Challenges of the Internet for the SME Hotel Sector in Austria

ICT (information and communication technology) has a considerable impact on almost all areas of a company’s activities, especially for companies operating in information intensive industries such as the travel and tourism industry. This paper concentrates on the implications of ICT for the accommodation sector in Austria and more specifically for the small and medium enterprises (SME) section of this market. The study explores the major threats and opportunities for hotels by evaluating our framework for competitive advantage in eBusiness through an expert survey and a hotel survey within the Austrian travel and tourism industry. In this paper we compare the results of the expert survey with first findings from the hotel survey.