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• Automation systems for travel agencies: which one to choose

  The success of an agency directly depends on the number of its tourists. However, the more there are, the more difficult it is for employees to communicate with them, since a person is simply not able to remember a large number of different people and the intricacies of their relationships with the company. Fortunately, in our progressive age, many of these routine tasks can be entrusted to a computer, thereby speeding up and facilitating the work of the entire travel agency.

  Test drive 2014: strength test

  We have such a wonderful tradition - once every two years we test the strength (as well as popularity, speed, etc.) of tour search engines. The last stage of this year's rigorous test drive has now come to an end. Its results will most likely raise many questions, primarily from the systems themselves, but that’s for sure that the material will be 100% useful to travel agents.

  Web soiree with Sergei Chumachenko

  Our regular author Sergey Chumachenko this time chose new format for his material: if in his past articles he, figuratively speaking, pushed long monologues from the pulpit, now instead of a echoing lecture hall there is a cozy buffet hall and a relaxed small talk, during which Sergei answers questions from visitors to the portal itouristik.ru. Let's listen.

  Evening of revelations with Sergei Chumachenko

  Due to the fact that the material was being prepared for the last edition of the paper "Subtleties", the author of the article had a reason to talk with his readers confidentially and frankly. Sergei, the author of the article, invited readers to imagine a simple situation: the dialogue takes place behind closed doors and will not go anywhere beyond this room.

  Automation systems for travel agencies: yesterday, today, tomorrow

  The most elementary, one might say cave-like, automation of the work of a travel agency usually begins with the use of tables in Excel to maintain a list of orders and Word to print forms. More than half of agencies remain at this “automation” stage, but the remaining half move on.

  Teletrain: a simple solution to a difficult issue

  Who hasn’t faced such a question as purchasing transportation for their tourist? It would seem - what pitfalls could there be? I went to the airline’s website, clicked the mouse, and the ticket was in my pocket. But this is ideal. In practice, it may turn out that another airline’s website had a more convenient flight or a lower cost. How to formalize this transaction in accounting? What if the client has not yet decided and only asks to book transportation, but the site does not provide this opportunity?

Currently, competitive advantages in tourism are largely formed in the information field. Information Technology are a modern innovative resource for increasing competitiveness in tourism. They allow us to create new competitive advantages at all levels of activity in the tourism sector. This fully applies both to individual tourism enterprises and to increasing the competitiveness of tourist destinations.

Information development is becoming an important factor in competitive success in tourism at all levels. It involves increasing the amount of information in the system, which allows it to better adapt to changing external conditions. Information development is associated with the process of diffusion of information-oriented innovations, which lead to both an increase in the amount of information and organizational diversity. Such innovations are digital technologies, computer equipment, telecommunication systems, including e-mail, Internet.

The successful activity of any company in the tourism business market is currently almost unthinkable without the use of modern information technologies. The main resource that is used in the tourism business at the stage of developing an idea and creating a tourism product is presented in the form information flows. At the same time, the specifics modern technology the development and implementation of a tourism product requires information systems that would promptly provide up-to-date and adequate information on all components of the tourism product, including information on the availability of vehicles, ticket availability, tourist accommodation options, etc. It is necessary to ensure quick reservations, as well as automation of solving auxiliary tasks in the provision of tourist services, including the generation and printing of documents, provision of settlement and reference information, etc. This is achievable subject to the widespread use of computer technologies for processing and transmitting information. The modern tourism industry has undergone very significant changes in recent years due to the introduction of new computer technologies.

Information technologies used in modern tourism business can be divided into two groups.

TO first group technologies that promote automation and increase the efficiency of intra-office business processes, they can be called back-office technologies. They make it possible to ensure rapid and high-quality formation of a tourism product using modern systems reservations, create and maintain up-to-date databases of hotels, partners, clients, create the necessary documentation base for tourism enterprises, provide electronic document management etc. This group includes global reservation systems, such as Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan, systems for booking tours or individual tourist services, automation programs for tour operator and travel agency companies, automation programs for managing hotel complexes.

Second group information technologies implement interaction with the end consumer, in connection with which they can be called front-office technologies. This group includes Internet technologies, which provide the end user with access to information about tours, accommodation facilities, tourism resources, etc. The modern tourism product is becoming more flexible and accessible to consumers, including through the introduction of information technology into the tourism business.

It should be emphasized that some information technologies can be used by both professional tourism business workers and end users. Thus, reservation systems for tourist services provide a variety of opportunities and degrees of access for various subjects of the tourism market. For professional participants in the tourism market, the global network provides effective communication, search for partners, new marketing tools for promoting tourism products, marketing research, creating a virtual tourist office, providing e-commerce and other opportunities. For the end consumer of tourism services, the Internet provides the opportunity to search for a variety of reference information, use electronic catalogs by country, tourism resources, tourism products, accommodation facilities, and timetables. various types transport, obtaining current information on tariffs and prices of hotels, restaurants, carriers, etc. Statistics show that the number of bookings of tourist services via the Internet is increasing, for example, in the US travel industry the share of online bookings is more than 50% of all sales .

