Title: Developing
An E-Readiness Framework For Small Tourism Enterprises In Developing Countries
Abstract:
Many development professionals
and aid organizations agree that Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) show great promise for developing countries, allowing them to achieve
economic growth and close the gap between developed and developing countries.
ICTs, in particular the Internet, have been highlighted as a technology that
offers significant benefits for small businesses in developing countries.
Despite this, the adoption of e-commerce by small businesses in developing
countries is has been limited. A relatively new term in the realm
of e-commerce is ‘e-readiness’. E-readiness is an investigation and
assessment of the business environment to engage in e-commerce and pursue
value created opportunities. Although understanding e-commerce adoption in
the context of small business in developing countries is important, however,
little research has been carried out in this area. This paper proposes a
framework to assess the e-readiness of small businesses, specifically small
tourism enterprises, in developing countries. The tourism industry was selected
because it is one of the areas where e-commerce is beginning to have an impact
in developing countries. To construct the proposed framework, literature
was drawn from the fields of e-commerce adoption factors and small business
e-commerce in developing countries.