ABSTRACT
Information is the lifeblood of the tourism industry. Information about the tourism product is vital to assist the consumer in making choices. This is particularly so given that the tourism product is intangible. Selling the product requires representations and descriptions by the travel trade. Electronic forms of messages about tourism products have certain advantages over printed sources. Electronic forms can be more up-to-date and hence topical, they can be more visual and colourful, and via the internet can provide tour operators and tourism providers with access to large numbers of potential customers simultaneously. Since at least the beginning of the millennium, consumers have been using internet sites for planning, searching, reserving and purchasing tourism products and this trend appears set to continue. However, IT can also be used in tourism planning and management. It is particularly through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) that this has occurred. This chapter considers the application of GIS in a variety of contexts and critically evaluates GIS. It also provides an example of how Artificial Intelligence is being used to help monitor and hopefully counter the effects of global warming on coral reefs.