The development of information technology leads to an increase in the number of tourists and largely contributes to the ongoing process of globalization. In the context of globalization of the tourism market, the role and importance of the quality of information exchange between all participants in the tourism market are increasing. First of all, this applies to information processes travel agent - tour operator - host tour operator. To ensure the competitiveness of a tourism enterprise, it is necessary to create a unified information space supplier - seller of a tourism product. The quality and relevance of information exchanges directly affects the quality of the tourist services provided, since any inconsistency or inaccuracy of the information provided to the end user, for example, about the accommodation facility, additional services, may have a negative impact on the end user's experience and experience. In addition, in modern conditions, the quality of the tourism product is determined not only by the quality of the basic services provided, but also by the availability and level of information support and information communications.

In the tourism business, the quality of information exchange and the information provided directly affects the competitiveness of not only tourism enterprises, but also the competitiveness of tourist destinations. Globalization processes characteristic of the current stage of tourism development have led to a significant expansion of the geography of tourist flows. Competition is increasing not only between individual tourism enterprises, but also between individual countries and regions (tourist destinations). Under these conditions, each destination is interested in providing the most complete and comprehensive information about the presence of unique and attractive tourist resources, the level of development of tourism infrastructure, the specific features of culture and customs, etc. Moreover, this information is necessary both for tourism business professionals and end users, and advertising on the Internet has become one of the most effective attraction tools tourists. Traditional printed advertising media, as a rule, are limited both in the amount of information they provide and in its relevance, so the most effective information source in this case is the Internet. Most foreign tourist destinations create and maintain their own websites that provide comprehensive information in several languages.

Modern Computer techologies are actively being introduced into the tourism business, and their use is becoming an integral condition for increasing the competitiveness of any tourism enterprise. Today, tourism uses quite a lot of the latest computer technologies, including global computer reservation systems GDS (Global Distribution Systems), integrated communication networks, multimedia systems, management information systems, etc. These information technologies are used with varying degrees of activity and have uneven distribution. The degree of their influence on the competitiveness of tourism enterprises and the development of the tourism industry also varies.

Modern computer technologies have the greatest impact on the promotion of tourism products. First of all, this concerns the possibility of forming new marketing channels for promoting and selling tourism products. Thus, in the field of advertising, direct sending tourist information to e-mail(direct mail). In addition, tourism industry enterprises create their own websites, use banner advertising.

Currently, the tourism market is beginning to actively penetrate e-commerce. Electronic tourist offices already exist, allowing any owner credit card purchase a tour, book a seat on a plane or in a hotel, purchase tickets to entertainment events and order a rental car anywhere in the world. Many sites hotel enterprises provide the ability to book and pay for services in online mode. Thus, computer technologies have provoked the creation and use of fundamentally new electronic marketing channels for the promotion and sale of tourism products (Table 7.2).

Table 7.2

Directions of the influence of information technology on competitiveness in tourism

Sphere of influence	Direction of influence	Used technology
Creation of a tourism product	Accelerating the procedure for creating a new tourism product	GDS and other reservation systems, Internet
Promotion tourist product	The emergence of fundamentally new methods and technologies of promotion in tourism	Internet, webinars, multimedia technologies, GDS
Marketing	Formation of new marketing channels for the sale of tourism products	Internet, reservation systems, e-commerce
Management	Improving management technologies for tourism industry enterprises	Specialized software products management of tourism industry enterprises

Today, technologies are rapidly developing that make it possible to use mobile phones for e-commerce.

Directions for using the Internet in the tourism sector include many areas, including:

• gaining access to the use of modern communication systems, in particular e-mail, digital telephone communication, which significantly reduces the costs of tourism enterprises for negotiations, business correspondence, direct mail, etc.;
• obtaining various reference data, in particular, on countries, tariffs, prices, weather forecasts in different parts of the world in real time, which contributes to the formation of a high-quality tourism product;
• gaining access to global booking and reservation systems;
• the possibility of creating new marketing channels for promoting tourism services, in particular the creation of companies’ own websites, virtual tourist offices, e-commerce, etc.

All of the above allows us to create a unified tourist information space, which makes it possible to work at the level of modern international standards and technologies in the field of tourism and hotel business.

Modern level tourism business development and high level competition attach particular importance to information systems that provide intra-office automation of management processes. The functionality of automation systems for managing tourism industry enterprises should provide input, editing and storage of information about clients, tours, hotels, provide for the output of information in the form of various documents (questionnaires, vouchers, lists of groups, descriptions of tours and hotels), calculate the cost of tours taking into account exchange rates , discounts, ensure payment control and generate financial statements, etc. These systems can reduce the cost of the tourism product by choosing the best price option for customer delivery, accommodation, etc.

Along with the automation of travel companies, similar development is underway automation programs for the activities of hotels, restaurants and other tourism enterprises. The use of information systems in this area leads to significant changes in management and also improves the quality of service.

