Improving E-tourism Industry through Identifying Success Factors Using Delphi method and Analytical Hierarchy Process

The progressive changes in e-commerce sector have transformed and challenged tourism industry sector continuously, changing it into one of the most prosperous industries around the world. Success in e-commerce is highly dependent on determining the key success factors. The aim of this research is to 1- identify and 2- prioritize these key factors of success of e-commerce especially for tourism industry using Delphi method. According to Delphi survey from experts including 10 project managers, 15 consultants, and 15 university professors specializing in e-commerce in tourism industry, 21 factors were identified in e-commerce tourism industry, and were then classified into six dimensions. In addition, analytical hierarchy process was employed to determine the priority of these factors in each dimension. In the first dimension the factor of human resources, in the second dimension the factor of website management and its maintenance cost, in the third dimension the factor of the provider innovative capability, in the fourth dimension the factor of Compatibility of adopting innovative technology, in the fifth dimension the factor of government’s guidance strategy, and in the last dimension the factor of Customer-tailored marketing via customer profiling were identified as the main factors. Among all of the identified factors, the above-mentioned factors showed the maximum priority and importance. The factors introduced in this research will result in economic profit in tourism industry through e-commerce. The findings of this study can provide with useful suggestions on how to extend the utility of e-commerce in order to develop business, get more customers and improve profitability.

کلیدواژه ها:

Key Success Factors ، E-commerce ، Tourism Industry ، Delphi Method ، Analytical Hierarchy Process