Global Hospitality and Tourism Management Technologies potx

Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos
The University of Oviedo, Spain
Robert Tennyson
University of Minnesota, USA
Jingyuan Zhao
Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Global Hospitality and
Tourism Management
Technologies
Global hospitality and tourism management technologies / Patricia Ordonez de Pablos, Robert Tennyson, and Jingyuan
Zhao, editors.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “This book is a comprehensive source of information for those interested in tourism and hospitality manage-
ment, approaches, and trends, and, covers the emerging research topics that will define the future of IT and cultural
development in the 21st century” Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-61350-041-5 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-61350-042-2 (ebook) ISBN 978-1-61350-043-9 (print & perpetual
access) 1. Tourism Management. 2. Hospitality industry. I. Ordsqez de Pablos, Patricia, 1975- II. Tennyson, Robert D. III.
Zhao, Jingyuan, 1968-
G155.A1G4877 2012
910.68 dc23
2011022136
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List of Reviewers
Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos, The University of Oviedo, Spain
Jingyuan Zhao, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Robert D. Tennyson, University of Minnesota, USA
Aliana M W Leong, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR.
Ashleigh K. Shelton, University of Minnesota, USA
Carmine Sellitto, Centre for Tourism and Services Research, Australia
Chad Lin, Curtin University, Australia
Deepak Chhabra, Arizona State University, USA
Eleonora Pantano, Department of Linguistics, University of Calabria, Italy
Fabiana Lorenzi, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Brazil
Jiaming Liu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China

John C. Crotts, College of Charleston, USA
Jose Emilio Labra Gayo, The University of Oviedo, Spain
Juan Manuel Cueva Lovelle, The University of Oviedo, Spain
Jiaming Liu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China
Miltiadis D. Lytras, American College in Greece, Greece
Murat Çetin, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia
Neeta Baporikar, Salalah College of Applied Sciences, Sultanate of Oman
Rocco Servidio, Department of Linguistics, University of Calabria, Italy
Ruth Rios-Morales, University of Glion,Switzerland
Stan Karanasios, University of Leeds, UK
Stanley Loh, Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil
Stephen Burgess, Centre for Tourism and Services Research, Australia
Tao Chen, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Tienan Wang, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Xi Li, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR
Zhiming Zhu, Hohai University, China
Preface vi
Chapter 1
Virtual Tourism: Functions, Prot Modes and Practices in China 1
Jingyuan Zhao, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain
Robert Tenysson, University of Minnesota, USA
Chapter 2
A Study on Tourist Management in China Based on Radio Frequency Identication (RFID)
Technology 12
Aliana M W Leong, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR
Xi Li, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR
Chapter 3
Key Issues in the Implementation of Electronic Customer Relationship Management in the
Australian Hospitality and Tourism Sector 27

Chad Lin, Curtin University, Australia
Chapter 4
Advanced Technologies and Tourist Behaviour: The Case of Pervasive Environments 52
Eleonora Pantano, University of Calabria, Italy
Rocco Servidio, University of Calabria, Italy
Chapter 5
Factors of Spatial Distribution of Recreation Areas in Peri-Urban Beijing 72
Jiaming Liu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China
Chapter 6
Two Tickets for Paradise: Gaming and Tourism 91
Ashleigh K. Shelton, University of Minnesota, USA
Chapter 7
The Role of Architecture on Tourism Industry: The Problem of (Mis)use of Building Technology and
Language of Heritage 102
Murat Çetin, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia
Table of Contents
Chapter 8
Emerging Trends in Tourism Industry in Oman 116
Neeta Baporikar, Salalah College of Applied Sciences, Sultanate of Oman
Chapter 9
Sales Force Technology for the Hospitality Industry 136
Ruth Rios-Morales, University of Glion,Switzerland
John C. Crotts, College of Charleston, USA
Chapter 10
Tourism Revitalization of Historic District in Perspective of Tourist Experience:A Case Study
of San-Fang Qi-Xiang in Fuzhou City, China 151
Jiaming Liu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China
Chapter 11
A Classication of Mobile Tourism Applications 165
Stan Karanasios, University of Leeds, UK

Stephen Burgess, Victoria University, Australia
Carmine Sellitto, Victoria University, Australia
Chapter 12
Personal Tour:A Multi-Agent Recommender System of Travel Packages 178
Fabiana Lorenzi, Invenio Software Inteligente & Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Brazil
Stanley Loh, Invenio Software Inteligente & Universidade Luterana do Brasil & Universidade
Católica de Pelotas, Brazil
Mara Abel, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Chapter 13
Management of World Heritage Sites:An Integrated Sustainable Marketing Approach 189
Deepak Chhabra, Arizona State University, USA
Chapter 14
Research Review of OWOM:Chinese Cases 207
Tao Chen, Harbin Institute of Technology & Nanjing Normal University & SanJiang University,
China
Zhiming Zhu, Hohai University, China
Tienan Wang, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Compilation of References 224
About the Contributors 251
Index 256
vi
Preface
Tourism is a dynamic part of our economy. The global hospitality and tourism industry, which blends
the lodging, food, attractions, cultural and travel industries, is the world’s largest industry with $4.5
trillion in expenditures generating 212 million jobs. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) currently
projects that by the year 2010, 338 million people will be employed in the industry that will grow to
$8.4 trillion in expenditures.
The main objective of the book is for dynamic market forces such as global competition, changing
customer expectations, and new communication technology – combined with career challenges due
to ongoing industry consolidation and corporate restructuring – mandate continuous learning and the

