Ull ph dproposals

PhD Subject Proposal
Erasmus Mundus Sustainable eTourism Programme
Nov.2011 - Sep. 2014 (34 months)
Country: France
University: Université Lumière Lyon 2
Domain: E-tourism (business and management, ICT)
Doctorate Title: Internet usage amongst Thai travel agencies: A pilot study
Abstract (context of research, objectives, methodology... - 1 page min, 2 pages max):
Although the Internet is a commonly available technology, awareness of its functionality,
resources and expertise is required. It is observed that many small and medium tourism
enterprises (SMTEs) are either not aware of this or do not possess or have ready access to
resources needed to make the opportunities potentially available (Alexander 2000). Among
these opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is to harness the benefits of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) in an affordable, simple way, and to reach
new customers and suppliers as ICTs offer customers cheap, global reach to seek out new
suppliers.
The tourism industry has been found to be largely dominated by SMEs where travel agencies
(TAs) are typically classified as small businesses (Standing, Borbely and Vasudavan 1999;
Gammack, Molinar, Chu and Chanpayom 2004). ICTs have thus become a vital competitive
advantage for TAs. The development of the internet applications has changed buying habits of
tourism products. Travel and tourism has become the single largest category of
products/services sold over the Internet. In this sense, the development of the internet as a
marketing channel for tourism products and services has affected retail travel agencies as
SMEs. Wholesale travel agencies can create portals (e-dreams) and traditional travel agencies
can obtain many advantages from using the internet to offer complementary services to their
customers. The travel agencies’ presence in the internet is highly appreciated by the customers,
because it often means a reduction in the time needed to purchase services, as well as greater
convenience, without renouncing at any time the personal advice available from a firm
specializing in various categories of tourism products (Álvarez et al. 2007). For tourism
players, internet applications become their electronic interface to the world, where services are
defined from a supplier and a consumer perspective. Among those players are travel
supermarkets (online booking servers), which their strategic goal is to be among enterprises
that will occupy a strategic position in this future market.

This research project tries to explore internet adoption and use of Thai TAs. It indicates their
web presence level, reasons, and perceived benefits of adoption. Investigating internet-derived
challenges for TAs is another focus area of this study. Research Gap Despite the impressive
growth rates of the online travel market, the market share of online travel sales in the total
travel market still remains relatively small, being estimated at 19.4% in 2007 and 22.5% in
2008 (Patricia 2008). Studies in this area indicate that, regardless of the technological
revolution experienced in the tourism industry and the opportunities it offers, TAs have
traditionally been reluctant to perfect utilizing of ICTs (Usoro 2007) and some TAs only have
interactive websites (Intrapairot and Srivihok 2003). Moreover, SMEs are not adopting the
internet with the same speed as their large counterparts do (Kula and Tatoglu 2003). The
objectives of this research are to:
a) Establish the level of online adoption among Thai TAs,
b) Identify the current reasons of internet usage among TAs,
c) Identify the benefits for TAs associated with internet adoption,
d) Define barriers of involving TAs in internet adoption and,
e) Finally indicates some suggestions on how to overcome the TAs’ challenges
To obtain an overview of Thai travel agents’ internet use, a pilot study questionnaire-based was
conducted with 50 randomly selected travel agents based in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. A
questionnaire was designed in English language and translated back into Thai language to
ensure questions comprehensibility.
Keywords (3 to 5)
ICTs adoption, Internet, SMEs, Travel Agencies, Thailand, Tourism industry
Publications related to the subject (2 to 3 references):
- Álvarez, L. S., Martín, A. D. and Casielles, R. V. 2007. Relationship marketing and
information and communication technologies: Analysis of retail travel agencies. Journal of
Travel Research, 45, (4) 453-463.
- Chen, J. and McQueen, R. 2008. Factors affecting e-commerce stages of growth in small
Chinese firms in New Zealand: an analysis of adoption motivators and inhibitors. Journal of
Global Information Management, 16, (1) 26-60.
- Harindranath, G., Dyerson, R. and Barnes, D. 2008. ICT adoption and use in UK SMEs: a
failure of initiatives? The Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 11 (2)91-96

