Basseterre , St. Kitts: As part of the 2009: Tourism Awareness Month of Activities, the Information Communication Technology for Improving Education, Diversification and Competitiveness Project (ICT4EDC) will be hosting an E-Tourism Seminar at the Ocean Terrace Inn on October 8th 2009.
The full day workshop is expected to draw personnel from a wide cross section of the tourism industry, such as destination managers, government agencies and members of the general public.
The E-Tourism Seminar will concentrate on understanding E-Tourism, social media, E-Mail marketing, and other applications of the Internet in the tourism industry.
Networking and communications expert for the ICT, Ms. Telly Onu, pointed out that presentations will explore state-of-the-art case studies dealing with the application of information and communication technologies to travel and tourism.
Ms. Onu said that the main objectives of the E-Tourism seminar is to provide participants with relevant information to assess the opportunities and impact of information technologies in the tourism sector and to highlight the different responsibilities of organizations involved in the development of e-tourism in St. Kitts.
She further stated that the chief objectives were to “Acknowledge the potential of ICT’s and the Internet as an additional distribution channel for the promotion of the destination and Assess the need for the use of ICT in the formation of a Destination Management Organization in St. Kitts and the role it can play in marketing the Federation. We also want to define what a Destination Management System is and identify the main barriers to its development.” She continues, “Another key goal is to get participants to appreciate the importance of Social Media and Networking through as a vital marketing tool for tourism entrepreneurs.
This event is the first of many e-Tourism activities to be launched in the next two years and the precursor to a much larger E-Tourism Summit that would be held in St. Kitts and Nevis targeting regional and International experts in 2010.