sharing of ideas. The book will facilitate this need by providing strategic information and clear insights
to the world-wide hospitality and tourism issues as well as the role of IT in these industries. It aims to
be the leading source of information for all those interested in Tourism and Hospitality Management,
Approaches, and Trends as well as to cover the emerging research topics which are going to define the
future of IT and cultural and creativity development in the 21
st
century.
The book’s strategy aims to be the reference edition for all those interested on the strategic role of
information technologies towards the achievement of a long term competitive advantage in the hospitality
and tourism industry (with main emphasis to be paid on practical aspects) as well as to be the reference
edition for all those (policy makers, government officers, academics and practitioners) interested in
understanding applications of IT for tourism and hospitality management and for people thirsty to know
on how to address challenges for IT and tourism and hospitality in the 21
st
century.
Global Hospitality and Tourism Management Technologies is organized into 14 chapters which
provide insight on global hospitality and tourism management as a whole.
Chapter 1 (Virtual tourism: functions, profit modes and practices in China) focuses on functions and
profit models as well discussions on the application of virtual tourism in China. Although the research
on virtual tourism made great progress in China, there is still a gap compared with international research
on virtual tourism. With the promotion of virtual reality technology and the development of tourism
industries, virtual tourism will effectively meet the needs of tourists
Chapter 2 (A Study on Tourist Management in China Based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Technology) indicates that with the help of high technology, improving the scenic RFID smart queuing
system will be the main function of queue management module.
Following the development of mass tourism, more and more scenic spots began to face the problem
of queue management; Fairness and effectiveness of queue management will directly affect the visitors’
experience in the scenic area.
vii
Chapter 3 (Key Issues in the Implementation of Electronic Customer Relationship Management in

the Australian Hospitality and Tourism Sector) proposes that the hospitality and tourism sector is one of
fastest growing sectors in Australia and in the world. In order to become more efficient and effective in
delivering products and services to customers via the use of ICT, hospitality and tourism organizations
have to rethink the ways in which they build relationships with their customers by initiating electronic
customer relationship management (eCRM) projects. Inappropriate eCRM decision-making and imple-
mentation can result in multi-million dollar losses, which can translate into a loss of competitiveness.
Chapter 4 (Advanced technologies and tourism behaviour: the case of pervasive environments) pro-
vides an overview of the most advanced technologies for tourism sector, with emphasis on pervasive
environments, which represent innovative systems based on an efficient integration of virtual reality
and affective world. The aim is to show how tourism industry might exploit the current advances in
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as virtual reality, web-based technologies,
mobile devices, etc., to catch tourists’ attention and gain competitive advantages over competitors. In
particular, these technologies are capable of promoting touristic destination in a global perspective and
affect potential tourist decision-making process, by investigating the main characteristics and possible
integrations.
Chapter 5 (Factors of Spatial Distribution of Recreation areas in Peri-urban Beijing) aims to identify
the factors which will influence the spatial distribution of peri-urban recreation areas, by analyzing the
collected data from questionnaires, online survey, documentation and field investigations. In order to
achieve sound information, relevant data from different management departments, owners and land-use
types involved in the case study area is collected.
Chapter 6 (Two Tickets for Paradise: Gaming and Tourism) begins by identifying linkage points
between advergames, tourism and three major mass communication theories/approaches—media de-
pendency theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and uses and gratifications theory . These will serve as
examples of how advergames and hospitality can be integrated into theories and models attempting to
explain the impact of information technologies. They will also provide a springboard for considering
the nature of advergames with regards to tourism.
Chapter 7 (The role of architecture on tourism industry; the problem of (mis)use of building technol-
ogy and language of heritage) argues that power of tourism industry has reached, under the pressure of
global economics, to a capacity to turn even daily architecture into instruments of touristic show. In this
context, technology is utilized as an instrument to produce such iconography only as a surface articula-

tion. Thus, architecture becomes a commodity of touristic consumption in this current socio-economic
and cultural context.
Chapter 8 (Emerging Trends in Tourism Industry in Oman) touches base on the trends found in the
tourism Industry in Oman. It is also the main source of income generation for countries like Mauritius,
Spain etc. Oman being the second largest country in the Middle East possessing wealth of natural re-
sources has everything to offer to the tourists. It has a long coastline with pristine beaches, beautiful
mountains, and world’s best deserts with rolling sand dunes.
Chapter 9 (Sales Force Technology for the Hospitality Industry) highlights where the changes in the
hotel sales business are occuring, why they are occuring, and what they mean to both buyers and sellers.
The intent of this overview is to inform hotel owners and investors who are considering such an invest-
ment as to the benefits that can potentially be derived from SFA. Furthermore, our intent is to provide
hospitality educators insights as to how SFA is changing the workplace of both meeting planners and
viii
hotel sales professionals so they can provide their students a realistic view of the software aids they may
need to master to be successful in their careers.
Chapter 10 (Tourism revitalization of historic district in perspective of tourist experience: A case
study of San-Fang Qi-Xiang in Fuzhou City, China) discusses the new thought of tourism revitaliza-
tion in historic district in perspective of tourist experience. Firstly, based on the deep analysis of tourist
experience’s essential elements in historic districts, 6E experience mode is established to summarize
the tourist experience, which includes Estheticism and nostalgia, Education and culture, Entertainment
and leisure, Exchange and communication and Emotion sublimation. Meanwhile, how to build up and
enhance every single experience of 6E model in tourism revitalization of historic district is also explained.
Secondly, the application of 6E model is demonstrated elaborately in the case of Conceptual Planning of
Tourism Development in San-Fang Qi-Xiang Historic District in Fuzhou City. Considering the hierarchy
and comprehensibility of tourist experience and combined with site environment analysis, San-Fang
Qi-Xiang historic district is divided into four function divisions: Nanhou old street mall, Warmth and
leisure lane, Antai water-front zone and Residential blocks for minority customization.
Chapter 11 (A classification of mobile tourism applications) introduces mobile technology and
discusses its emergence in the tourism industry. As has been the case with other Information Commu-
nication Technologies (ICTs), tourism has manifested as one of the most well suited sectors to mobile

