Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2000

ENTER has now met for six years, providing a valuable forum for researchers and practitioners to discuss and debate their ideas and perspectives regarding the nature and role of tourism and information technology in global society. Over the years, the nature and rate of change in the tourism industry has been overwhelming. The internet and related technologies are now dominant agents of change and have created a "new economy" which requires new processes and strategies to replace those developed for the "old economy". The theme of ENTER 2000, "Keeping Pace with Change - New Frontiers for IT and Tourism", captures the challenges that we face at the beginning of the new millennium. The papers included in this volume illustrate the incredible growth in research and development in this area and reflect its youth, vitality and at the same time, maturation. Perhaps most important, these papers document how this new technology has changed and, in tum, how the industry has responded. The series of proceedings of which this volume is a part is creating a unique body of knowledge about the intertwined emergence of tourism and technology. There are, perhaps, three overriding themes of this congress. First is the focus on the tourist. Professor Stock's keynote address "Intelligent Interfaces for the Tourist" is a good representative of a series of papers discussing how information systems, electronic markets, and user interfaces have been or can be developed to enhance the tourist experience.