Bilateral Synergy of the Internet and Distribution Value Chain on Iranian Tourism

The Internet is a significant channel for any business. While the favorable circumstances sustained by this phenomenon appear valuable, there is still much argument and cogitation on how to utilize the World Wide Web. The tourism industry, in contract with many other industries is a combination of service providers that are basically categorized with other industries in the national system of accounts. These service providers encompass travel agents and tour operators, air, rail, road, and sea transportation operators, hotels and other items of interest to tourists. In this study, we tested one important aspect of e-tourism which is the value chain of the tourism industry, focusing on the tourism industry in Islamic Republic of Iran. We tested the functions carried on by mediators in the distribution chain and investigated the threats and opportunities that the advent of the Internet, and other related trends, created for this mentioned industry. Accordingly, a profile has been created that all help agents to strategize target market objectives.