technology and mobile applications. In contrast to other ICTs in the tourism domain however, mobile
applications are capable of enhancing the tourist experience at the destination, creating a paradigm shift
in how information is accessed and digested, and transactions performed. Nonetheless, little is known
concerning how mobile technologies are changing the landscape of tourism and tourist behaviour and
the content offered by tourism applications.
Chapter 12 (Personal Tour: a multi-agent recommender system of travel packages) describes the
Personal Tour, a multi-agent recommender system designed to help users to find best travel packages
according to their preferences. Personal Tour is based on the collaboration of multiple agents exchanging
information stored in their local knowledge bases. Based on the paradigm of the Distributed Artificial
Intelligence, a user recommendation request is divided into partial recommendations handled by different
agents, each one maintaining incomplete information that may be useful to compose a recommendation.
Chapter 13 (Management of World Heritage Sites: An Integrated Sustainable Marketing Approach)
seeks to use an integrated sustainable marketing paradigm to determine if a predetermined set of im-
portant indicators from the model are visibly implemented by the world heritage sites (WHS). More
specifically, the aim is to suggest add-ons to the heritage conservation principles so that a holistic and
integrated sustainable paradigm of heritage tourism can be devised. In the recent decades, the global/
world form of heritage has received unprecedented attention in heritage tourism, more so because it
brings with it a celebrity UNESCO status to the heritage site.
Chapter 14 (Research Review of OWOM: Chinese Cases) defines OWOM (Online Word-of-Mouth)
and discusses the connotation, communication process and communication effect, and practical appli-
cation, and put forward some managerial suggestions. As online shopping is regarded as a fashion in
china, online word-of-mouth has significant influences on shopping and therefore becomes an important
internet communication tool.
Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos, Robert Tennyson, and Jingyuan Zhao
1
INTRODUCTION
As the rapid development of information and In-
ternet technology, the industries of tourism, hotel
and entertainment are constantly introducing the
content of experience economy (Cooper, 2003),

and the virtual tourism focusing on the attractions
comes into being. The content of travel channel
of Travelocity, Expedia, Yahoo Online and other
websites becomes much richer. A vast virtual travel
market based on e-commerce and online travel
purchase is promoting the industries of tourism and
hospitality in the US with an increase of economic
scale from 180 billion US dollars in 2002 to 64
billion US dollars in 2007 (Law, Cheung, 2005).
Currently, more and more websites of travel have
been established to develop virtual tourism rapidly
(Frew, 2000; Lu, 2009).
Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
Chapter 1
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-041-5.ch001
Jingyuan Zhao
Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos
Universidad de Oviedo, Spain
Robert Tenysson
University of Minnesota, USA
Virtual Tourism:
Functions, Prot Modes and
Practices in China
ABSTRACT
Although the research on virtual tourism made great progress in China, there is still a gap compared
with international research on virtual tourism. With the promotion of virtual reality technology and the
development of tourism industries, virtual tourism will effectively meet the needs of tourists. This study
focuses on functions and prot models of virtual tourism in China, and also discusses on the application
of virtual tourism in China.

2
Virtual Tourism
China Internet Network Information Center
(CNNIC) pointed out in the 23
rd
China Internet De-
velopment Report, that in the end of 2008, China’s
netizens had reached 298 million, and the coverage
had reached 22.6% beyond the global average;
the growth of Internet users was 88 million more
than that in 2007 with an annual growth rate of
41.9%. The network permeates into the life, work
and leisure of people through a variety of ways.
69.3% of Internet users think Internet saves the
time that people spend on visit in person, 59.1%
of Internet users would be monotonous without
the Internet, 82.5% of Internet users believe that
Internet strengthens the ties with friends, 27.6%
of Internet users believe that online transactions
are safe. In this context, the virtual technology,
which is a good media between tourism activities
and tourist, quickly joins the tourism field, and
has a huge impact on tourism industries.
Yang, Chen (2010) claimed that virtual tour-
ism of China is divided into two phases: the
initial period from 1999 to2004, and the period
of rapid development from 2005 to present. From
1999 to 2004, the virtual reality technology was
combined with the tourism industries, and virtual
tourism emerged. Considering imperfect virtual

reality technology in China, the development of
virtual tourism is not in-depth studied, scholars
mainly focus on basic theories, construction of
virtual travel system, tourism planning. From
2005 to now is the rapid development period of
virtual tourism in China. With the promotion of
Virtual Reality (VR) technology, more and more
tourism enterprises, government departments and
universities begin to play the advantages of virtual
technology to promote the development of tourism.
Although the research on virtual tourism made
great progress in China, there is still a gap com-
pared with the international research on virtual
tourism as well as the research on other tourism
products (Za, 2005). Moreover, virtual tourism
is a new subject relatively, the study of domestic
scholars focuses on the application and imple-
mentation of virtual tourism from a rather narrow
perspective and scope, while international scholars
have paid a wide attention on virtual tourism from
1990s on (Xue, 2005). In addition, the study on
virtual tourism has the same problems as the other
study on tourism, such as uniform definition of
concept, lack of systematic theoretical system,
less innovation, few case studies combined with
practice, and so on. With the promotion of virtual
reality technology and the development of tour-
ism industries, related research is necessary to
explore theory and practice so that virtual tourism
effectively meets the needs of tourists.

