Dimitrios Journeys

Glad to participate in the 5th Annual eTourism Africa Summit 13-­‐14 September 2012 CTICC Cape Town Summit  Programme http://www.e-tourismfrontiers.com/

I will be representing both IFITT and the eTourism Lab at Bournemouth University and look forward to collaborate with all colleagues and friends speaking and participating. Great pleasure to collaborate with the Cape Town Tourism  http://www.capetown.travel/ colleagues too!



http://www.e-tourismfrontiers.com/assets/files/PDFs/ETOURISMAFRICAPROGRAMME.pdf


Day One Thursday 13th September 2012
9:00am Official Opening and Welcome Mr. Marthinus van Schalkwyk Minister for Tourism South Africa

9:30am Travelling at the Speed of Change Damian Cook CEO E-­‐Tourism

10:30am Focus on Facebook Roel Spee-­‐Travel Specialist EMEA Facebook

11:00 Coffee Break

11:30 Visualizing Travel WillRocklin-­‐Global Brand Specialist: YouTube

12:00 Telling Stories Online Kerrin Sheldon-Founder & CEO: Humanity.tv

12:30 The Destination Experience Prof.Dimitrios Buhalis Bournemouth University and President IFITT,

1:00 LUNCH

2:00 Beyond Branding: Building a Facebook Campaign for Tourism Justin Reid: Betapond

2:30 From Experience to Social to Sale Helena Egan- Head of Destination Marketing EMEAA-­TripAdvisor

3:00 Online Travel Agencies: Selling Socially Diego Lofuedo-Sr Director of Market Management Eastern Med, Africa, Middle East and Indian Ocean- Expedia

3:30 Coffee Break

4:00 Online Trends & Spends Mandy Lamb: South Africa Country Manager VISA

4:30 South Africa: Interacting in New Ways William Price-Head of Digital South African Tourism

5:00 Close of Day

Day Two Friday 14th September

9:00am Digital Cape Town Mariette du Toit-­‐Helmbold: CEO: Cape Town Tourism

9:30 am Growing Digitally Damian Cook CEO E‐Tourism Frontiers

10:00am PANEL: MOBILE SOLUTIONS FOR TRAVEL
As travellers use mobiles as a tool not just for travel planning and booking but in destination as well, they are now vitally important for travel management and marketing.
Panelists:
• Wesley Lynch: Realm Digital Snapplify
• Mark Allewell: Tourism Radio/ Hummba.com

Or

PANEL: THE CHANGING FACE OF TRAVEL CONTENT IN AFRICA
Panelists:
• Graham Wallington: WildEarth TV & Carnage TV
• Will Rocklin: YouTube
• Dion Mulder: PixShare

11:00 Coffee Break

11:30 SEMINAR: GOOGLE SOLUTIONS FOR THE TRAVEL TRADE
Google mix of tools maps, Google+,YouTube and AdWords
Or
PANEL: LOCAL BOOKING AND RESERVATION CHALLENGES Bookings
Panelists:
• Neil Emerick: Nightsbridge/ActivityBridge
• Odette Faling & Nick Paul: TravelStart
• Lisa Horne: SiteMinder

12:30 SEMINAR: Digital Photography and Video for Travel
professional photographer and film-­‐maker Kerrin Sheldon, founder of Humanity.tv

Or
SEMINAR: Empowering the Travel Industry in the Digital Age
Paul de Waal-­‐CEO: Wetu


1:00 LUNCH

2:00
SEMINAR: TRIP ADVISOR HOTEL FOCUS
Steps to manage,update and improve your property profile on Trip Advisor, and ensure that you maximize the likelihood of turning past reviews into future reservations.

