Aims and objectives
The future study will be aimed at examining the influence of travel agencies on various tourist destinations in the Mediterranean region. It is vital to achieve several objectives. First of all, one should demonstrate how and why travel agencies choose to promote certain regions or countries.
Secondly, much attention should be paid to the exact mechanisms through which these organizations can influence tourist destinations. It is critical to focus on the economic performance of various companies that represent the tourist industry in a specific country or region. Finally, one should study the positive and negative impacts of this influence. These are the main issues that should be examined.
Research question
How are tourist destinations in the Mediterranean region affected by the power of travel agencies?
Literature review
The main goal of this literature review is to examine academic sources which throw light on the functioning of travel agencies. It is vital to focus on the studies which can demonstrate that these organizations can influence the economic performance of tourist destinations. Apart from that, this literature review should demonstrate the importance of these service companies for the Mediterranean region.
Finally, much attention should be paid to the methodology that should be used for the future study. To a great extent, the research will be based on the notion of destination branding (Jalilvand, Esfahani & Samiei, 2010).
To some degree, travel agencies take part in the formation of clients’ perceptions and attitudes toward a certain tourist site. In many cases, they pay attention to the reputation of a travel agency (Ferencová, 2012). Therefore, they can significantly increase the popularity of a destination.
On the whole, travel agencies pay attention to various characteristics while selecting which tourist destination should be promoted. In particular, they focus on the presence of natural and cultural sites, climate, and service industry in a particular region, infrastructure, and security (Prebežac & Mikulić, 2008, p. 170; Blázquez, Molina, & Esteban, 2012).
This is one of the main issues that can be identified. Apart from that, the governments of developing countries are extremely concerned about the attitudes of travel agencies since they can influence the decisions of customers (Mariutti, de Moura Engracia Giraldi & Crescitelli, 2013, p. 17).
In this way, they attempt to boost the economic development of various regions. One should take into consideration that travel agencies help clients learn more about various characteristics of a tourist destination. This is one of the main points that can be made.
The study carried out by Iris Mihajlović (2012) suggests that travel agencies can profoundly affect the choices of consumers by highlighting the advantages of going to a particular country, region, or resort. Secondly, they can provide an evaluation of the service industry in a certain destination as well as its most popular attractions.
In other words, these organizations can be viewed as the major intermediaries between a customer and service providers. Furthermore, customers are more likely to put trust in the recommendations or assessments offered by travel agencies. This is why the role of these companies should not be overlooked.
Moreover, one can look at the research conducted by Dimitrios Buhalist (2000). This scholar shows that the performance of many hospitality organizations is affected by the distribution channels, especially travel agencies. This study suggests that the hospitality organizations, which are based on the Mediterranean region, have to accept the power of travel agencies.
It should be kept in mind that they can reduce the perceived risk that can be experienced by clients (Buhalist, 2000, p. 115). Moreover, they can facilitate the communication between customers and eventual suppliers of service (Buhalist, 2000, p. 115). Provided that this link is absent, a client is not likely to go to a tourist destination.
Apart from that, travel agencies offer many supplementary services related to insurance or obtaining visas. This assistance is of critical importance to many people. Overall, findings of researchers indicate that the competitive position of a hotel depends on its cooperation with tour operators (Buhalist, 2000, p. 136).
Overall, there are other studies that are aimed at determining the choices of customers who want to travel to the Mediterranean resorts. For instance, Izquierdo-Yusta and Martınez-Ruiz (2011) note that travel agencies facilitate customers’ search for information. They help customers and suppliers to establish mutual trust (Izquierdo-Yusta & Martınez-Ruiz, 2011, p. 80).
In turn, tourist destinations are not likely to enjoy popularity among people provided that travel agents do not pay attention to them. Furthermore, these organizations can demonstrate that a certain resort is suitable for various types of clients who can differ in terms of income level, marital status, interest, values, and so forth. This is one of the main issues that should be singled out.