The use of information technology requires an appropriate level of training for personnel working in the tourism sector. The lack of highly qualified personnel in a tourist destination or tourism industry enterprise can never be compensated for by the high quality of material infrastructure, such as hotels and their equipment. Such competitive weakness of a tourist destination as low qualifications of personnel or lack of professional personnel can be successfully overcome by using modern innovative training technologies, in particular, using information video communication technologies.

Based on this, it can be argued that it is necessary to create a competitive advantage of Russia as a tourist destination, based on knowledge. One possible way to solve this problem is use of distance technologies for training employees of tourism enterprises and provision necessary information about tourist destinations for foreign sending tour operators and travel agents.

One of the specific factors in the activities of sending tour operators is their territorial remoteness from the destination where the tours are organized. In this regard, difficulties arise in training personnel with reference to a specific tourist enterprise and destination.

One of the most effective ways to solve this problem is the use of modern video communication technologies, in particular video conferencing and webinars. Webinar is a type of web conference, conducting seminars via the Internet in real time. It's convenient and effective method communication in conditions of territorial disunity, since visual and verbal contact is ensured, which to the maximum extent allows preserving the traditional psychological interaction between its participants.

The most commonly used webinar features are:

• VoIP - audio communication via a computer in real time using headphones or speakers;
• real-time video contact via webcam or digital video camera;
• slide presentations;
• text chat used for question-answer interactions in real time, providing the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers online, while both group (messages are visible to all participants) and private communication (conversation between two participants) is possible );
• voting and polls that are used when discussing a problem and allow you to hear and take into account the opinions of webinar participants.

The webinar provides the opportunity for information exchange in the form of personalized visual contact and regular conversation between webinar participants.

Benefits of technology communications using webinars are as follows:

• wide audience coverage, participation in the process of geographically distributed participants who only have access to the Internet;
• the formation of groups of webinar participants is possible not only on a territorial basis, but also on the basis of focus (topic);
• management of the presentation, presence and rights of participants by the presenter;
• the possibility of interactive voting, polls, testing during the webinar or based on the results;
• the ability to transmit and listen to sound in real time - audio communication through a computer in real time using headphones (speakers) and a microphone.

Webinar technologies allow you to use additional functions:

• recording of the webinar with placement at a unique web address for later viewing, which will ensure the ability to use it at any convenient time;
• the ability to share files between webinar participants.

The technology of personnel training for the tourism sector using webinars ensures:

• video and audio conferencing sessions;
• joint teleconferences and Internet video broadcasts to mass audiences;
• webinars and telelectures for distance learning and training in order to prepare and improve the skills of tourism personnel;
• distributed scientific and practical conferences, press conferences, round table meetings, etc.

Technological features conducting webinars:

• the number of webinar participants is several dozen or more, including individual and group participants;
• The presenter sees a photograph of the audience on his computer screen;
• on the screens of webinar participants you can see the images of all participants, as well as the broadcast of the presenter and up to six discussion participants connected by him in video conferencing mode;
• main mode of operation - broadcast from the presenter’s webcam to all videoconferencing participants;
• to switch the participant’s webcam to active mode, a function is provided to contact the presenter, who has the right to activate the image of the discussion participant in VKS mode or disconnect him from VKS;
• in interactive mode, the presenter selects up to six participants for discussions, activating their image for video conferencing with broadcast active windows for all seminar participants.

A webinar using video conferencing provides modern opportunities for participants to communicate with the presenter, while the dynamics of conducting classes using audio and video contact are much higher than with traditional distance technology, and can be in no way inferior to face-to-face seminars.

The use of online webinar technology is effective when conducting discussions that require brainstorming from the audience and public discussion of the problem, and it does not matter that the audience of participants is dispersed over a long distance.

The innovative capabilities of webinars can be used with high efficiency in training and retraining of personnel for the tourism industry. The main directions of their use, in our opinion, are the following:

• effective training using webinars for various categories of listeners (trainers, experts, volunteers, etc.);
• conducting master classes by leading specialists in the tourism industry and providing consulting (consulting) services;
• the possibility of virtual display and study of the object where the tour will be organized, including an individual one;
• the possibility of preliminary selection of tourist resources of the destination that are of interest to the tour operator.

The use of video communication technologies seems very promising for training foreign tour operators sending tourists to Russia, since this technology will provide consulting services when organizing travel of foreign citizens to Russia.

Webinar technologies make it possible to conduct training and directly broadcast live from the tourist site that is included in the travel route. With the help of webinars, it is possible to retrain and improve the qualifications of tourist personnel who are preparing to work in a specific tourist destination with reference to the object, which will significantly reduce the adaptation period when personnel arrive at a real tourist site.

Thus, at present, innovative webinar technologies seem to be one of the most effective tools for providing training for foreign sending tour operator companies working with Russia, which will increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of our country as a tourist destination.

Control questions and tasks

• 1. What is the role of tourist information centers in the formation information base tourism?
• 2. How does it affect Information Support tourism on its competitiveness?
• 3. Give examples of successful experience in the activities of tourist information centers.
• 4. Describe the main features of geographic information systems.
• 5. What is the essence of multi-layer GIS construction?
• 6. What role do geographic information systems play in tourism?
• 7. How is a joint information project implemented by remote performers?
• 8. What is one information space tourism?
• 9. List mobile applications, used in tourism.
• 10. What is the role of webinars in the formation of the information space of the tourism industry?

