ICTs and Tourism for Local Development: An ICT-enabled Model and Diffusion Strategy

Tourism is an important opportunity for development of economies, and in particular for developing ones, since it represents an important share of those countries economic activity. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be a relevant opportunity, especially for those Countries and destinations that before others adopt such a kind of technologies and integrate local tourism stakeholders through effective e-Strategies and models. Nevertheless, coordination technologies such as ICTs cannot produce any significant benefit unless the necessary organizational changes are being undertaken. And such paths are often ‘conflictridden’( Lipsey, 1999) and paved of resistance. Who’s in charge of managing tourism is thus facing a double challenge: the redefinition of traditional destination management structures and the diffusion of these new models and practices, and primarily their enabling technologies, in a fragmented, SMEs-driven sector. Starting from these premises this paper aims to present an innovative ICT-enabled model for the management of destinations, as well as an integrated strategy of e-skills creation, ICT development and diffusion and local networking and cooperation projects for the implementation of such a kind of model in tourism destinations. The methodology to trigger the diffusion of ICTs in institutions and firms as it has being used in different experiences in Italy, Morocco and Jordan will be presented, and conclusions on the need to contextualize models, technologies and interventions to the specific conditions of the destination, and the role of technology in doing so, will be made.