This study focuses on the function and profit
models of virtual tourism, and also discusses on
the application of virtual tourism in China.
RESEARCH REVIEW
Review of International Studies
The current international research on virtual tour-
ism mainly focuses on three areas: definition and
extension of virtual tourism levels, key factors
of virtual tourism and relationship between vari-
ables, and interaction between impact variables
of virtual tourism.
Definition and Extension of
Virtual Tourism Levels
Law, Bai (2006) claimed that people concerned
about not only the access to information from
travel websites, but also the construction of travel
websites because it impacts the experience of
virtual tourism, and the levels of virtual tourism
were defined from cognitive, functional, emotional
perspectives based on different degree of involve-
ment. First, from the perspective of information
search and recommendations, Kim B. D., Kim
S.O. (2001), Barwise, Hammond, Elberse (2002)
claimed that virtual tourism was linear and text-
based, and it was a process of online browse and
provision of travel information. Second, from the
3
Virtual Tourism
perspective of network reservation and functional
service, Oppenheim, Shelby (1999), Lewis, Ka-

luber (2002) and Maeda et al. (2004) proposed
that virtual tourism and web design should try to
improve the format of image display instead of text
so as to increase the service quality of online travel.
Third, from the spiritual experience perspective
of virtual tourism, Siegal (1997), Senecal, Nantal
(2004), Hennig-Thurau et al. (2004), Blackshaw,
Nazzaro (2005) claimed that images and visual
design should be integrated to provide complete
experience for virtual tourism through creative
design so that visitors have access to convenient
site navigation, familiar environment, high-quality
information content, and product value.
Key Factors of Virtual Tourism and
Relationship between Variables
Lu (2009) summarized the features of virtual
tourism, namely usability, playfulness, and com-
plexity. Law, Bai (2006) made use of involvement
theory, and considered impact factors of virtual
tourism and key variables of evaluation under
circumstances of two cases - involvement and
non- involvement. Many scholars summarize the
critical factors that ensure the success of virtual
tourism, and claim that the most important factors
are convenience of websites, safety and perceived
risk, price level, and friendly user interface.
Interaction between Impact
Variables of Virtual Tourism
Han, Mills (2007) claimed that virtual tourism
was impacted by the factors of push and pull,

the former includes the price of virtual tourism,
distribution channels, websites performance,
promotions, direct mail and advertising; the lat-
ter includes the differentiation of virtual tourism,
perceived value, and perceived quality. In addition,
Schegg, Steiner, Gherissi-Labben, Murphy(2006)
researched on the role elements of virtual tourism,
and emphasized on the promotion roles of elements
including website content, service environment,
function of network transaction, and technology
of virtual tourism.
Review of Domestic Studies
Yang, Chen (2010) made a systematic summary on
virtual tourism of China, and claimed that the study
of virtual tourism mainly focused on three areas:
technology systems of virtual tourism, sceneries
of virtual tourism, and teaching of virtual tourism.
Technology Systems of Virtual Tourism
From the beginning of virtual tourism study to
present, scholars still pay attention to the relevant
technology systems of virtual tourism because the
virtual tourism results from the rapid development
of information technology, the combination of
tourism and information technology results in
a new form of tourism, and virtual tourism will
not exist with no information technology. Some
scholars discuss on how to build a reality system
of virtual tourism from the perspective of key
technologies and specific content (Xu, Wei, Yang,
2001; Feng, Su, 2001; Lu, Wang, Gou, Du, 2005;

Wang, Wei, 2005; Zhang, Liu, Mu, 2008). Regard-
ing the construction of virtual sceneries and the
choice of roaming mode, scholars put forward
different views from different perspectives. Liu
and Jia (2008) discuss on the direction of virtual
tourism, and claim that the development of grid
computing provides an ideal solution for large-
scale virtual tour environment, the lightweight
modeling tools are also a key research direction
based on virtual landscape of images, and the in-
teractive mode between virtual guide and virtual
tourist groups is more intelligent, which will be
next research topic.
Sceneries of Virtual Tourism
Regarding the study of virtual sceneries, scholars
focus on the changes brought by the application
4
Virtual Tourism
of virtual reality technology in the marketing and
planning of sceneries. Zhang, Li, Wang (2000)
claimed that virtual tourism of existing attrac-
tions not only plays a role of pre-promotion, and
expand its influence and attraction to tourists, but
also to a certain extent meet the needs of tourism
and aesthetic appreciation for people who have
never been to the sceneries or cannot visit in per-
son. Yuan (2008) integrated sceneries into game
context by means of virtual reality technology, as
a scene of network game, the impact of sceneries
is increased through the spread of network game,

thereby achieve the marketing of sceneries. Feng,
Su (2001) claimed that in tourism planning, virtual
reality technology had more obvious advantages
than traditional planning method, for example, it
shows dynamical tourism planning and design to
the life to give people a sense of immersion, so
that tourism planning and design can be modi-
fied easily to stimulate creative inspiration and
ideas, and make planning more innovative. Wang
(2003) summarized the application of Cyberspace
technology in the virtual tourism planning from
four aspects, that is, provide virtual technology
platform for tour planning, design new virtual at-
tractions and tourism products, formulate market-
ing planning of virtual tour product, make policy
of virtual tourism planning, and build the security
system of Cyberspace. Wu, Wang (2004) proposed
the concept of GIServices based on the thinking
of Geo-information services to deal with the net-
work data storage and sharing, establish virtual
tourism planning program through independent
platform GeoEye3D, and achieve the roaming in
the virtual landscape through Java.
Teaching of Virtual Tourism
Yan (2008) claimed that experiment systems of
virtual reality improved teaching modes, enriched
teaching methods, broke the constraints of risk,
cost and time, and achieved the integration of
teaching and test. Chen (2007; 2008) summarized
the application of virtual reality technology in the

experiment teaching of tourism from three aspects:
virtual systems of learning established by virtual
reality technology, virtual experiment teaching
systems, and teaching systems of virtual training.
Wei (2007) discussed on the support role of virtual
reality technology in the teaching of tourism from
the perspective of practical teaching of tourism,
and compared the effects in the teaching between
virtual reality technology and multimedia. Zhang
(2008) pointed out that conventional teaching
methods that most teachers used had problems
between teachers and students, which could be
solved through virtual reality technology by
means of its acceptability, interaction, immersion
and sensibility that could meet the requirements
of teaching experiment, such as situated learn-
ing interface, and human-computer interaction,
therefore virtual reality technology in practical
education systems of tourism would play a series
of roles to improve the experimental environment,
optimize the teaching process, enhance experi-
mental results, and cultivate innovative talents.
FUNCTIONS OF VIRTUAL TOURISM
Comparison between Travel
Experience and Mirror
Image Experience
Travel experience is a versatile leisure activity
including entertainment and learning (Li, 2008).
Tourists gain travel experience through paths of
realization, such as sightseeing, contact, imita-

