E- commerce as an Added Value in the Tourism Services in Albania

Abstract

The tourism services in Albania, provided by the private sector, started after the 1990’s, when the transition period in the country begun after 50 years in a centralized political and economical system. During this period the sector was faced with lack of experience in terms of providing tourism services, with poor infrastructure, lack of legislation, the bad conditions of hotels and other services required by tourists etc. One of the key elements that is needed for the marketing process is the use of information and communications technology, and e-commerce, which in the tourism sector are very useful and needed. The aim of this study is to identify how usable is the electronic commerce in Albanian tourism enterprises and how it affects the online tourism marketing .The study is descriptive, as well as explanatory. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. The sample consisted of N = 208 participants, representatives of three types of tourism enterprises (accommodation units, travel agencies and restaurants). The study was based on five districts of Albania, where tourism is more developed, respectively: Tirana, Durres, Shkodra, Vlore and Sarande. The results show that in most of enterprises the web site offers the possibility of making online bookings, but not online payments. Also from the research was found that electronic commerce has a positive relation with online marketing.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n1p329