Therefore, it is possible to say that travel agencies can significantly increase the profitability of airlines or hotels that can be based in a particular tourist destination. In contrast, the absence of their participation can eventually result in the downturn of economic activities in this particular destination. This is the main argument that can be put forward.
It should be taken into account that various Mediterranean countries compete with one another in effort to increase their market share (Patsouratis, Frangouli & Anastasopoulos, 2005). One should not suppose that the performance of tourist destination is affected only by travel agencies. Researchers argue the exchange rate can be a powerful factor that shapes the purchasing decisions of clients (Patsouratis et al. 2005, p. 1865).
Furthermore, the competiveness of the tourist industry depends on its ability of various companies to make use of information technology (Burgess et al., 2011). Additionally, one should not forget about the environmental policies of the government (Selwyn, 2008). These factors also play an important role.
Overall, this problem can be examined in both qualitative and quantitative way. First of all, it is critical to study the way in which travel agencies can present information about various tourist sites in the Mediterranean region. Overall, one should concentrate on the efforts of these organizations to promote a particular city, country or region as place that can attract travelers. This will be the independent variable of research.
In turn, there are specific characteristics which can be used to evaluate the competitiveness of a particular destination. It is necessary to focus on tourism participation index, the number of tourists, the financial performance of airlines, or hotels (Navickas & Malakauskait ,2009). These are the main dependent variables that should be examined.
To a great extent, this literature review suggests that travel agencies have the capacity to influence tourist destination. Nevertheless, it is critical to focus on the particular region. These are the main tasks that should be addressed.
Reference List
Blázquez, J., Molina, A., & Esteban, Á. (2012). Key quality attributes according to the tourist product. European Journal Of Tourism Research, 5(2), 166-170.
Buhalist, D. (2000). Relationships in the Distribution Channel of Tourism: Conflicts Between Hoteliers and Tour Operators in the Mediterranean Region. Global Alliances In Tourism & Hospitality Management, 1(1), 113-139.
Burgess, S., Sellitto, C., Cox, C., & Buultjens, J. (2011). Trust perceptions of online travel information by different content creators: Some social and legal implications. Information Systems Frontiers, 13(2), 221-235.
Ferencová, M. (2012). Travel Agency and its Image — Factor Influencing the Attitude of Tourism Client towards the Choice of a Holiday Package. International Journal Of Business & Social Science, 3(19), 309-316.
Izquierdo-Yusta, A., & Martınez-Ruiz, M. (2011). Assessing the consumer’s choice of purchase channel in the tourism sector: Evidence from Spain. EuroMed Journal of Business, 6 (1), 1450-2194.
Jalilvand, M., Esfahani, S., & Samiei, N. (2010). Destination Branding and Tourists’ Attitudes (The Case of Isfahan as a Tourism Destination in Iran). International Journal Of Marketing Studies, 2(2), 235-244.
Mariutti, F., de Moura Engracia Giraldi, J., & Crescitelli, E. (2013). The Image of Brazil as a Tourism Destination: An Exploratory Study of the American Market. International Journal Of Business Administration, 4(1), 13-22.
Mihajlović, I. (2012). The Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a Key Factor of Tourism Development on the Role of Croatian Travel Agencies. International Journal Of Business & Social Science, 3(24), 151-159.
Navickas, V., & Malakauskaite, A. (2009). The Possibilities for the Identification and Evaluation of Tourism Sector Competitiveness Factors. Engineering Economics, 61(1), 37-44.
Patsouratis, V., Frangouli, Z., & Anastasopoulos, G. (2005). Competition in Tourism among the Mediterranean Countries. Applied Economics, 37(16), 1865-1870.
Prebežac, D., & Mikulić, J. (2008). Destination image and key drivers of perceived destination attractiveness. Market, 20(2), 163-178.
Selwyn, T. (2008). Tourism and the Environment in the Mediterranean. Suomen Antropologi: Journal Of The Finnish Anthropological Society, 33(4), 91-95.