tion and game (Xie, 2005). Travel experience
is finished in the real travel while mirror image
experience is conducted in the virtual reality
(Zheng, Ma, Li, 2010). Figure 1 shows the cor-
responding relationship between travel experience
and mirror image experience. The dotted line in
the middle of Figure 1 likes a mirror that separates
the real world and virtual world of tourism, and
5
Virtual Tourism
also achieves the corresponding relationship of
experience paths. Real tourism and virtual reality
have similar audio-visual senses, the formation of
expression, by which tourists feel the contexts of
tourism, is same, both real tour and virtual attrac-
tions can have psychological effects on tourists.
Virtual tourism is present in a specific space-
time framework. In the world of virtual reality,
visitors can have access to the similar experience
as real travel does through audio-visual way. In
addition, the social nature of human results in
tourists’ exchange with local residents and man-
agement personnel of attractions. In the virtual
world, the boundaries of social roles are elimi-
nated since the identities of people are virtual, so
that tourists have equal exchange and communi-
cation with other online tourists. Zheng, Ma, Li
(2010) claimed that travel experience and mirror
image experience had the similarity in terms of
realization paths and perception effects. Accord-

ing to survey, most of consumers are satisfied to
virtual tour experience.
Features of Virtual Tourism
Virtual tourism has the following characteristics:
• Transcend Time and Space. Virtual tour-
ism can present the world beyond time and
space for visitors whenever necessary.
• Interactivity. In virtual tourism, the in-
teraction means communication between
people and computers. Virtual tourism uses a
variety of sensors to interact with the multi-
dimensional information space.
• High-Technology. Virtual tourism is based
on virtual reality technology and information
technology, which core is Internet. With no
high-technology, virtual tourism cannot be
generated.
• Economy. Virtual tourism is out of objec-
tive constraints, it reduces costs, avoids the
constraints of a variety of force majeure,
and makes travel cheaper.
Figure 1. Comparison of travel experience and mirror image experience
6
Virtual Tourism
• Multi-sensation. Virtual tour environment
can give visitors multi-sensation of image,
sound, touch, experience and other percep-
tion.
Zhang, Ma, Zhang (2009) claimed that travel
demands of most people are difficult to meet fully

because of objective factors, such as time, space,
economy, and so on. Virtual tourism character-
ized by multi-dimensional interactive visualiza-
tion based on computer network is flexible and
convenient for people.
Functional Structure of
Virtual Tourism
Virtual tour website is an intelligent system that
integrates virtual travel experience, exchange
of visitors, tour information and online booking
service, and mainly includes following functional
modules:
• Virtual Tour of Scenic Spots. Virtual tour
system represents scenarios in Network,
which is a core component of virtual tour-
ism. With navigation module and electronic
guide system, visitors can follow a preset
route system to roam, also can select line,
not only can watch scenic spots through the
display, but also can participate in game
plot, have dinner, and go shopping through
gestures and password so as to understand
the cultural and historical attractions and
gain experience.
• Travel Information and Planning. The
development of virtual tourism has definite
relationship with real tourism, and virtual
tourism often plays a role of pre- experience.
Therefore, virtual tourism becomes a chan-
nel for potential tourists to obtain various

tourism-related information, and provides
a service platform of network applications
to plan the itinerary.
• Travel e-Commerce. Virtual landscapes and
virtual community is an important platform
of travel e-commerce for tourists to under-
stand, purchase and book travel-related
goods and services.
• Virtual Travel Community. Virtual travel
community is a living space around the topic
of tour life through the Internet. Community
members widely communicate with each
other via text, voice and video, on the one
hand, they can share travel experiences with
other members, on the other hand, they can
have access to a variety of tourism knowledge
to prepare for real travel.
PROFIT MODES OF
VIRTUAL TOURISM
Zhang, Ma, Zhang (2009) claimed that the virtual
world is an emerging field of Internet, how to
achieve profits in the virtual tourism is still an
important issue to explore. Based on the basic
structure of virtual tourism system, at present profit
models of virtual tourism are following sections.
• Marketing of Tourism Destination. Virtual
tour system plays a role of tangible show
for people before they have real travel of
destinations. In the mode of marketing,
websites of virtual tourism can receive a lot

of advertising. This is the main income of
virtual tourism websites.
• Product Placement. When a website of vir-
tual travel with high popularity and a certain
scale of members, it can get advertising rev-
enue through commercial advertising, such
as customer brand hotels, restaurants, tea
houses, shopping malls as well as corporate
7
Virtual Tourism
logo, mascot and product advertising board
in a virtual landscape of virtual system.
• Virtual Currencies and Items for Sale.
Virtual tourism can be combined with online
games to gain profits through sales of virtual
currencies and goods, and other ways in
the game. Tourists can induct transactions
of virtual travel equipments through the
exchange of virtual currencies, and create
own villa and hotel in the travel destination.
• Tourism Revenue-Sharing. By means
of functions of information services and
route planning, websites of virtual travel
not only can help visitors with design and
implementation of tourism projects, but also
can recommend customers to scenic spots,
hotels, travel agencies, airlines, car rental
companies and other tourism enterprises, and
share tourism revenues with these tourism
enterprises.

