Description: This innovative work combines the fields of e-tourism adoption and strategic management, and identifies the combination of antecedents of technology adoption by distilling factors to identify the key determinant of the adoption of the internet for sales and marketing purposes in small, owner-managed travel firms. While it focuses on travel firms in Jamaica, it examines the general issue of firm characteristics which are associated with adoption behaviour such as strategy and resources, as well as external factors such as culture and the digital divide. In addition to external and firm factors, personal factors such as ownership and leadership are explored at various stages of adoption. The findings indicate that the role of leadership is much more significant than has been previously posited, and this book therefore recommends a new theoretical model with practical implications for determining technology adoption.
Brief description: Andrew Spencer is a Lecturer in Tourism Management at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and holds a PhD from the School of Tourism at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on the determinants of technology adoption for travel retailers, with particular emphasis on the strategic management implications and leadership imperatives for owner-managers. Dr. Spencer's other educational achievements include a BSc (honours) in Tourism Management and an MSc in Tourism and Hospitality Management from the University of West Indies. He has published in leading international journals and presented at conferences on areas including the travel supply chain, tourism distribution channels, tourism advertising effectiveness, small hotel competitiveness, and gender issues in the hospitality sector. He has also engaged in consultancy with the United Nations Environment Programme and has worked closely with the Jamaica Tourist Board to conduct training for faculty advisors to tourism action clubs in schools across Jamaica.