The basis of the tourism industry is made up of tour operator firms and travel agents engaged in tourist trips, selling them in the form of vouchers and tours; providing services for accommodation and catering for tourists (hotels, campsites, etc.), their movement around the country, as well as management, information, advertising bodies for tourism research and training for it, enterprises for the production and sale of tourist goods. Other industries also work for tourism, for which serving tourists is not the main activity (cultural enterprises, trade, etc.).

Tourism is an information-rich activity. There are few other industries in which the collection, processing, application and communication of information are as critical to daily functioning as the tourism industry. A tourism service cannot be displayed and considered at the point of sale, like consumer or industrial goods. It is usually purchased in advance and away from the place of consumption. Thus, the tourism market depends almost entirely on images, descriptions, communications and information transfer.

A travel agent is an individual or legal entity who acts as an intermediary in the sale of tours generated by a tour operator.

A tour operator is a tourism organization that organizes tours.

However, one feature stands out - the connecting center that holds various manufacturers within the tourism industry, is information. It is information flows, and not goods, that provide connections between producers of tourism services; they come not only in the form of data streams, but also in the form of services and payments.

Services (eg hotel stays, car rentals, package tours and airline seats) are not sent to travel agents, who in turn store them until they are sold to consumers. Information about the availability, cost and quality of these services is transmitted and used.
Likewise, actual payments are not transferred from travel agents to travel suppliers, and commissions are not transferred from travel suppliers to travel agents. In fact, information about payments and receipts is translated (Scheme 2).

Three characteristic features of tourism can be identified.

Firstly, it is a diversified and integrated trade in services.

Finally, this is an information-rich service. Therefore, tourism - both international and domestic - is an area of ​​growing application of information technology.

The information technology system used in tourism consists of a computer reservation system, teleconferencing system, video systems, computers, management information systems, airline electronic information systems/electronic money transfer, telephone networks, mobile means of communication, etc.

It should be noted that this system of technologies is not deployed by travel agents, hotels or airlines individually, but by all of them.

Moreover, each tourism segment's use of information technology systems has implications for all other parts.

For example, systems internal management hotel may be associated with computer global networks, which in turn provide the basis for communication with hotel systems reservations, which, in the opposite direction, can be accessed by travel agents through their computers.
Therefore, we are dealing with an integrated information technology system that is spreading in tourism.

The tourism industry is so diverse and multifaceted that it requires the use of a wide variety of information technologies, ranging from development of specialized software, providing automation of the work of a separate tourism company or hotel, up to use of global computer networks.

Currently, the formation of a tourism product involves use of global distribution systems GDS (Global Distribution System), providing fast and convenient booking transport tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, currency exchange, ordering tickets for entertainment and sports programs, etc.

Also widespread in the tourism industry video text, combining possibilities computer systems reservations, e-mail, telex, electronic newspapers.

In the UK, around 90% of travel agencies use Prestel's visual data system, supported by British Telecom. This system contains tourism and travel information, as well as offers from tour operators, train lines, ferries, hotels and airlines, easily accessible to consumers. The system is also regularly entered last news and changes in all these areas. The main components of the Prestel system are a TV acting as a display, a keyboard for data entry, and an adapter that provides communication between the travel agency and central computer bypassing telephone lines. Videotext technology is also successful in France, where the Minitel system is used. At the same time, in the United States the use of video text is limited.

Types of Internet commerce

Hosting– services for posting information on the Internet. Hosting includes the provision of disk space for hosting websites on a web server, providing access to them via a communication channel with a certain throughput, as well as site administration.

Information and advertising activities Many companies post on their websites important information for consumers: descriptions of goods and services, their cost, company address, phone number and e-mail where you can place an order. There are specialized servers that provide systematized information about a specific group of products.

Electronic commerce There are a large number of stores on the Internet where you can buy everything: computers, programs, books, food, etc. The buyer of an online store has the opportunity to get acquainted with the product, its technical characteristics, appearance, price, and so on. Having selected a product, the buyer can order the product directly from the Internet. Form of payment - credit cards, cash (after delivery) and electronic money.

Virtual flea market(bulletin boards) are websites where sellers and buyers exchange information about the product on offer.

Internet auctions A variety of goods are offered at such auctions: works of art, computer equipment, cars, etc.

22. global systems GS and EYDS for whom and why?

Internet Booking Systems (IDS), also known as Alternative Systems Reservations (ADS) appeared in the early 90s of the XX century and acted as an alternative already existing system G.D.S. Unlike GDS, which only agents of travel companies have access to, ADS makes it possible to use booking services not only for travel agents, but also for individuals. By logging into any of the ADS system portals, each client can independently select the hotel he needs and the type of room for clearly defined dates, book his request in real time and instantly receive confirmation to his email address. Today there are a large number of similar sites in the world, among which are HRS.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com, Priceline.com, Orbitz.com.

