation center for the latest group tour availability of a specific
Camponovo and the Pigneur, 2002 group tour.
Mobile information services
To facilitate real-time feedbacks or latest status reports
(Ex) A tour leader may file the customer complaints about old buses, bad food, or sick customers with photos along with summaries of customer care processes via mobile devices.
(Ex) Real time events like car accidents, road blocking, bus breakdowns, and bad weathers are reported to the operation centers along with the handling process.
Camponovo and Pigneur, 2002
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all employees in the tourism industry. Employees may hook on thisMobile community services
group of services to update or be updated about the latest tour-related news via mobile devices.
(Ex) A tour guide may share the latest music festival events, activities, and stories in a particular music festival community via mobile devices.
(Ex) During the cheery season, a cheery flower discussion forum is initiated, and tour guides and tour leaders may share the latest photos of cherry flowers and the knowledge of cherry flower spices via mobile devices.
Prykop and Heitmann, 2006;
Yu, 2005 To share real-time travel news and resources via mobile devices (Ex)
The latest typhoon warnings or earthquake news is very important t
Mobile sales force support services
To support sales people by checking tourism product availability via mobile devices to provide fast response to customers
(Ex) A sales person is presenting an incentive tour for a VIP customer, and the customer proposes several modifications such as more flight seats and some seat upgrades. The sales person may query the flight availability via mobile devices, and he/she may reply to the VIP customer on site.
Rangone and Renga, 2006
Location-based collaboration services
To help the tour leaders/tour guides to confirm or coordinate the tour resources based on the current tour locations
(Ex) When a group tour has a car accident, the tour leader and tour guide need to take care of injured tourists in the hospitals while arranging nearby hotels for the uninjured group tourists at the same time. This group of services helps the tour leader and tour guide to
Chen and Nath, 2004
coordinate with multiple hotels at the same time via mobile devices.
Location-based information services
To get the latest location-related tour information like nearby traffic conditions
(Ex) Tour leaders and tour guides are notified about the nearby road conditions, weather forecasts, and festival event schedule changes, etc. Tour bus drivers may take another traffic route if there is a traffic jam nearby. Tour leaders may make suggestions about free time activity to the group tour tourists based on the weather reports and the latest activity notification.
Hinze and Voisard, 2003
Location-based decision support services
ggestions based on current location-related information le changes
(Ex) When there is a big traffic jam and it is impossible to make the scheduled restaurant, this group of services will recommend nearby restaurants to the tour guides and tour leaders.
(Ex) When a customer loses his/her passport, the locations of the nearest police office and passport application office along with passport application guidelines are sent to the tour leader to help the customer to solve the passport issue.
Basole and Chao, 2004
To provide su
like traffic jams, rain forecasts, and festival event schedu
(Ex) Nearby traffic jam along with alternative route suggestions are sent to the bus drivers, tour leaders, and tour guides via mobile devices.
(Ex) The latest nearby activities along with the suggested sightseeing schedules are sent to the bus drivers, tour leaders, and tour guides via mobile devices.
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To assist location-related, theme-based, community-based learning by providing opportunity for discussion and encouraging employees to engage in knowledge sharing and acquiring
(Ex) Tour guides can confirm the latest exhibit information and have the museum guidance rehearsals the night before the visit via mobile devices.
(Ex) Tour guides can query more information about related art works of a famous painting artist the night before the visit via mobile devices.
(Ex) Tour knowledge of seasonal activities like bird-watching of the Kenting National Park in Taiwan is sent to the tour guides when they are at Kenting area in Taiwan during bird-watching seasons.
(Ex) Tour leaders learn how to response to customer complaints like bad food with the theme-oriented training tools or community discussions via mobile devices.
Roschelle,
he first snow in Japan and upload to the
Derballa and Pousttchi, 2004;
Shen, 2003 To enable the latest knowledge capture, store, or deliver real-time
knowledge to improve the knowledge management practices (Ex) Tour guide may photo t
knowledge portal to input new sightseeing knowledge via mobile devices.
(Ex) When the tour leader notices the open/close time of a certain sightseeing spot is changed because of the season changes, and he/she may update the latest open/close time of that sightseeing spot to the knowledge portal via mobile devices.
Mobile tour quality control services
To provide backend support from operation centers to first-line employees like tour guides and tour leaders to control the tour quality by reacting to major events
(Ex) When most customers are complaining about the bad hotels and requesting hotel upgrades. The tour leaders may photo the bad facilities of the hotels and ask approval for hotel changes from backend offices. The backend offices may contact other hotels and send a feasible hotel upgrade list to the tour leaders via mobile devices.