Or

PANEL: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: WHERE TO FOCUS?

strategies for online and social media marketing: focus
efforts, budget and resources.
Panelists:
• Peter Fabricius: SpringNest
• Victoria Delaney: Think! Social Media
• Fogg

3:00 FULL SESSION PANEL: South Africa in Focus Online South African Tourism’s digital team and their e‐marketing and social media partners present current campaigns, strategies and new resources


4:00 Final Session WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

4:30 Official Closing Coffee & Networking Session

Enjoy New publication 
The Formation of a Tourist Destination's Image via Information Sources: The Moderating Effect of CultureInternational Journal of Tourism Research, Volume 14, Issue 5, September 2012, Pages 437-450Frías, D.M.a , Rodríguez, M.A.a, Alberto Castañeda, J.a, Sabiote, C.M.a, Buhalis, D.b  a  Department of Marketing and Market Research, University of Granada, Spain
b  School of Services Management, University of Bournemouth, United Kingdom
http://bournemouth.academia.edu/DimitriosBuhalis/Papers/1922681/The_Formation_of_a_Tourist_Destinations_Image_via_Information_Sources_the_Moderating_Effect_of_CultureAbstractThe present study aims to outline the growing importance of culture in the field of tourism. More specifically, it highlights culture as a moderating variable in pre-visit tourist destination image formation, through the information sources utilized by the tourist in the selection of a holiday destination (that is, travel agencies alone vs. travel agencies together with the Internet). For this purpose primary research used a multicultural sample of 371 tourists from different European countries. The results show that the formation of a destination's pre-visit image amongst tourists, based on the information sources they use, is moderated by the level of uncertainty-avoidance of their national cultures.
keywordsCulture; tourism, Destination image; Internet; Travel agency; Uncertainty avoidance

ENTER2013 www.enter-2013.org PhD Workshop - Call for Research ProposalsOrganised by the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (IFITT), the pre-conference event provides a forum for doctoral students undertaking research related to Information and Communication Technology in Travel and Tourism to interactively discuss their research with peers, colleagues, and leading supervisors and scholars in the field. Doctoral students at all stages (i.e. beginning as well as nearly completed) are encouraged to participate.This workshop will provide doctoral students an opportunity to share and develop their research ideas in a critical but supportive environment, get feedback from mentors who are senior members within the IT and Tourism research community, explore issues related to academic and research careers, and build relationships with other students, researchers and members of the community from around the world.Please note there is NO COST to students or faculty for participating in this workshop. Also the full ENTER 2013 conference is heavily discounted for students to encourage active participation in ENTER 2013.Call for Research ProposalsThe workshop invites all interested doctoral students to submit their research proposals for review and feedback. The research proposals should be a maximum length of five pages (A4) and should typically include the following headings:1.    problem definition2.    literature review3.    conceptual development4.    proposed methodology5.    anticipated results6.    references.In your submission, please also indicate your progress toward completion of the thesis (i.e. thinking about it, just beginning the process, completed proposal, etc.)Each submission will undergo a review process. Students will be notified about the review outcome, along with recommendations to improve the proposal before the workshop. Accepted proposals will be made available to workshop participants before the Workshop.Participants are also required to prepare a poster presentation, which will be displayed throughout the entire ENTER conference. The best research proposal will receive an award and will be recognized at the main conference event!SubmissionStep 1: Please download the PhD-Workshop Author Advice as a style guideStep 2: Submit your proposal to one of the workshop chairs athmroblaw@inet.polyu.edu.hk, matthias.fuchs@miun.se orCarlosLamsfus@tourgune.orgTime Schedule·         Submission closes: 5th October, 2012 ·         Initial feedback: 26th October, 2012 ·         Submit final revised proposal: 16th November, 2012 ·         Final acceptance: 30th November, 2012 ·         PhD Workshop: 22nd Janauary, 2013 ·         ENTER Conference: 22rd -25th January, 2013ENTER2013 PHD Workshop ChairsRob Law (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) - hmroblaw@polyu.edu.hk
Matthias Fuchs (ETOUR Mid-Sweden University) - Matthias.Fuchs@miun.se
Carlos Lamsfus (CICtourGUNE) - CarlosLamsfus@tourgune.orgIf you would like to participate please contact the ENTER PhD workshop chairsENTER2013 PHD Workshop Student CommitteeBarbara Neuhofer (Bournemouth University) - bneuhofer@bournemouth.ac.uk

First time in Bournemouth?  Participate in our study and get FREE coffee + FREE guided tour of Bournemouth.

The walk will take 1:30 h. We will ask you to look at information on the screen of a mobile phone, but you DO NOT NEED TO PREPARE ANYTHING!

The only CONDITION is that you are unfamiliar with Bournemouth, but willing to learn something more about the city and up for a nice walk and coffee!