Nov.2011 - Sep. 2014 (34 months)
Country: France
Domain: E-tourism (business and management, ICT)
Doctorate Title: Intra Web site comparison in the tourism industry as a means for user
engagement
Recent research is looking at ways to consistently keep consumers on Web sites (Pavlou and
Geffen, 2004), make users perceive the usefulness (Davis, 1989) and content of the sites
(Rosen and Purinton, 2004), whilst trying to prevent them from switching to other sites.
Although recent industry attention is being given to the term Web site engagement, it has not
been properly defined within academic literature. To engage is to ‘involve (a person or his or
her attention) intensely’. The ability to retain customers online and prolong the duration of each
stay is one of the keys factors to e-commerce success (Lin, 2007). Web content has been
identified as one of the main factors contributing to repeat visits to Web sites (Rosen and
Purinton, 2004). In particular, the travel industry is largely information driven and travel sites
allow customers to search, select or arrange travel and holiday packages, as well as making
reservations and bookings themselves (van Riel, Semeijn and Pauwels, 2004). However, there
is no evidence that the comparison of information presented on e-commerce web sites Web
sites, influences user engagement. The objective of this research is to contribute to this existing
gap in knowledge.
1) Propose a formal definition of engagement valid within the framework of e-commerce travel
Web sites.
2) Research the influence of comparison, within an information structure, on the engagement of
users in e-commerce travel Web sites.
3) Determine the effects of user engagement within e-commerce travel Web sites.
4) Propose a methodology to model the influence of information comparison on engagement
and the effects of engagement on users.
In order to identify the factors, which determine Web site engagement within an e-commerce
environment, a methodology based on discriminant analysis (Tarafdar and Zhang, 2008; Wang
and Emurian, 2005) will be considered. The aim of this research is to determine how
engagement within an e-commerce environment is influenced by information comparison.
Keywords (3 to 5)

Web site comparison, user engagement, Internet, information, e-commerce
- LI, D.; BROWNE, G.J.; WETHERBE, J.C. (2007): ‘Online Consumers' Switching
Behaviour: A Buyer-Seller Relationship Perspective’. Journal of Electronic Commerce in
Organizations, Vol. 5 (1), pp. 30-36, 38-42.
- LIN, J.C-C (2007): ‘Online stickiness: its antecedents and effect on purchasing intention’.
Behaviour and Information Technology, Vol. 26 (6), pp. 507-516.
- ZAICHKOWSKY, J.L (1985): ‘Measuring the Involvement Construct’. Journal of Consumer
Research, Vol. 12. pp. 341-352.

Nov.2011 - Sep. 2014 (34 months)
Country: France
Domain: marketing and management
Doctorate Title: A comparative study of cultural tourism development in the Asian
GMS countries: the case of Thailand and China
Tourism is the world’s largest industry and it was projected to be the world’s largest employer
by the year 2000. Indeed, cultural/heritage tourism is the fastest growing segment of the
tourism industry because there is a trend toward an increased specialization among tourists.
This trend is evident in the rise in the volume of tourists who seek adventure, culture, history,
archaeology and interaction with local people. Especially, nowadays people’ interest in
travelling to cultural/ heritage destinations has increased recently and is expected to continue.
For example, cultural/heritage sites are among the most preferred tourism experiences in
Thailand. Because of people’s inclination to seek out novelty, including that of traditional
cultures, heritage tourism has become a major “new” area of tourism demand, which almost all
Policy makers are now aware of and anxious to develop. Heritage tourism, as a part of the
broader category of “cultural tourism”, is now a major pillar of the nascent tourism strategy of
many countries. Cultural/heritage tourism strategies in various countries have in common that
they are a major growth area, that they can be used to boost local culture, and that they can aid
the seasonal and geographic spread of tourism. This research will evaluate Thailand’s potential
in the tourism industry and especially cultural tourism development and tries to compare it with
China because of their regional proximities and similarities in culture, attractions, and religion.
The main goals of this research are:
1- Understanding and evaluating of accelerating factors in cultural tourism development
both in Thailand and China
2- Understanding and evaluation of decelerating factors in cultural tourism both in
Thailand and China.
This analysis is based on information gathered through electronic data, discussion with heritage
tourism managers and stakeholder workshops. Interview with heritage representative in
Thailand and tourists. Cultural Heritage Corporation provided the detail of their regional
organizational structure and how the cooperation functions.
Keywords (3 to 5)

Cultural tourism, comparative study, tourist behaviour, marketing, world heritage
- Craik, J . (1997). The culture of tourism. In C. Rojek and J.Urry, Touring cultures:
Transformations of travel and theory (pp. 1 13-1 36). New York: Routledge.
- Cohen, E. (1 995). Contemporary tourism - Trends and challenges: Sustainable
authenticity or contrived post-modernity?. In R. Butler and D. Pearce, Change in
- Garrod, B. & Fyall, A. (2000). Managing heritage tourism. Annals of Tourism Research,
27(2), 682-708.