GDS (Global Booking Systems). Today there are 4 global booking systems: Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan, Saber. They are used by more than 800 thousand travel agencies around the world to book travel services, including hotel accommodation. The first GDS was created back in the early 60s of the 20th century and was widely used in the aviation industry. She tracked information about flight schedules, the number of available seats on a flight, and prices. In the 1970s, travel agencies, who were spending huge amounts of time manually processing bookings, realized the convenience of GDS systems and began installing internal systems booking flights at home (among the first developers was the now existing company Saber). Using GDS, agencies significantly reduced time costs, increased productivity and naturally decided to apply this work scheme in other segments of the tourism market. Today, GDS is widely used to book not only air tickets, but also cruises, cars, and hotels. Hundreds of thousands of travel agencies connected to the terminals of global distribution systems Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan, Saber are able to provide their clients with a full range of booking services in real time. Thus, using a certain set of commands, the agent can find the hotel the client needs, view prices, availability and make a reservation.

basic information technologies in tourism

The specifics of the technology for the development and sale of tourism products require systems that, in the shortest possible time, would provide information about the availability of vehicles and the possibilities of accommodating tourists, ensure quick reservations and reservations, as well as automation of solving auxiliary tasks in the provision of tourism services (parallel registration of such documents, such as tickets, invoices and guidebooks, provision of settlement and reference information, etc.).

This is achievable provided that modern computer technologies for processing and transmitting information are widely used in tourism.

Any management information processes include procedures for recording, collecting, transmitting, storing, processing, issuing information and making management decisions.

Information technologies represent the means and methods by which these procedures are implemented in various information systems.

The tourism industry allows the use of a wide variety of computer technologies, ranging from specialized software products for managing an individual tourism company to the use of global computer networks.

Today, tourism uses quite a lot of the latest computer technologies, for example, global computer reservation systems, integrated communication networks, multimedia systems, Smart Cards, management information systems, etc.

Modern computer technologies have the greatest impact on the promotion of tourism products (distribution and sales). First of all, this concerns the possibility of creating new marketing channels for the promotion and sale of a tourism product.

Modern information technologies in the activities of a tourism enterprise can be divided into the following groups:

1) management information systems;

2) global reservation systems;

3) Internet;

4) multimedia systems.

Management Information Systems

They provide input, editing and storage of information about tours, hotels, clients, the status of applications, provide for the output of information in the form of various documents (questionnaires, lists of tourists, tour descriptions), allow you to calculate the cost of tours taking into account exchange rates and control payment for tours, generate financial reporting.

• Getalenko Anna Ivanovna, bachelor, student
• Crimean Federal University named after V.I. Vernadsky

• SINGLE INFORMATION SPACE
• COMPUTER RESERVATION SYSTEMS
• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• TOURIST AND RECREATIONAL COMPLEX
• MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS

This article addresses issues modern use information technologies in the theory and practice of tourism. This article shows and studies the features of the use of information technology in each case. Authors teaching aids The use of information technologies for educational purposes has been thoroughly studied, practice has also been carried out in training specialists in the field of tourism, an analysis has been carried out of the quality of information, as well as the approach to its placement and availability of processing.

• Analysis of methods for assessing the financial stability of an organization
• Analysis of the structure of assets and liabilities of Avtogradbank JSC
• Analysis of the Russian Banking Sector in the period from 2016 to 2018
• Assessment of the financial condition of the enterprise (using the example of PJSC GC "Yalta-Intourist")

Purpose The work is to develop proposals for the management of tourism organizations on the selection of various information and computer systems in the field of tourism, filling the gap in scientific research on this problem in domestic science. The applicant achieved this goal based on the study and analysis of specific information technologies, the main trends in the development of the tourism business and the impact of IT on the efficiency of the organization.

Information is processed data suitable for decision-making. Information exists only for a specific (request) user. Thus, if there is no user, then there is no information.

A system is a large number of systems that are interconnected, functioning to achieve a specific goal.

The purpose of a system is the reason for which it is created.

An information system is a set of related software and hardware, information resources, and management personnel that carry out information processes to prepare decisions.

Information technology is an initially specified sequence of procedures and operations that are automatically performed on the original data.

Information technologies consist of technological procedures and operations performed in a specified sequence. Typical operations are collection, registration, transmission, accumulation and processing of data.

The purpose of information technology is the production of information, upon analysis of which, a person will make a decision to perform actions.

Domestic sociologist V.P. Konetskaya understands communication this way: “Communication is a socially determined process of transmitting and perceiving information in conditions of interpersonal and mass communication through different channels using various communication means (verbal, non-verbal and others).”

Communication is a connection between subjects interacting in some way, through the transfer and perception of information to each other.

The purpose of communication is the exchange of information of various kinds and in various ways.

A communication system is a connection of individuals participating in the communication process in a certain way using information flows.

The purpose of a communication system is to transfer information from the communicator to its end user.

Information system managers—information managers—should carefully examine the acquisition strategies adopted by their suppliers. For example, some dominant corporations such as Cisco and Microsoft have concluded that it makes more sense to acquire ideas for next-generation information products from start-ups than to generate them themselves. By analyzing a company's acquisitions and the fate of the technologies they purchased, information systems administrators can gain insight into the vendor's ability to take advantage of the new asset. Buying rather than creating new technology is a legitimate and even effective approach, although it probably still indicates that such a company is inclined to immediately extract commercial benefits from the future, rather than create that future in-house.

