1. eLearning
Courses
Offered
by
tourism
des4na4ons:
Factors
Affec4ng
Par4cipa4on
and
Awareness
among
Bri4sh
and
Indian
Travel
Agents
Nadzeya
Kalbaska
and
Lorenzo
Cantoni
Faculty
of
Communica4on
Sciences
Università
della
Svizzera
italiana
Lugano,
Switzerland
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2. Context
(i)
4 types of eLearning courses according to the provider of the
service:
ü Academic
ü Corporate
ü Independent
ü Destinational
Cantoni
L.,
Kalbaska
N.,
Inversini
A.
(2009)
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2

3. Context
(ii)
DMOs
Travel
Agents
ü compe44on
overcome
(Buhalis&Law,
2008;
Werthner&Klein,
1999)
ü des4na4on
image
crea4on
(Baloglu&Mangaloglu,
2001)
ü coordina4on
and
educa4on
of
trade
partners
(Bieger,
et.al,
2009)
ü addi4onal
channels
to
impact
the
market
(Carey,
et.
al.,
1997)
ü compe44on
overcome
(Morgan&Trivedi,
2007)
ü sa4sfac4on
of
the
needs
of
a
new
consumer
(Dolnicar&
Laesser,
2007;
Novak&Schwabe,
2009)
ü s pecializa4on
and
constant
upgrade
of
knowledge
(Bowl&Tobias,
2012;
Longworth,
2013;
Milne,
2008;
PhoCusWright,
2012)
ü flexible
mode
of
training
(Collins,
et
al,
2003;
O’Donnell,
2012)
eLearning
courses
about
tourism
desCnaCons
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4. Previous
research
(i)
There
are
some
DMOs
that
offer
training
and
accreditaPon
online
to
retail
travel
agents
to
become
‘des$na$on
specialists’
(Handbook
on
e-­‐MarkePng
for
Tourism
DesPnaPons,
UNWTO,
2008)
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5. Previous
research
(ii)
Strong
industry
interest
(ABTA,
2012;
Tnooz,
2011;
Travel
Daily
Media,
2013;
Travel
Market
Report,
2011)
ü
No
empirical
research
on:
-­‐
Use
of
ICTs
for
training
of
travel
agents
-­‐
HRM
of
the
travel
agents
and
cer4fica4on
processes
ü
Limited
research
on:
-­‐
eLearning
applica4ons
within
the
hospitality
and
tourism
sector
(Baum&Sigala,
2001;
Cho&Schmelzer,
2000;
Haven&BoYerill,
2003;
KuYainen&Lexhagen,
2012;
Nadkarni&Venem,
2012;
Sigala,
2002,
2004)
-­‐
Travel
agents’
sector
(Baloglu&Mangaloglu,
2001;
Buhalis,
2000;
Dolnicar&Laesser,
2007;
Garkavenko&Milne,
2008;
O’Connor,
1999;
Reid&Pearce,
2008;
Sheldon,
1997)
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6. Previous
research
(iii)
Benchmarking
studies
in
2009
and
2012
(Cantoni
&
Kalbaska,
2010;
Kalbaska,
2012)
Public:
Travel
Agents
Providers:
DMOs
Tutors:
not
present
à
self-­‐study
asynchronous
mode
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7. Content:
Training
modules
on
Geography,
Culture,
Languages,
Tradi4ons,
Accommoda4on,
Transporta4on,
Formali4es,
I4nerary
Planning,
Selling
4ps,
etc.
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8. TesCng
acCviCes:
75
cases
use
objec4ve
tests
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9. IncenCves
ü cer4ficate
ü suggested
travel
consultants’
list
ü invita4ons
to
educa4onal
trips
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10. Method
(i)
Research
Goal:
Recognise
travel
agents’
reac4on
(par4cipa4on
and
awareness)
on
DMOs’
eLearning
offers
and
factors
influencing
it
Methodology:
Phone
interviews
through
simple
random
sampling
of
officially
registered
TAs
in
the
UK
and
India
QuesConnaire:
8
-­‐
14
close
and
open
ended
ques4ons.
Dura4on:
8-­‐10
min
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11. Method
(ii)
Respondents:
725
phone
calls
à
462
interviews
(UK
-­‐
190;
India
-­‐
272)
with
travel
sales
staff
Response
rate:
UK
-­‐
55%,
India
-­‐
75%
LimitaCons:
respondents
might
have
been
influenced
by
supervisors
and
colleagues
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12. Results
103
(54.2%)
57 (65.5%)
72 (26.5%)
United Kingdom
India
Participation in destinational eL courses
73 (36.5%)
United Kingdom
India
Awareness about destinational eL courses among
those that haven’t participated
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13. ü Country
where
travel
agents
are
based
United
Kingdom
India
ü Gender
Female
Male
ü Type
of
the
agency
Independent
business
(self-­‐employed,
homework)
Chain/franchising
(e.g.
Thomas
Cook)
ü Age
<32
32-­‐47
>47
ü EducaConal
level
Secondary
school
Voca4onal
training
University
degree
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14. ParCcipaCon
in
eL
courses
depends
on
ü country
where
travel
agents
are
based
(p=.000)
United
Kingdom>India
ü type
of
the
agency
(p=.032)
Chain/franchising>Independent
doesn’t
depend
on
ü gender
(p=.051)
ü age
(p=.382)
ü educaConal
level
(p=.636)
Awareness
about
existence
of
eL
courses
depends
on
ü country
where
travel
agents
are
based
(p=.
015)
United
Kingdom>India
doesn’t
depend
on
ü age
(p=.858)
ü gender
(p=.328)
ü type
of
the
agency
(p=.365)
ü educaConal
level
(p=.490)
Full Factorial Model of the Univariate ANOVA
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15. Conclusions
ü There
is
a
demand
on
undertaking
eLearning
courses
about
tourism
des4na4ons,
though
it
varies
on
a
country-­‐by-­‐country
basis
ü Factors
that
influence
parCcipaCon
in
des4na4onal
eLearning
offers
à
country
and
type
of
the
agency
ü Factor
that
influence
awareness
about
des4na4onal
eLearning
offers
à
country
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16. Future
research
lines
ü Replica4on
of
the
study
on
different
markets
ü Analysis
of
the
travel
agents’
mo4va4ons
and
factors
influencing
them
ü Evalua4on
of
formality
and
informality
of
eLearning
offer
in
the
percep4ons
of
the
travel
agents’
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17. Implica4ons
eTourism
and
eLearning
research
communiCes
ü First
empirical
research
on
educa4onal
strategies
of
the
travel
agents
and
HRM
of
the
travel
trade
ü Analysis
of
the
factors
influencing
par4cipa4on
in
and
awareness
about
des4na4onal
eLearning
courses
Industrial
community
ü Recommenda4ons
on
the
eLearning
experience
improvements
based
on:
generalizable
rates
of
awareness
and
par4cipa4on
in
the
UK
and
in
India
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18. questions & comments
www.elearning4tourism.com
Workshop – MOOCs Development for
Tourism and Hospitality Curriculum
Friday 11.00-12.30
Room: Gold
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