• Online Shopping and Booking. Virtual
tourism is closely related to real tourism. In
the e-commerce of tourism, when visitors in
virtual tourism have interest in correspond-
ing landscapes and articles, online shopping
and online reservation will generate profits.
• Collection of Subscriptions. In the virtual
travel community, people form different
groups according to different interests of
travel, obtain highly social identity through
interpersonal interaction, find the sense of
attribution psychologically and emotionally,
and design self-image and space environ-
ment. Websites of virtual travel can charge
membership fees, and develop advanced
services for members.
The corresponding relationship between
functional structure and profit modes of virtual
tourism is shown in Figure 2, which shows the
sources of profits.
PRACTICES OF VIRTUAL TOURISM
IN CHINA
Tourism Websites of China
China’s websites of tourism emerged in 1991,
in addition, portal sites also have information
about travel. These sites can provide more com-
prehensive online counseling service including
tourism-related food, shelter, transportation,
travel, entertainment, shopping and other aspects
(Li, Yao, Di, Li, 2009).

According to the statistics of Google’s Page
Rank (PR), PR value of 60 tourist websites is
greater than or equal to 6, in which PR value of
3 websites is 8, namely official website of Bei-
jing Tourism Administration, official website of
National Tourism Administration, and eLong. PR
value of 7 websites is 7, PR value of 50 websites
is 6. Among 60 websites, the number of local
travel websites is 31 while the rest of websites is
involved in nationwide business.
Yu, Zheng (2009) divided domestic travel
websites into four categories: government-based
websites, store-based websites, network-based
websites and comprehensive websites. Govern-
ment-based websites of travel are official websites
of tourism bureaus focusing local tourism. Among
them, the National Tourism Administration is the
most authoritative website of travel. Store-based
websites of travel primarily rely on store to operate
product marketing of tourism. Although they have
own e-commerce, but they don’t pay attention
to online sales. Wang (2008) claimed that China
Travel Service and CYTS line are representatives
of this type. Network-based websites of travel
mainly rely on sales of tourism products through
websites, including ticket booking, hotel booking
service, such as Ctrip, eLong. Comprehensive
travel websites cover the advantages of above two
travel websites, namely tourism marketing both
in stores and online, Shanghai Spring Travel is a

typical representative.
8
Virtual Tourism
Application of Virtual Tourism
on Websites of Travel
Yu (2008) summarizes five presentation ways of
virtual tour system: text, 2-D images, 2.5-D virtual
scene, 3-D virtual scene and Multi-D virtual scene,
which are the development path of virtual tourism,
also the application paths of virtual technology in
the field of tourism.
Different types of travel websites have dif-
ferent demands and applications in terms of
virtual tourism. This study selects samples of
travel websites to introduce their applications of
virtual tourism. First, the official website of the
National Tourism Administration is selected as a
government-based website of tourism. Second,
the type of e-commerce websites, created by tour
enterprises for marketing, will be represented by
Ctrip. Third, the travel websites specializing in the
introduction of attractions, are professional net-
work of virtual tourism, such as China Panorama
network. Finally, a very representative website
of virtual travel is Virtual Forbidden City, and is
described as a separate type.
As shown in Table 1, the government website
is still in the lower level in terms of the application
of virtual tour technology, the government website
focuses on the introduction of government policies

on tourism and the status of development, and
text description with graphic display about travel
agencies, hotels, transportation, entertainment
to give tourists an platform of intuitive, graphic
information display.
Ctrip and other business websites focus on
ticketing, hotel reservations, and have no break-
through in terms of the application of virtual
technology.
China Panorama and Virtual Forbidden City
are at the highest level of the application of virtual
technology. China Panorama provides virtual
tourism of attractions around the country with 360
degree 3-D realistic display of high definition. The
Palace Museum developed virtual Forbidden City,
it officially started in October 10, 2008. This is
the first virtual world in China to show important
historical and cultural attractions on the Internet.
But China Panorama and Virtual Forbidden City
still don’t focus on the role of direct business, but
the role of potential tourists.
CONCLUSION
The main conclusions of this study are as follows.
Figure 2. Functional structure and profit modes of virtual tourism
9
Virtual Tourism
• Virtual tourism characterized by multi-di-
mensional interactive visualization based
on computer network is exible and con-
venient for people. Virtual tourism has the

following characteristics: transcend time
and space, interactivity, high-technology,
economy and multi-sensation.
• The functions of virtual tourism websites
mainly include virtual tour of scenic spots,
travel information and planning, travel e-
commerce, and virtual travel community.
• At present virtual tourism prots mainly
through marketing of tourism destinations,
product placement, virtual currencies and
items for sale, revenue sharing of tourism,
online shopping and booking, and collec-
tion of subscriptions.
• In China, according to PR value, there are
60 tour websites with greater than or equal
6 PR value, and different travel websites
have different demands and applications in
terms of virtual tourism.
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12
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Chapter 2
Aliana M W Leong
Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau SAR
Xi Li
Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau SAR
A Study on Tourist Management
in China Based on Radio
Frequency Identication
(RFID) Technology
ABSTRACT
In recent years, tourism in China developed into a massive industry. According to the statistics from the
National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China, the number of travelers has reached
16.1 billion in 2007 alone. On public holidays, most of the popular tourist attractions are lled to capacity,
receiving 100% or even reaching 300% capacity. This was reported during the celebration of the May 1
golden week in 2006. Another report said that Beijing’s Forbidden City accommodated more than twice
its maximum capacity on May 2, 2006. The Wutai Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Pingyao ancient town,
Tongli ancient town, Mo Kao Grotto at Dunhuang, the Potala Palace and other famous scenic spots
also peaked at 100% full capacity from May 2 to May 5 (Xinjing Newspaper, May 8, 2006). The huge
number of tourists resulted to a somewhat negative feedback as their quality of experience and interest
had substantially diminished because of overcrowding. In addition, tourist attractions faced a serious
challenge in service quality, security and sustainable usage of resources during high tourist season.
Faced with these challenges, a prediction system for tourist reception during high season has been
adopted by the National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China. The system is help-
ful for regulating the ow of tourists. However, from the microscopic point of view, it is necessary to

