A recent PhD completed by Seán Duffy, Head of the School of Tourism, shows clearly that small tourism businesses who embrace new technology can develop and grow faster.  He recently completed a PhD on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Adoption amongst Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises in Ireland.  The PhD is the first to examine this area and the findings have been incorporated into the future tourism strategy by Fáilte Ireland, who funded the study.

According to Dr Duffy, “This sector comprises, bed and breakfasts, bars, restaurants, where the uptake of technology is much patchier. I found that the premises in the periphery that do use ICT can really develop their businesses much faster than those who don’t. ”

He adds, “What I wanted to discover is how this group firstly use IT applications, for example, broadband, web, handheld devices in tourism and what impact it has.  And then find out why this group has not embraced technology, what’s stopping them and what can we do to encourage the use of technology in their business.”

“A large number of barriers emerged, the ones which had most impact are security concerns, lack of ICT applications for SMTEs, lack of training, personal background and, of course, a fear of technology.  Significantly, barriers of location, size and scale of enterprise were shown to be motivators in encouraging ICT adoption amongst SMTEs.”

So why is that?

“Many of these businesses are family owned.  Teenage children play a huge role in using the website but then the parents may not respond to emails, so the communication falls down.  It was important to encourage SMTEs to recognise that the technology is only a tool to bring potential customers to your door, the human touch and warm welcome is still the reason why people choose to stay with them.”

Peer groups also emerged as a way to make the technology more accessible and minimise the fear factor.  As a result, Dr Duffy devised a “champion” framework where a B+B owner who was comfortable using different applications became the ‘trainer’ for others in the region.

“There is skilful use of online marketing,” he says, “a remote Mayo-based B+B with a prize winning garden teamed up with a car hire company to give a discount for booking online.  Her business is featured on the car hire company website and vice versa.  Another Donegal tourism enterprise uses a handheld device and Skype to ensure she never misses a call from a potential customer and gets to speak to them personally.”

How did he find the time to fit this in whilst in a busy role as Head of Tourism at LYIT? “In part, my work complemented my research, my research became my hobby.  The process was fascinating and businesses I met were very inspiring.  The drive for me was that the study could offer practical help to micro tourism businesses.  In a way it provided a vehicle for this group to voice the challenges they face and now changes are being made to offer practical support.  There is huge satisfaction in that.”