Nov.2011 - Sep. 2014 (34 months)
Country: France
Domain: tourism business and management
Doctorate Title: Business travellers and France as business destination
Business travel is considered to be the backbone of the tourism industry. Research has shown
that business tourism has grown and continues to experience growth as a segment of the
tourism industry. This phenomenon has caused governments and other private organisations to
give this sector much attention, as it contributes significantly to the economic development of
most countries. In this respect, major cities and capital cities of most countries are therefore
planned, designed and organised in a way to meet the demands of this sector, hence attracting
certain markets into the region, and for that matter quality tourists also. According to Lowitt
(2001), the activities of business tourism represent the customer segment with the highest
value.
The objectives of this research project are: to explain the systems of categorizing business
travellers; to describe how the France business community tries to attract business travellers to
the destination; to describe what measures the hospitality industry takes to create products to
suit the needs of the business travel group; to analyze the satisfaction of Asian business tourists
to France as a business destination and identify holes in services provided by the tourism and
hospitality industry in meeting the needs of business travellers – pointing out new opportunities
and discussing how to fill in the existing gaps in the industry system. And finally, create
awareness of the importance of the potential Asian business traveller to the tourism and
hospitality industry in France.
The qualitative research based on interview with Business travellers and France, as a business
destination, discusses different approaches on how to view the types of guests to the
destination, providing three major groups. It identifies what the destination could offer them as
service providers, with regards to their needs and expectations, in order to gain customer
satisfaction.
Keywords (3 to 5)

Business traveller, business destination, service providers in the tourism and hospitality
industry, service quality / customer satisfaction.
- Cook R.A., Yale L.J., Marqua J.J. (2002). Tourism, The business of Travel. Second Edition.
New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River.
- Brent J.R., Ritchie, Goeldner C.R. (2003). Travel Tourism and Hospitality Research. A
handbook for managers and researchers. Second Edition. (Concepts, Definitions, and
Measures used in Travel and tourism research, Contributed by Robin Chadwick)
- Bradley A., Hall T., Harrison M. (2002), Selling Cities. Promoting New Images
for Meetings Tourism. Cities, Vol.19 No.1. UK: Elsevier Science.

Nov.2011 - Sep. 2014 (34 months)
Country: France
University: Univetsity Lumiere Lyon 2
Domain (Computer Science, Management, Economics...): Computer Science
Doctorate Title: Computer Science
Abstract (context of reserach, objectives, methodology... - 1 page min, 2 pages max):
A Multi-Agent System for dynamic e-Tourism Services Composition.
Sustainable E-Tourism project aims at helping tourism enterprises for improving the share of
knowledge and ideas among their partners. It encourages collaboration between tourism
partners and proposes a methodology and an Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) infrastructure to enhance the Tourism service.
Internet and web technologies have changed significantly the relationship between
communities, customers and retailers. Customers can access to virtually unlimited tourism
products and services selection, precisely they have more control over any transaction, which
resulted in great competition. More importantly, it is the speed of changes in tourism industry
which is directly resulting from technology advances. Efficient knowledge sharing within and
between tourism clusters is required in order to maintain the collaboration sustainability.
In this context, the aim of this PhD study is to propose a framework which combines multi-
agent techniques with semantic web services to enable dynamic, context-aware service
composition, thus providing users with relevant high level services depending on their current
context and activity.
In a service-oriented approach, we can distinguish two abstraction levels in proposed services.
On the one hand, basic services are elementary functionalities, usually provided by devices in
the environment. On the other hand, composite services aggregate a set of functionalities into
higher level applications, closer to the users’ actual needs. Thus, service composition enables
to fill the abstraction gap between user activity and needs and elementary service level.
As an answer to service composition issues, our proposal in this PhD work is to investigate a
Multi-Agent System (MAS) as a complement to a service-oriented approach towards adaptable
and reconfigurable tourism environment, in which users interactions will become simple and
intuitive. We aim to use semantic service descriptions to abstractly describe services’
functionalities. We consider that descriptions can be provided by various sources (computers,
GPS, mobile phone,...), since they do not need to comply with a commonly defined standard.
Using such descriptions, service agents will dynamically discover and enhance their