conduct management and instruction for travelers before and after their arrival. Recently, RFID (Radio
Frequency Identication) technology has been considered by tourist attraction managers.
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-041-5.ch002
13
A Study on Tourist Management in China Based on Radio Frequency Identication (RFID) Technology
Radio Frequency Identication (RFID) is a non-contact, automatic identication technology. Through
its radio frequency signal, RFID offers automatic target recognition and access to relevant and without
human intervention identication of work is made. RFID can work in various environments. It can iden-
tify fast moving objects and is capable of identifying multiple tags, in a rapid and convenient operation.
Since the 1990s, RFID technology has been widely used in commercial, logistics, property management
and other elds, but interest towards potential application to the needs of the tourism industry only
began in recent years.
THE CONNOTATION OF TOURIST
MANAGEMENT
A tourist attraction mainly targets travelers who
are its consumers. From the consumers’ point of
view, the behavior and needs of tourists should
be highly valued by tourist attraction managers.
However, there is a feature that renders inseparable
the process of tourist production and consumption.
Travelers play not only the role of consumers but
also the key point of tourist attraction service.
Thus, managers of tourist attractions should
pay attention on the role of travelers along with
bringing travelers’ supervision into scenic spots
management.
In countries where a tourism economy is
highly developed, traveler management is widely
accepted. ‘Traveler management’ mainly refers to
trying to meet the needs of travelers on the premise

of maintaining the sustainable environment and
resource development, which use the manner of
technology, education, economy, administration,
and law to manage travelers (Zhang Wen and Li
Na, 2007).
According to existing research, theories and
practices are mainly focused on the following
six aspects of traveler management: demand and
preference, behavior, capacity, safety, experience
and impact.
The Management of Traveler
Demand and Preference
‘Management of Traveler Demand and Prefer-
ence’ refers to consumer preferences for particular
products and services of different tourists. Un-
derstanding and analyzing the needs and prefer-
ences of tourists in different aspects will help in
the provision of appropriate services to tourists.
Consequently, tourist demands and preferences in
the scenic area of product management and mar-
keting optimization, as well as tourism planning
and tourism industry, were all of great significance
(Bramwell,1998).
Scholars from other countries had conducted
in-depth studies of this topic. Um S.(1992)studied
the decision process of tourism destination and
believes there is a process of change passive to
active on tourists perceived needs. Stephen W.Li
Win(2001)suggests that there are significant dif-
ferences in preferences between the first time

travelers and returning costumers concerning
the demand for tourism products. Noam Shoval
(2004) analyzed the attraction preference towards
travelers from different cities and found out that
there is a distinct impact between ‘the length of
stay, the times of travel and consumer behavior.
Meanwhile, Alison J.McIntosh(2004) categorized
tourism product preferences into five types: seek
novelty, to understand the local lifestyle, cultural
authenticity, communication with locals and ex-
change pleasure of learning opportunities with
locals. All these research results are expected
to assist managers understand the law of tourist
14
A Study on Tourist Management in China Based on Radio Frequency Identication (RFID) Technology
attractions and behavior patterns of consumption
in order to further provide better services and
products, thereby enhancing the quality of travel
experience.
The Management of
Traveler Behavior
In tourist behavior management, current major
overseas research focuses on describing tourists
visiting the scenic spots in order to tap the law of
tourists visiting. The common used research tech-
nology and method includes: GIS (A geographic
information system). H. Randy Gimblett (1998)
combined location map and GIS data to use the
techniques and methods to track visitor behavior
monitoring and modeling to analyze tourist activi-

ties with the environment as well as the interactions
between scenic spots and visitors. In addition,
Martin Opperman (1997) conducted a study on the
behaviour difference between first-time travelers
and returning customers which showed that the
stay period and travel scale is more focused for
returning travelers.
The Management of
Traveler Capacity
The contradiction between the capacity and limi-
tation of tourist attraction resource and the large
amount needed from travelers sparked people’s
concern on the management capacity of tour-
ism attractions. In order to better coordinate the
relationship between travelers and scenic spots
capacity, scholars conducted researches mainly
focused on traveler flow forecast and capacity
forecast. J. Alan Wagar et al(1964) and proposed
the improved Recreation Carrying Capacity
Theory (RCC). This theory proposes that the
limitation of traveler capacity exists universally,
which includes ecological, social, philosophy
and management. Meanwhile, the United States
National Forest proposed Recreation Opportunity
Spectrum (ROS) Theory towards the application
model of tourist resource. The theory of tourism
resources conservation in accordance with the
demand for travel is divided into the following
six major types: the original area, no motor ve-
hicle traffic in half the original area, with motor

vehicle traffic in half the original area, with roads
in natural areas, rural and urban areas. Different
types of regions have their own characteristics of
determining tourist capacity.
The Management of Traveler Safety
Visitor safety management major deals with the
safety of tourists in tourist areas regarding various
elements of response analysis and research, such as
natural disasters and accidents and tourism crimes.
On the aspect of safety factors in the identifica-
tion, Mieczkowski (1995) divided safety-effect
factors into two types: natural threats and human
threats. Tsaur, et al (1997) targeted traffic, public
order and law, health care, housing, weather, at-
tractions and medical facilities, and analyzed the
eight scenic spots of tourists’ safety. Furthermore,
in the face of worsening global terrorist attacks in
recent years, many scholars conducted studies on
terrorism and security issues of tourists. Further,
crime has also an important impact on the safety
of tourists. Although scholars have conducted
researches on this issue, details on this will not
be dealt with because these studies focus more
on specific areas of crime in tourism.
The Management of
Traveler Experience
Visitors’ experience is a subjective feeling in-
volved in the tourism process. Tourism products
and services based on tourists’ perception are
related to situational factors: personal character-

