Think of tourism and the one thinks of the vast expanse of beaches, treks on mountains, hotels, airlines and the jet set. In the ever evolving world Information Technology (IT) has made this sector space to expand and reach out to the discerning traveller. Ashish Jhingran, Director - Sales, Marketing & Operations, Indusa Global Co. Ltd speaks with Amitabh Sharma on the opportunities and the challenges in this fast moving industry.

Role of Technology in Tourism
Like in all other sectors, technology is at the forefront driving the industry towards higher yields in terms of earnings as well as pushing the bar with respect to standards of services being offered to the customers.
Internet has almost replaced the traditional travel agent, the travelers can, from the comfort of their own living rooms, select a destination, compare prices, book tickets and hotels, all in one go, a process which, in a traditional scenario, would take a few days and would largely depend upon the interests, contacts and capabilities of the travel agent.
The other important aspect of information technology which is available and can benefit the Tourism Industry players tremendously is its use in gathering Business Intelligence with respect to the customer – the tourist.

Opening new avenues
As the importance of IT grows in tourism, it is opening up opportunities to manage Information Communication Technology and to benefit from the various components of the Tourism Industry. The application of this technology requires adequate manpower to extract the best possible results. People adept in web technologies, User Interface modules, database specialists, programmers with skills in latest platforms like .NET, business intelligence experts, business analysts, market and marketing researchers are all the right kind of people who will have the opportunity to play important roles in order to extract the complete benefits of the use of technology in this sector.

Skill sets
In order to effectively use ICT in the tourism sector and derive maximum benefits, there is a requirement of skilled workforce to manage this technology. The need for specialists proficient in the use of Business Intelligence (BI) tools is critical. There could be a lot of raw data available but in order to give it the shape of a meaningful information, the BI expert will need to understand the data elements and the processes that will convert these into information. Similarly, Database experts will need to play their role in managing the data collected from various sources pertaining to the tourists – existing & prospective.
Market Researchers are required to understand the intricacies of the markets that bring in the business, competition and their activities and yields etc. While technology is ever evolving, it is critical for the solution provider to continuously evolve with the technology and for that it is absolutely necessary to have a completely adept and updated workforce, which can adopt the best of the technological advancements in order to provide the optimum solution.

Training IT workforce
Indusa is a global software solutions service provider with presence in the Caribbean. In 1999, Indusa started its operations in Montego Bay, Jamaica by partnering with Furman University of South Carolina, Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry Science & Technology and H.E.A.R.T./NTA, to establish the Caribbean Institute of Technology (CIT). The objective of CIT is to provide Jamaicans with extensive hands-on experience and a conceptual foundation in Information Technology and to train them to become a world-class IT work force. Indusa has also become a partner of Microsoft which has provided Indusa with support towards realising its growth and expansion goals and ambitions.

Caribbean as the IT Outsourcing Hub
While the beginning has been emphatic, the biggest challenge for the BPO service providers in this region will be to maintain a steady level of growth for the industry. It still will take a lot of hard work in order to convince the prospective clients to look at the near-shore option provided by the Caribbean.

The biggest of the hurdles to cross will be while dealing with cost sensitive clients. Secondly, the infrastructure required to run these services will need to be continuously improved upon – telecommunications in particular. It is extremely important for a cost effective and flawless infrastructure to be operational for successful running of BPO outfits, particularly call centers. Another area that will need to be continuously worked upon is the availability of skilled workforce. Right kind of education & training will need to be made available to the candidates who wish to become part of the industry.

As far as BPO business is concerned, as it evolves over the years, it is a sure fact that organisations will look for global outsourcing solutions rather than a single service provider. Identifying the right BPO service providers will mean looking at the global footprint and hiving off different elements of the business process to different service vendors in different geographical regions. This would depend upon the various requirements of the process like cost, resource availability, time zone, resource adeptness etc. Hence, it is important for the nations that are vying for a slice of the BPO pie, to carve out a niche for themselves and achieve the highest levels of perfection in that niche.

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com