If you are interested, send us a short message when you will be available at zyovcheva@bournemouth.ac.uk.

NB! This offer is valid between 10th September and 27th September 2012.

PhD Scholarships at The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Hotel and Tourism Managementhttp://www.polyu.edu.hk/htm
The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) invites graduates with academic excellence and research potential to apply for admission to full-time PhD study through The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme.
The Scheme aims to recruit outstanding graduates, irrespective of country of origin and ethnic background, to Hong Kong, and will provide the following incentives to the successful PhD Fellows:
·         3-year tuition scholarship, a monthly stipend of HK$20,000 (approximately US$2,600);
·         Conference and research-related travel allowance of HK10,000 (approximately US$1,300) per year for a maximum of three years;
·         Students will be able to access an associated fund of HK$20,000 (approximately US$2,600) per year to support their research;
·         Waiving of tuition fees for a maximum of three years.
The call for application for the Scheme has begun and the deadline for application is 1 December 2012 at 12:00 noon (Hong Kong time or GMT +8 hours).  For more information about the admission requirements and application procedure, please visit PolyU’s website at:  http://www.polyu.edu.hk/ro/hkphd-fellowship/. 
If you are interested or you know someone who is interested in the above scheme, please contact Professor Rob Law, Research Student Admission Officer, by email (hmroblaw@polyu.edu.hk).

IFITT and Professor Dimitrios Buhalis will be participating in the 5th Annual E-Tourism Africa Summit (13-14th September) in Cape Town at the International Convention Centre, held by E-Tourism Frontiers in partnerships with South African Tourism.

The event happens at lovely Cape Town or mother city!

This is Africa’s largest and most popular online tourism event, and will bring together over 300 travel professionals from across Africa for two days of presentations by leading international speakers, networking and training. Presenters include Facebook, YouTube, Betapond, Wanderfly and a host of tech and travel specialists from the local scene.

Full details can be seen here:
http://www.e-tourismfrontiers.com/interactive/regional-events/africa-events/5th-annual-e-tourism-africa-summit.html

IFITT Members are eligible for discounted attendance. Full attendance at the event is $350 and IFFIT members will receive a $50 discount and can attend for just $300.

To register as an IFITTT member please contact info@e-tourismfrontiers.com

BBC programme The age of information overload

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9742180.stm 



The age of information overloadVictoria Belmont finds out who is really in charge - our technology or us?By Alex Hudson 
BBC NewsFrom reading emails to managing status updates on mobile devices 24/7 with an all-you-can-eat data plan - we are consuming information like never before.Forget about describing bytes as mega and giga, think exa and zettabecause by 2016 there may be the data equivalent of every movie ever made hurtling across the internet every three minutes.While that may seem like way too much for a person to watch, an academic study by the University of California, San Diego, suggests that current data levels are the equivalent of each US citizen consuming 12 hours of information - or media - each day.An average US citizen on an average day, it says, consumes 100,500 words, whether that be email, messages on social networks, searching websites or anywhere else digitally.In some cases, talking about an event is more important than the experienceAnd as the university says we sleep for seven hours a day, in practice that means that three quarters of waking time is spent receiving information, the majority of which is electronic.But the definition of "media consumption" is hazy and any difference between seeing something and actively reading it, is, in statistics, difficult to differentiate."If you are on the computer and the TV is on, Nielsen [a television measurement firm] still call it watching TV," says co-author of the report Professor Roger Bohn, of UC San Diego."In principle, you can have more than 24 hours of consumption in a day."Tasered with a textSo with there still being the same 24 hours in a day, more information is being circulated in the same amount of time, leading to something that has been titled as "information overload".WHAT HAPPENS IN 60 SECONDS?168 million emails sent694,445 Google searches695,000 Facebook status updates370,000 Skype calls are made98,000 tweets on Twitter20,000 new posts on Tumblr13,000 iPhone apps downloaded6,600 new pictures on Flickr1,500 new blog entries posted600+ videos posted totalling over 25 hours duration on YouTubeInformation collated by Go-GulfAnd that is a problem that is beginning to get noticed."A lot of this is a user interface problem," says author and New York Times journalist Nick Bilton."Things are designed to really grab your attention. When you get a text message, your phone vibrates, it dings, you have to respond to it."And what this means is that real life conversations are being interrupted by digital distractions.Bilton added: "It's like if I wanted to have a conversation with you and I zapped you with a taser and held a stop sign in front of your face."It wouldn't be a nice way to talk to you."But what is this information that is being received?Take for example, the tweets passing through Twitter at a rate of around 100,000 a minute. Research commissioned by The Harvard Business Review says that only 36% of tweets from a user's feeds are worth reading.And the use of the internet as a whole is being linked with addiction that could affect one in 10 people.Those with the condition, a report found, felt similar effects to those addicted to alcohol, cocaine or cannabis.Information societyBut the internet is seen as something more integral to a modern way of life than those addictions.Digital information has become an integral part of many people's livesSo much so that inventor of the world wide web Tim Berners-Lee believes that access to the web has become a human right."It's possible to live without the web," he told an MIT symposium."It's not possible to live without water. But if you've got water, then the difference between somebody who is connected to the web and is part of the information society, and someone who [is not] is growing bigger and bigger."The influence of the internet has now grown so much that some people are going to extreme lengths to escape "overload".Technology journalist Paul Miller has given up the internet for a year."Every conversation feels informed by the internet in some way, or like it will end up on the internet some way," he wrote.If you want to comment on his escapades, you can reach him not on Twitter, or by email, but by phone or writing a letter to his PO Box.To many people, this will feel almost nostalgically old-fashioned.The world wide web is still only 23 years old.