istics, personality characteristics, surrounding
environment, tourism (Graefe AR, 1987). There-
fore, the existing studies on visitor management
experience involving some of the concerns of
tourists are mainly towards psychological, so-
15
A Study on Tourist Management in China Based on Radio Frequency Identication (RFID) Technology
ciological or anthropological point of view of
the tourist experience to enhance the quality of
visitor experience as references. M. S. Jackson
(1996) studied the impact of visitors through the
experience of the factor structure. M. Goossen
et al. (2000) divided the quality of recreational
experience into functional quality (Utilisation
Quality) and the perceived quality (Perception
Quality). These studies provide useful references
to understanding the visitor experience for further
enhancing the degree of tourists’ satisfaction.
The Management of Traveler Impact
Tourism behaviour is one of the central issues on
tourism management studies. Current researches
focus on the scenic tourist behavior and the eco-
logical impacts of economic and social impact
analysis and assessments. Impact of the ecological
environment for tourists, usually starts from the
behavioral characteristics of tourists and evaluates
the negative impact. Meiczkowski (1995) listed
the negative impact of tourism in the following
areas: overcrowding, over-exploitation, no rules,
recreation activities, waste pollution, car activities,

and effects on soil and vegetation.
However, the socio-economic impact, needs
anthropology and sociology with socio-economic
theory as the basis for analysis. Nicholas Haralam-
boulos, et al (1996) indicated that negative impacts
from visitors on economic and social aspect are
mainly: rising prices, drug abuse, damaged public
facilities: noisier environment, sexual harassment
and all kinds of crimes. In addition, scholars ana-
lyzed cultural integration and religion from the
perspective of the tourists on the negative social
impact of tourism destinations.
It is obvious that the Western visitor manage-
ment research has largely formed and established
frameworks and systems and provides a good
platform for visitor management practice and
innovation.
CURRENT SITUATION AND
CHALLENGES OF CHINA’S
TOURIST MANAGEMENT
From the content and target point of view, China’s
tourist attractions management can be divided into
two types: one is tourist attractions of resource
and environmental management-oriented form,
also commonly known as tourism object manage-
ment; the other is tourist attractions to tourists
as the main focus of the form, therefore, also
known as the main tourism management (Xia&
Chengzhao, 2006). China has long been focusing
attention on the management of resources and the

environmental tourism attractions, whereas visitor
management is relatively insufficient.
The Focal Point of China’s
Tourist Management
According to several researches conducted
by Chinese scholars, China domestic tourism
management content is similar to those in other
countries, however, the target in each specific
case is slightly different. Liu Yanfeng, et al (2006)
and Guo Hongyan (2008) divided the focal point
of China’s Domestic Tourism Management into
seven aspects: quantity management, diversion
measures, queue management, team management,
complaint management, interpretation system
construction and behavior management.
Quantity management aims to control and run
the number of tourists. Flow diversion measure
is under temporal and spatial rules of conduct for
tourists’ sightseeing behavior to reduce traffic
within local scenic spots in the temporal and spatial
concentration, as well as reduce the crowding of
local attractions to tourists.
Queue management establishes queuing ef-
ficiency to reduce or avoid boring monotonous
environment, further improving the ultimate
service experience of tourist attractions.
Team management is about scenic spots in the
light of team interaction, the size of the team, and
16
A Study on Tourist Management in China Based on Radio Frequency Identication (RFID) Technology

travel arrangements for the purpose of enhancing
the tourists’ experience.
Complaint management is for the establish-
ment of effective channels to solve complaints
efficiently. The main purpose of interpretation
system is formed through various media to provide
information services at the same time, to divert
visitors, safety tips, and behavior management tips.
A shift from direct management into indirect man-
agement undeniably reflects the characteristics
of visitor management services. Tourist behavior
management is a process that constrains visitors’
code of conduct and management.
The above description of domestic tourism
management has some parallels to the aforemen-
tioned Western visitors’ needs and preferences
on management, behavior management, capacity
management, security management, experience
management, and visitor impact management, but
also features Chinese management characteristics.
The above-mentioned seven areas compose the
main content of the current China domestic tour-
ism management.
The Characteristic of China’s
Tourist Management
China has successfully transformed tourism re-
sources and environmental management as the
equally important models of visitor and manage-
ment, however, on the aspect of visitor manage-
ment, the improvement. China’s domestic tourism

management embodies the following five features:
1. Protective tourism is the main implementa-
tion of visitor management.
The implementation of China’s domestic tour-
ism management resources and environmental
protection in view of the natural and cultural
heritage tourist attractions and tourist resources
is relatively fragile (Fangyong, 2007).
Highly popular and attractive international
tourist attractions that particularly need better
management, such as Huangshan, the Forbidden
City, the Dunhuang Grottoes and many others
have gradually established a visitor management
system.
2. Resource management, environmental pro-
tection as the main purpose of tourists.
Tourists inevitably cause negative impact
on the environment. For this reason, China’s
visitor management of tourist attractions mainly
focuses on the protection of the environment and
resources, while trying to control the behavior
of visitors and manage to achieve its resource
protection objectives. Due to the considerable
attention given to environmental protection, fac-
ing the visitor management, visitor experience
and environmental protection, most the tourist
attractions choose to neglect the tourists’ scenic
environment experience.
3. Tourists behavior management is the main
aspect.

Presently, the main form of China domestic
tourism management is behavior management,
such as coaching tourists on their environmental
responsibility and the behavior of tourists on the
appropriate constraints.
Wu Bihu (2001) classified China’s tourist
scenic spot management into two types: direct
management and indirect management. Directly
management deals with the will and behavior
of tourists, such as restrictions on utilization
and limiting certain types of activities. Indirect
management is affected by changes in the factors
that tourists will and act to change the behavior
of their visitors, such as strengthening tourist
promotion. Ma Yong, Li Xi (2006) divided the
current visitor management of scenic spots in
China’s into excitement-based management and
constraint management. The excitement-based
management is a flexible management, mainly
through communication and exchange, the full