Of course, such an approach can be successful if the information product manufacturer retains its core staff and funds ongoing development.

When choosing suppliers, heads of information technology, company departments and organizations tend to underestimate the need to analyze their innovation strategy.

However, the problem of innovation specifically in the field of informatization always arises when implementing development programs in a variety of areas of activity. Moreover, with the development of any field of activity, it is almost inevitable that innovative measures for informatization must be carried out.

The process of introducing new information systems in a company is a complex organizational task.

Considering the specifics of the field of information systems and the need to make decisions in the management of a company, this task is the task of an information manager. It is information management specialists who must implement the implementation project in such a way that the automated information system naturally, and as painlessly as possible, “fits” into the organizational structure of the enterprise.

The modern tourism industry has undergone very significant changes in recent years due to the introduction of new computer technologies. The successful functioning of any company in the tourism business market is almost unthinkable without the use of modern information technologies. The specifics of the technology for the development and sale of tourism products require systems that, in the shortest possible time, would provide information about the availability of vehicles and the possibilities of accommodating tourists, ensure quick reservations and reservations, as well as automation of solving auxiliary tasks in the provision of tourism services (parallel registration of such documents, such as tickets, invoices and guidebooks, provision of settlement and reference information, etc.). This is achievable provided that modern computer technologies for processing and transmitting information are widely used in tourism.

The tourism industry is so diverse and multifaceted that it requires the use of a wide variety of information technologies, ranging from the development of specialized software that automates the work of an individual tourism company or hotel, to the use of global computer networks.

Currently, the formation of a tourism product involves the use of global distribution systems GDS (Global Distribution System), which provide quick and convenient booking of transport tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, currency exchange, ordering tickets for entertainment and sports programs, etc.

In the tourism industry, video text is also widespread, combining the capabilities of computer reservation systems, e-mail, telex, and electronic newspapers. In the UK, around 90% of travel agencies use Prestel's visual data system, supported by British Telecom. This system contains tourism and travel information, as well as offers from tour operators, train lines, ferries, hotels and airlines, easily accessible to consumers. The system is also regularly updated with the latest news and changes in all these areas. The main components of the Prestel system are a TV acting as a display, a keyboard for data entry, and an adapter that allows the travel agency to communicate with the central computer, bypassing telephone lines. Videotext technology is also successful in France, where the Minitel system is used. At the same time, the use of video text is limited in the United States.

The tourism business, being one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy, is a highly saturated information industry. In other words, collection, storage, processing and transmission up-to-date information are the most important and necessary condition for the functioning of any tourism enterprise. The success of business in some sectors of the economy directly depends on the speed of transmission and exchange of information, on its relevance, timeliness of receipt, adequacy and completeness. In this regard, the successful development of tourism business involves the widespread use latest technologies both in the field of creating a tourism product and its promotion to the services market.

Modern computer technologies are actively being introduced into the tourism business and their use is becoming an integral condition for increasing the competitiveness of any tourism enterprise. The tourism industry allows the use of a wide variety of computer technologies, ranging from specialized software products for managing an individual tourism company to the use of global computer networks. Today, tourism uses quite a lot of the latest computer technologies, for example, global computer reservation systems, integrated communication networks, multimedia systems, Smart Cards, management information systems, etc. The information technologies listed above are used with varying degrees of activity and have unequal distribution. The degree of their influence on the development of the tourism industry also varies.

Modern computer technologies have the greatest impact on the promotion of tourism products (distribution and sales). First of all, this concerns the possibility of creating new marketing channels for promoting and selling a tourism product. Thus, in the field of advertising, direct mailing of tourist information by e-mail (direct-mail) has become widespread. In recent years, most tourism enterprises have created their own websites on the Internet and also use banner advertising. Although the effectiveness of these channels for distributing tourism products in Russia is not very high, this direction should be considered as very promising.

The West is already witnessing an electronic offensive against the traditional tourism business. In particular, e-commerce is beginning to actively penetrate and take root in the tourism market. Electronic travel offices already exist, such as Microsoft's Expedia travel agency, which allows anyone with a credit card to purchase a tour, make airline or hotel reservations, buy tickets to entertainment events, and book car rentals anywhere in the world. According to German experts, about 25% of all tourism product sales may in the near future be realized through e-commerce. Thus, computer technologies have provoked the creation and use of fundamentally new electronic marketing channels for the promotion and sale of tourism products.

Computer reservation systems CRS (Computer Reservation System), which appeared in the mid-60s. XX century, made it possible to speed up the process of reserving air tickets and carry it out in real time. As a result, the quality of services has increased by reducing customer service time, increasing the volume and variety of services offered, etc., and it has also become possible to optimize the loading of airliners, implement a flexible pricing strategy, apply new management methods, etc. The high reliability and convenience of these redundancy systems contributed to their rapid and widespread adoption. Currently, 98% of foreign tourism enterprises use reservation systems. On Russian market Mainly represented are global reservation systems such as Amadeus, Galileo Worldspan. The Amadeus computer reservation system has been operating on the Russian market since 1993, and this moment in Russia there are more than 600 travel agencies that use the system.

