Attitudes towards internet use among travel agencies in greece

Internet has tremendous potential for creating business opportunities. Travel agencies should take advantage of the Internet and refocus their business strategies to maintain their competitiveness in order to avoid being replaced. The purpose of this study is to explore agents’ attitudes towards Internet applications and also to find out the current state of Internet use and the relative maturity of the websites among travel agencies in Greece. An on-line survey addressed to all tourism agencies which are members of Official Greek web directories, provides the attitudes of travel agents. The findings of the study indicate that Greek travel agencies consider Internet as a means to expand and complete online business, keep up with competition, and do more effective marketing. However security issues and lack of interpersonal communication are the main barriers for Internet adoption. Findings suggest that the current delay regarding full use of Internet adoption will probably last for at least the near future.