Tourism distribution channels in the digital age

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution and transformation of tourism distribution channels, focusing on the role the Internet has played in such a process. This paper indicates that the advance of information and communication technology has not reduced the number of intermediaries in the distribution channel, but rather resulted in an increasingly complex array of intermediaries. Technological advances have resulted in growing competition in the online tourism industry and distribution channels and have an impact on company structures, as companies are being pushed towards disintermediation, re-intermediation and collaborations. In this digital context, this paper takes a perspective with the aim to analyse the changes brought about by the technological advances in the field of distribution channels. CZU: 338.486:004.738.8. JEL: D39, M15, Z38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53486/icspm2023.60