One of the main areas of application of information technology in tourism is the introduction of multimedia technologies, in particular directories and catalogues. Currently, tourist guides and catalogs are published in books, on video cassettes, on CD-ROM laser discs, and on the Internet. Electronic catalogs allow you to virtually travel along the proposed routes, view these routes in active mode, obtain information about the country, objects along the route, information about hotels, campsites, motels and other accommodation facilities, familiarize yourself with the system of benefits and discounts, as well as legislation in the field tourism. In addition, these catalogs usually provide information about the rules for processing tourist documents, tourist formalities, tourist behavior patterns in extreme situations, etc. The client can plan a tour program, select it according to specified optimal parameters (price, system of benefits, transport system, season, etc.).

The use of multimedia technologies quickly provides potential client information about any tour that interests him and thereby allows him to quickly and accurately select a suitable tourism product. At the same time, the tour operator (travel agent) has the opportunity, if necessary, to make changes to this tour or create a new exclusive tour, make reservations and sell the tourist service created online to the tourist.

In the field of management in the tourism business, dramatic changes have also occurred. The current level of development of the tourism business and fierce competition in this area attach particular importance to the information systems of travel agencies. The functionality of these systems should ensure the input, editing and storage of information about tours, hotels, clients, the status of applications, provide for the output of information in the form of various documents: questionnaires, vouchers, lists of tourists, descriptions of tours, hotels; calculate the cost of tours taking into account exchange rates, discounts, control payment for tours, generate financial statements, transfer export-import data into other software products (Word, Excel, accounting programs) and other opportunities. These systems not only speed up the settlement process and the generation of documents, but can also reduce the cost of services (tour packages) by choosing the best price option for customer delivery, accommodation, etc. An order for the development of a unique tourist office automation information system is quite expensive, and Currently, this is not particularly necessary, since there are a number of well-proven software products. The development of specialized software products for the tourism business is currently carried out by several Russian companies: Megatek (Master-Tour program), Arim-Soft (TurWin, Charter, Ovir programs), Samo-Soft (program “(Self-Tour”), “Tourist Technologies” (program complex automation"Tourist Office"), "Intour-Soft" (In-tour-Soft program), ANT-Group (ANT-Group system), "Rek-Soft" (Edelweiss, Barsum, Rekonline complex ) and etc.

There are several computer systems on the software market that allow you to automate the internal activities of a travel company. As a rule, these systems ensure the maintenance of reference databases for clients, partners, hotels, transport, embassies, as well as the maintenance of tours and accounting for payments, accepting orders and working with clients, generating output documents, etc. Almost all software systems provide the formation accounting reporting and often export-import of data into specialized accounting programs, such as 1C, etc.

Along with the automation of tourism firms, a similar development of programs for automating the activities of hotels, restaurants and other tourism enterprises is underway. The use of information systems in this area leads to significant changes in management and also improves the quality of service.

The emergence of multimedia technologies has found quick application and in the field of social and cultural services and tourism. Main Feature multimedia computer- the presence of additional devices, such as CD-ROM drives, sound card, speakers, 3D accelerator, etc. Currently, most computers on the market are multimedia and these devices are included as standard. Multimedia technology provides the ability to work with sound and video files, which opens up new directions for the use of computer technology in the field of socio-cultural services and tourism, in particular the development of virtual excursions to museums and travel.

Virtual excursions and trips are presentations that allow viewers to explore the main objects of interest to them (museums, attractions) even before actually visiting them. These can be randomly moving panoramas of objects of any size (exhibits of museums and art galleries, hotel premises, streets and buildings of cities, park alleys, bird's eye views, etc.). The panoramas are interconnected by simulated longitudinal movements inside the object in such a way that the illusion of real movement along and inside the object is created with the possibility of stopping for a circular inspection at the most interesting places. The viewer can arbitrarily change directions of movement, use the zoom function, move forward and backward, left and right. It is possible to voice the presentation, embed explanatory notes into it, integrate geographic maps and floor plans into the virtual journey with the ability to orient to the cardinal points.

One of the most common areas of using multimedia technologies in the field of socio-cultural services and tourism is the creation and use of encyclopedic, reference and advertising discs. Currently, a large number of information and reference materials have been developed for museums and various tourist destinations, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, the resorts of the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, etc. Since 1998, the company "Adaptive Technologies" has been producing CD directories "Hotels of the World": "All of Spain", "All of Switzerland", "All of Cyprus", etc. The company "Olbis" (St. Petersburg) has been publishing an advertising electronic directory since 1999 "Tourist companies".

Many enterprises in the sphere of social and cultural services and tourism, most often museums, travel agencies and hotels, create their own disks containing reference, information and advertising information. The cost of developing a CD directory depends on its volume and components (the presence of multimedia clips, 3D models) and on average ranges from several hundred to several thousand dollars.