(Ex) If there is a typhoon in Taiwan for several days and there are big flight delays and flight re-schedules, the operation center needs to find out the affected ongoing tours and sends new tour plans including the flight schedules, hotels, and restaurants to the tour leaders and tour guides of the affected ongoing tours via mobile devices.
(Ex) When the tour operation center gets road block announcements from a national park website, and it is impossible to visit some sightseeing spots during the closed time frame, the operation center would send a new tour plan to the tour leaders and tour guides via mobile devices. To support video conference via mobile devices and to supply the
executives with decision-related information
(Ex) When an executive needs to make some decisions during his/her business trip, he/she may access the latest summary report of the key performance indicators with this group of services and have video conference via mobile devices.
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To get the latest tour news based on personal preferences
(Ex) Tour messages of newly opened sightseeing spots and the latest art exhibitions for a specific region are sent to employees who strongly meet the tour features. Employees can still catch the latest subscribed tour information when they are not at office.
Clarke, 2001
Real-time job dispatch se (Removed)
rvices
ntinue the tour, the nearest available bus is located and To track and locate the nearest tour services or facilities
(Ex) When a group tour have a bus problem and they need another bus to co
assigned to handle the remaining tour plan.
Liao, 2003
To enable wireless discussions and decision supports along the tour planning process
(Ex) The tour planners who are on business trips can share cost estimation sheet with partners to discuss the tour route alternatives via mobile devices.
Roth and Unger, 2001
Stage 2 result
f ice
n were sed and formulated. Supports for business operat
ment pers The
proposed B2E m riented mobile
services and ope ecision support
services, the mobile tour quality control services, and the location-based decision support
services were grou es. The mobile
learning services, ed information
services, location- s, personalized tourism information services,
mobile communic unity services,
and mobile sale fo mobile tourism
services. From th further divided
into strategic pla nd operational
ro urism services
were grouped into based services,
and context-aware information &
communication services include mobile communication services, mobile information services,
mobile communit location-based
decision support location-based
collaboration serv obile executive
decision support le tour quality control services, mobile learning services, mobile knowledge m
regarded as conte s, the proposed
uris anagement and
ens
so discusse nce, feasibility,
and effectiveness ile tourism services as they were employees in
: B2E mobile tourism service classification
During the classificatio manage
ocus group discussion, the dimensions of a B2E mobile discus
tourism serv ions from both
discussed.
pectives and functional perspectives were proposed and obile tourism services were grouped into management-o ration-support mobile services. The mobile executive d
ped into management-oriented B2E mobile tourism servic mobile knowledge management services, location-bas
based collaboration service
ation services, mobile information services, mobile comm rce support services were regarded as operational level B2E e management perspectives, the management levels were nning, management control, knowledge management, a control.
Moreover, f m the functional perspectives, the proposed B2E mobile to mobile information & communication services, services based on functional perspectives. The mobile y services, and mobile sale force support services. The
services, and location-based information services, and ices were grouped into location-based services. The m services, mobi
anagement services, and personalized tourism information services were xt-aware services. Then, combined these two perspective
B2E mobile to functional dim were al
m services were put into different slots based on the m ions. The target user groups for the proposed B2E mobile t d and illustrated. The participants also evaluated the importa of the proposed B2E mob
ourism services
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travel agencies. T are with those scored by
the
Stage 3
Based on the discussions from the field interviews, we made three modifications. First, routes were fixed, and the
ot c ndly,
tour pla ause its average
score on the importance rating was lower than 3.
ed mob he revised list
e urism services in the final B2E mobile t Tab
. Based feasibility, and
cost/benefit effecti E mobile tourism services by managers were 4.2, 4.4, and rvices were he scores and rankings then were used to comp
managers to see
difference between managers and employees.
: B2E mobile tourism service evaluation result
the real-time job d situation was n the mobile
ispatch services were removed because the field
omplicated enough to apply the real-time job dispatch serv nning & group decision support services were removed bec
Thirdly, interviewees suggested combine the ices. Seco
three relat contained twelv classification.
evaluation
ile learning services into one mobile learning service. T
B2E mobile to ourism service
tourism service le 18 illustrated the statistics report of the B2E mobile
on 5-point rating, the average scores of the importance, veness for all B2
3.9 respectively. For employees, the average scores for all B2E mobile tourism se 3.8, 3.7, and 3.2 respectively.
Table 18. Statistics Report of B2E Mobile Tourism Service Evaluation
Mobile service
Importance Feasibility Cost/Benefit Effectiveness
Manager Employee Manager Employee Manager Employee
M S R M S R M S R M S R M S R M S R Note: M stands for mean; S is standard deviation; R means ranking.
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n framework, including the
m ension, two
nagement levels then further divided into strategic planning
nagement levels then further divided into strategic planning