From the Guest Editor

Tourism information technology is a growing and important field of research. Many factors, including tourism’s reliance on and production of information, are responsible for this. Its importance will be greater in the future as the desire for travel and the need for electronic connectivity grow. The research issues involved in tourism information technology are complex and provide fertile ground for researchers’ efforts because tourism and information technology are both multidimensional and rapidly changing fields. The tourism industry is composed of firms in different sectors and of different sizes, and in different geographic locations and supplying a diversity of products and markets. The information technology field represents a strong driving force in tourism development, bringing with it business changes and new structures, and new technologies and applications. The research generated by the overlay of these two fields is the focus of this special issue. The maturation process of tourism information technology research, as with both its parent disciplines (tourism, management information systems, and computer science), requires passage through various stages of research such as descriptive, applied, empirical, theoretical, and conceptual. Studies to date include a diversity of research methodologies with more descriptive and empirical research and fewer theoretical and conceptual studies. This is not unusual for a new field of study as it seeks to define itself. Its maturity, however, will require the integration of rigorous, multidisciplinary approaches from fields such as marketing, psychology, management science, computer science, marketing, sociology, and economics, in addition to defining its own rigorous and theoretical approaches. The growth of any academic field of study is measured by the number of research outlets, particularly those that involve the blind-review process. To date, the number of such research outlets in tourism information technology has been small, but it is growing. The Journal of Information Technology and Tourism, started in 1998 as the journal of the International Federation of Information Technology and Tourism (IFITT), is the main refereed publication for research in tourism information technology. The Journal of Hospitality Information Technology started in 1999 is the publication for the hospitality technology field and is affiliated with the Hospitality Information Technology Association (HITA) and Hospitality Technology and Finance Professionals. Both of these journals are blind reviewed and have published significant contributions to the field. Refereed papers in the field of tourism information research also are published in other generic tourism, computer science, and management information system journals; however, the volume of such research is not great. A number of books over the past few years have helped to define the growing field of knowledge. Recent books include Werthner and Klein (1999), Inkpen (1998), Sheldon (1997), Kasavana and Cahill (1996), O’Connor (1999), and Poon (1993). Numerous studies commissioned by various industry sectors have helped to describe the growing field yet have not matured its scientific methodologies. Conferences, seminars, workshops, and think tanks on the topic have grown at a greater rate in the past 10 years than has the printed literature. Although these have added valuable discussion to the topic, few have generated proceedings, been academic in nature, or involved a blind-review process. Many have included how-to sessions for industry executives wending their way through the new technologies. Others have been informational or descriptive with the goal of updating attendees on new technologies and future trends. Two exceptions are the two conferences—ENTER (sponsored by IFITT) and HITEC (sponsored by HITA)—both of which have a peer-review process for presentations, publish proceedings, and are affiliated with the two journals mentioned above. These two conferences are critical venues for the gestation and maturation of ideas in the field. This special issue of Journal of Travel Research is therefore a valuable addition to the refereed and printed research in the field of tourism information technology. The articles here cover an array of topics using a variety of methodologies in many parts of the world. Authors from nine different countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Grand Cayman, British West Indies, Hong Kong, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States) reflect the international