capabilities with existing services. Depending on their interests or their current role in an
activity, agents can either discover services to answer a current need or pro-actively provision
services for expected use. A part from these service agents, various agents handle other
information that will have an impact on the behavior of the system.
The architecture required to developp the Multi-Agent System and to support web services will
be implemented using the JADE plateform (Java programing language) and the most important
standards used in web services architectures as XML-RPC (XML Remote Procedure Call) and
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), both of these standards are XML-based.
As an example to show how web services can be used in the tourism domain, we can imagine
a distributed tourism agency infrastructure built on web services providing functionalities such
as distributed search, authentication, inter-tourism agencies requests, documents or
catalogues ordering and payment. These web services would be combined by a particular
application to offer an environment for reaching information resources that is tailored to the
tourism community.
Keywords (3 to 5) : Multi-Agent System, Knowledge Management, SOA, e-Tourism Services
composition,
- Korhonen, J., Pajunen, J., & Puustjarvi, J. (2003). Automatic composition of Web Services
workflows using a semantic agent. In Proceedings of the IEEE/WIC International Conference
on Web Intelligence (WI’03), Beijing, China, pp. 566–569.
- M. Bichler, K.J. Lin, Service-oriented computing, IEEE Computer 39 (3), 2006, pp.99–101.
- Michael Wooldridge (2009) ”An intrduction to Multi-Agent Systems” Wiley Ed. May 2009.

Nov.2011 - Sep. 2014 (34 months)
Country: France
University: Université Lumiere Lyon 2
Laboratory/Department: LIESP –Lyon 2 Laboratory
Domain (Computer Science, Management, Economics...): Computer Science
Doctorate Title: Computer Science
Abstract (context of reserach, objectives, methodology... - 1 page min, 2 pages max):
A Multi-Agent System for dynamic e-Tourism Services Composition.
Sustainable E-Tourism project aims at helping tourism enterprises for improving the share of
knowledge and ideas among their partners. It encourages collaboration between tourism
partners and proposes a methodology and an Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) infrastructure to enhance the Tourism service.
Internet and web technologies have changed significantly the relationship between
communities, customers and retailers. Customers can access to virtually unlimited tourism
products and services selection, precisely they have more control over any transaction, which
resulted in great competition. More importantly, it is the speed of changes in tourism industry
which is directly resulting from technology advances. Efficient knowledge sharing within and
between tourism clusters is required in order to maintain the collaboration sustainability.
In this context, the aim of this PhD study is to propose a framework which combines multi-
agent techniques with semantic web services to enable dynamic, context-aware service
composition, thus providing users with relevant high level services depending on their current
context and activity.
In a service-oriented approach, we can distinguish two abstraction levels in proposed services.
On the one hand, basic services are elementary functionalities, usually provided by devices in
the environment. On the other hand, composite services aggregate a set of functionalities into
higher level applications, closer to the users’ actual needs. Thus, service composition enables
to fill the abstraction gap between user activity and needs and elementary service level.
As an answer to service composition issues, our proposal in this PhD work is to investigate a
Multi-Agent System (MAS) as a complement to a service-oriented approach towards adaptable
and reconfigurable tourism environment, in which users interactions will become simple and
intuitive. We aim to use semantic service descriptions to abstractly describe services’
functionalities. We consider that descriptions can be provided by various sources (computers,
GPS, mobile phone,...), since they do not need to comply with a commonly defined standard.

Using such descriptions, service agents will dynamically discover and enhance their
capabilities with existing services. Depending on their interests or their current role in an
activity, agents can either discover services to answer a current need or pro-actively provision
services for expected use. A part from these service agents, various agents handle other
information that will have an impact on the behavior of the system.
The architecture required to developp the Multi-Agent System and to support web services will
be implemented using the JADE plateform (Java programing language) and the most important
standards used in web services architectures as XML-RPC (XML Remote Procedure Call) and
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), both of these standards are XML-based.
As an example to show how web services can be used in the tourism domain, we can imagine
a distributed tourism agency infrastructure built on web services providing functionalities such
as distributed search, authentication, inter-tourism agencies requests, documents or
catalogues ordering and payment. These web services would be combined by a particular
application to offer an environment for reaching information resources that is tailored to the
tourism community.
Keywords (3 to 5) : Multi-Agent System, Knowledge Management, SOA, e-Tourism Services
composition,
- Korhonen, J., Pajunen, J., & Puustjarvi, J. (2003). Automatic composition of Web Services
workflows using a semantic agent. In Proceedings of the IEEE/WIC International Conference
on Web Intelligence (WI’03), Beijing, China, pp. 566–569.
- M. Bichler, K.J. Lin, Service-oriented computing, IEEE Computer 39 (3), 2006, pp.99–101.
- Michael Wooldridge (2009) ”An intrduction to Multi-Agent Systems” Wiley Ed. May 2009.

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