Divulging the challenges faced by urban based tour operator in Malaysia

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been transforming tourism globally and undoubtedly changed business strategies and practices. Research trend in ICTs are mostly related with its adoption and models such as technology to performance chain and unified theory of acceptance, use of technology and theory of diffusion of innovation, etc. Still there is a need for research studies regarding intermediate players, specifically tour operators in the tourism industry about adopting the changes of information and communication technology to enhance the efficiency in service delivery towards business resilience. In this paper, we discuss the internal and external challenges of tour operators in Malaysia. Internal challenges are grouped into staff and financial types, while external challenges include customer demand and expectation, competition through globalization, deregulation, growth of technology and government support. The literature discussed the ability of tour operators and travel agents to sustain their competitiveness or remain in business due to the rapid changes in technologies. The findings of the study indicate that tour operators face a plethora of internal and external challenges upon updating the ICTs changes in ensuring business resilience.