Abstract

The use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has revolutionized the way businesses is carried out today and it is believed to be a very important channel of distribution of information and linking customers to services and products and especially in E-tourism. E-tourism has allowed customers and business owners with a direct platform to communicate with each other especially for marketing and sales activities such as choosing destinations, getting information, making reservations, paying online, and advertising among others. Internet and ICT in the tourism sector will only continue helping tourism entrepreneurs to enhance their service offerings and thus overall position in the market.

Belize has a public-private economy with tourism as the number one foreign exchange earner. In this study the E-tourism status in Belize was assessed. This study explored uses of the Internet and presence of web marketing tools in tourism businesses in Belize, since very little information is currently known. A concurrent mixed-method approach was used in this study. Firstly, a service blueprint for travellers was developed to identify the actions of the traveller and how they relate to E-tourism. Upon reviewing the blueprint and identifying that the Internet and ICT played a large role in user’s actions while travelling, the Internet presence of all Belizean hotels and tour operators were surveyed. After analyzing the survey, and identifying that most of the hotels and tour operators had websites and how important a role website play in tourism businesses, a website evaluating approach was used to further asses and study the state, quality and effectiveness of websites used among the Hotels and Tour operators. A modified Balanced Score Card (BSC) approach was used as the evaluation method for the websites and the focus of this study. User Judgment was also measured via a questionnaire to assess the satisfaction levels of a destination website.

This research has much implication, mainly for tourism businesses wanting to improve their services over the Internet. Most importantly this study illustrated that currently Belize e-tourism is slow growing and that web marketing tools in tourism institutions seem to be expanding but are still very limited. The website evaluation approach illustrated that for hotels, the greatest strength was site attractiveness and their weakness was in the technical aspect. Similarly, the tour operator’s greatest strength was in technical aspect and the weakest strength was marketing effectiveness. Low scores in all perspectives evaluated in the BSC approach and low levels in Internet presence, indicates the need for improvements in almost all web platforms.

References
Organizations/Institutions

Belize Hotel Association (BHA). Available at: http://belizehotels.org/

Belize Tourism Board (BTB). Official site not available at the moment, referral to: http://www.travelbelize.org/

Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA). Available at: http://www.btia.org/

International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Available at: http://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx

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Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB). Available at: http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/index.php/home-page

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Hotels and Tour Operators: Websites available in Figure 5-3

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