The travel industry or tourist industry is a very heterogeneous area of service production. The first denomination is used more for business travellers, whereas the second one is used for leisure traveling. Both will be included iti the following discussions although the writer respects the great differences in the kitids of services required in each group. This is a cotnplex field with different areas of production distributed in different countries and regions. The products and the processes of operation. which are used for the achievetnent ofthe resulting services, are related to different types of industries, but they have one cointnon denominator: They are knowledge-based or knowledge-intensive service processes. The tourism system consists mainly of five areas, within which differing elements compete and co-operate with each other. These areas are (Boiincketi, 2000: 91) the Agency, the Tour Operator, the Carrier, the In-Cotning-System and the Hotel. There may be additional areas like Entertainmetit, Shopping and the like for the support of the travellers at Ihe destination. The special attributes of the travel industry as a service process, the intangibility ofthe product atid the simultaneity of production and consumption (Corsten, 1985: 173; Langeard, 1981: 233), have been discussed widely elsewhere (Bouncken, 2000: 91-93). The focus of this paper lies in the touristn service as a knowledge-based process, which is greatly influenced by the developments of information and communication technologies. Within each of the main areasof tourism, there are a large number of participants as suppliers and purchasers of services, which partly cooperate and partly compete with each other. These cooperative and competitive relations are embedded in flows of knowledge and information. The elements of these systems are contiected in various ways with others in the system, which results in quite different configurations of elements.

Travel is the most frequently sold thing on the Internet. With millions of travel and tourism Web sites competing for viewers, how do you get the results you’re looking for? When asked if they are marketing on the Internet, many travel and tourism organizations say, “Yes, we have a Web site.” However, having a Web site and marketing on the Internet are two very different things. Yes, usually you need a Web site to market on the Internet. However, a Web site is simply a collection of documents, images, and other electronic files that are publicly accessible across the Internet. Your site needs to be designed to meet your online objectives and should be developed with your target market in mind. Internet marketing encompasses all the steps you take to reach your target market online, attract visitors to your Web site, encourage them to visit your destination, buy your spa or ski or golf travel packages, and make them want to come back for more. Having a Web site is great, but it is meaningless if nobody knows about it. Just as having a brilliantly designed travel product or destination marketing brochure does you little good if it sits in your sales manager’s desk drawer, a Web site does you little good if your target market isn’t visiting it. It is the goal of this book to help you take your Web site out of the desk drawer, into the spotlight, and into the hands of your target market. You will learn how to formulate an Internet marketing strategy in keeping with your objectives, your travel related products or services, and your target market.