Tiny gestures in hotels make all the difference for the disabled traveller  says   Magnus Berglund disability ambassador for Scandic Hotels.http://www.epmagazine.co.uk/tiny-gestures-make-all-the-difference/It is estimated that around 45 million people in Europe need some form of ‘assistive technology device’ for personal mobility, including 2.8 million wheelchair users. Journeys made by disabled people on the British railway system have increased three fold in the last 15 years. Somewhere in the region of 4,200 athletes will take part in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, performing in front of an audience of 2.2 million on site over the course of 11 days. It would seem
that there is a good business argument for adapting to the needs of this audience. But the process of accommodating disabled guests is complex, expensive and problematic. Or is it? ARLENE TOBIN met with the Scandic Hotels disability ambassador, MAGNUS BERGLUND, to find out more about how tiny changes are having a lasting impact
Planning for how best to accommodate disabled customers in a hotel or restaurant is often assumed to include such time consuming and laborious measures as widening doorways, abolishing stairways, incorporating specialist beds, installing independent alarm systems and more. In the UK, where so many buildings are converted from their original purpose to hotels, and many more are Grade Listed, the process can seem particularly daunting. However,the smallest of tweaks can make a big difference, says Magnus Berglund.
  “It doesn’t always have to be that disabled rooms are on the ground floor and that there’s not a single step anywhere in the hotel – but a ramp might be useful and hearing loops are not prohibitively expensive.”  Magnus Berglund is a former chef with 12 years’ experience in the hospitality industry and now disability ambassador for Scandic Hotels. Diagnosed in 1998 with amuscle disease,Magnus chooses not to focus on his illness but rather the task at hand and how his unique background and experiences can be put to best use to improve the experience for all Scandic guests. He observes, “We don’t have disabled guests and regular  guests – we have only guests.”
  Meeting Magnus was an interesting and eye-opening experience. He is a thoughtful man, who clearly enjoys his role as disability ambassador and gets great pleasure from helping others. His demeanour is confident, amenable and welcoming and he determinedly goes about his daily life not as a disabled man, but rather as a person for whom circumstances have changed a little. When I meet him he is travelling without the beloved Scandic corporate dog, Ada, who assists him and is herself a Star Alliance member due to all of the travelling the duo complete!
  Following his diagnosis and subsequent rehabilitation, Magnus planned to travel around the world and it was his experiences as a disabled guest which led him to return to former employers, Scandic Hotels, and put forth his case for improving its offering to disabled customers. The CEO at the time, Frank Fiskers, was quick to see the value of his argument, and to appreciate that dedicating time and resources to such a programme could in fact increase revenue and profitability as well as adding to the company’s positive corporate image. Magnus was duly installed as “disability ambassador” – and that was when the work started.  Spending months travelling around all hotels,Magnus stayed anonymously as a guest in each. He spent this time observing and quietly making notes – the orange juice on the breakfast buffet was on a high shelf; there was no alarm facility for deaf guests who could not hear the phone ring; the ‘peep hole’ in the bedroomdoor was too high for a shorter person to see through; there were steps but no ramp at the front entrance to a hotel.The list of challenges was seemingly endless, but Magnus was determined that Scandic should be seen as one of the best hotel chains in the world for accommodating disabled guests. And so he set about creating Check Points, a system that would eventually become standard operating procedure in all properties.   What started off as a list of 93 checkpoints, 70 of which were mandatory, quickly grew to 110 points, 81 of which are mandatory for established hotels. New builds must adhere to all 110 points. This could seem like a daunting catalogue, but in fact most of the check points are relatively simple to incorporate and the returns on investment can be significant. Magnus comments:
  “In today’s world, one person in a wheelchair can dictate the venue choice for 400-plus delegates. It is a good, sound
business decision to accommodate that one person.”
  The next step was to convince every staff member that the initiative was a necessity and that Scandic employees would benefit from a small change in ethos. So a training programme like no other was created. This time each employee had to spend a minimum of two hours of a shift in a wheelchair – to get a taste of what it was like for the guest. For Magnus, the reports back were illuminating.
  “People complained about having to use the wheelchair during the lunch hour rush and how inconvenient it was – but when I asked them ‘How was it for the guest, then?’ they quickly understood the value of the experience.
  “Education is such an important part of the programme. Everyone needs to understand what it is like for a guest with a disability but they must also understand that a different disability means different requirements.” Magnus has established partnerships with many disability associations in the Nordic countries as this initiative has proven profitable. A mere year after he instigated the checkpoints, Scandic reported an increase of 15,000 room nights from disabled guest packages alone. The message is getting out as Magnus has been profiled in various international media outlets, including CNN, and last year was invited to speak at the United Nations on accessibility.  ‘Design for all’ is a theory introduced by Magnus and has subsequently become a key design focus on all aspects of Scandic Hotels. The concept is to incorporate “practical solutions which go almost unnoticed, except by those who really need them”. Height adjustable beds and more spacious bathrooms are appreciated by all guests, but perhaps more useful to those with leg or back problems. Walking stick catches at reception are inconsequential to someone who walks without need for a stick, but are welcome relief to a person used to seeing their stick crash to the floor as they let go to sign the guest registry. Meeting rooms without carpets are modern and inviting to the average delegate, but to someone in a wheelchair they are blessed relief from thick carpets. Providing information on a hotel’s website such as how many steps there are from the front door to the reception desk and where the lifts are located in terms of the breakfast room can enable a guest to decide in  advance whether awheelchair is needed for their journey or if a walking stick will suffice. Guest information in Braille is enormously useful to a partially sighted person, and alarm clocks which pulse vibrations through the bed mattress can relieve tension when considering fire evacuations or getting out of bed in time to catch a flight. Small changes, huge impact.  According to the National Prosthetic and Wheelchair Service, there are circa 750,000 wheelchair users in the UK which equates to about 1.5 percent of the population. There are anywhere between 50 to 65 million people in the EU with a recognised disability; however this figure does not take into consideration the elderly, the hard of hearing as opposed to the profoundly deaf or the partially sighted as opposed to the blind. Where wheelchair users and the blind population are generally the first to come to mind in considering disabilities, there are other groups to think of too. Changing demographics of the international traveller show that older generations are travelling further, and for longer periods. They do and will have different needs which don’t necessarily stretch to wheelchairs or guide dogs, but perhaps they would appreciate seats in the shower and allergen-free bedding. Magnus says,  “There’s a perception that unless someone is in a wheelchair, then they are not disabled and therefore they need no assistance. But almost everyone needs just a little bit of help.”  Anders Ehrling took on the mantle of President and CEO of Scandic Hotels in late 2010 and, like Frank Fiskers, he too has thrown his full support behind Magnus and his role. He is keen to point out that he doesn’t do so for any sort of feel-good factor, but rather as a sound and economical business decision.
  “Accessibility is a characteristic of a hotel chain with ambitions. We are not a charity, but we have looked at the figures
and the forecasts and they make sense. We have to act now, or we risk letting our competitors have an advantage.”