Today, it is mainly the capital's tour operators that produce their CD guides. The discs usually contain regional overviews with descriptions of proposed programs, hotels, etc.

Typically, multimedia catalogs do not contain frequently changing information, such as pricing data, and functionality There are significantly fewer CD directories than directories on specialized Internet servers. However, CD reference books are popular for a number of reasons:

• they are the most convenient means of obtaining information if the user does not have access to the Internet;
• CDs make it possible to obtain reference information often much faster than searching for similar data on the Internet;
• one CD, like network resource V local network, can be used simultaneously by several user-managers of travel agencies;
• CDs can be easily transferred from one computer to another, and are convenient to use both at presentations and other promotional events;
• CDs are ideal promotional and informational material sent to partners and clients.

The Internet and social media resources will soon be the most promising platform for placing the marketing budget of a social and cultural service enterprise. The main trend in recent years has been the strengthening of the role of the Internet in the process of making decisions about travel and purchasing a tourism product. Now the Internet has become the main source of information for travelers, and first of all - social media and review systems in which users exchange opinions about trips and tourism services.

An effective method of promoting a tourism product on the Internet is participation in international exhibitions and fairs on the Internet. All the most famous tourism exhibitions have already opened their information pages on the Internet, which provide statistics, conditions for participation, accreditation and visiting exhibitions.

The most important exhibitions include:

• Madrid exhibition FITUR (http://www.fitur.sei.es);
• Milan BIT exhibition (http://www.hcs.il.viadggi);
• Berlin ITB (http://www/messe-berlin.de/ilb).

The possibility of direct and reverse audio-visual communication via the Internet allows you to:

• significantly reduce the costs of promoting a tourism product in the tourism services market;
• eliminate in some cases the costs of participating in expensive tourism exhibitions and fairs;
• save on transportation costs, business trips, costs of renting and installing stands, etc.

Thus, fast, reliable communications in the global world network make it possible to promote a tourism product with greater efficiency.

In Russia, social and political restructuring and the formation of a market economy objectively led to the need for a significant change in information relations in society. Despite the recent significant expansion of the market for information services and products, information support for authorities government controlled, economic entities and citizens remains at a low level. The ability to access information is, as a rule, limited to its departmental affiliation and is often determined by the official position and social status of the consumer. The problem of access to geographically remote information resources. The majority of the population receives information in the traditional way - print, radio, television.

Information and telecommunication systems operate mainly in the interests of government authorities and, as a rule, in isolation. This state of affairs leads to duplication of work, redundancy of primary information, and increased cost of development and operation of systems. In addition, as noted, departmental fragmentation makes it difficult to exchange and access information.

Information services, resources and software products (information potential) are distributed extremely unevenly across the territory of Russia, and they are mainly provided in the central regions. This distribution corresponds to the concentration of the main scientific and information centers of Russia and does not take into account the needs of the population and government bodies. That is why the problem of equalizing information potential requires an urgent solution.

These problems can be solved only by creating a unified tourist information space in Russia.

The following properties of the information space can be distinguished, characterizing the level of its development.

Firstly, integrity, interpreted as the unity of all objects and subjects within the economic space. The main factor in the integrity and consistency of a subject is the manifestation of its economic activity. The information space, functioning in the form of a variety of socio-economic, social and information connections of economic space subjects, is a measure of their involvement in public relations.

The second criterion for the development of the information space is communicability, which manifests itself in the form of interconnected processes of integration and differentiation, occurring both within the subject and in interaction with the external environment.

Due to the fact that there is a constant increase in the number of interactions of subjects per unit of time within the economic space, and information about these interactions is reproduced and replicated in an increasing volume within the information space, it is logical to highlight another property of the information space - dynamism.

The following properties of a single information space are the constant expansion of boundaries, due to the increasing complexity of economic entities and their information interaction and the increase in the density of the information space, which occurs due to the growth of relationships between economic entities, its internationalization, cooperation and the growth in the number of elementary information exchanges per unit of time.

The main features of a unified information space in the field of tourism include:

• the effect of uniform principles and general rules for all subjects of information interaction with a combination of state regulation and self-regulatory principles in the formation and development of a single information space;
• ensuring safe information interaction between the state, organizations and citizens;
• the most complete satisfaction of the information needs of subjects throughout the territory;
• equal access of subjects of information interaction to open information resources and their legal equality;
• maintaining a balance of interests in entering the global information space and ensuring national information sovereignty.

Thus, having studied the use of information and communication technologies in the field of tourism, we can conclude that in these days of widespread computerization and informatization, all travel companies and agencies, enterprises and firms abroad and the vast majority of Russian enterprises use international information as a working source of information. computer network Internet. The use of information technologies in the field of tourism allows users to easily find information about recreational conditions, prices, services provided, and more detailed information about the organization. No other type of advertising can compare with Internet advertising in terms of completeness, quality and efficiency of the information provided.

Thus, the creation of a unified regional tourist information space is of undoubted interest not only for individual tourism enterprises, but also in general can affect the development of the tourism industry, helping to increase the attractiveness of tourism in the region.

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