Information and Communication Technologies in Destination Management and Marketing: The China Scene

Effective destination management and marketing is fundamental to the creation of a successful tourism destination. Tourism destination industry can be seen as one of the first business sectors where business functions are almost exclusively using information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). The method of promoting regions through the development of provincial or regional tourist destination websites or portals using Internet technologies is increasingly being adopted both in China and around the world. In this work, we conducted a literature review on information and communication technologies (ICTs) used in destination management and marketing in China and found that ICT applications are mainly used at low-medium levels and there is lacking of an integrated application suite for this industry, similar to the situation existing in other developing countries. The survey also demonstrated a trend toward Chinese tourism destination which might extend beyond the tourism industry scene in the mainland China and facilitate the robust ICTs base needed for competing in the global tourism economy.