THE EFFECTS OF E-COMMERCE APPLICATION ON TRAVEL AGENCIES AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
Cihan Seçilmiş, Burhan Sevim, Barış Yilmaz
DOI: 10.35666/25662880.2015.1.360
UDC: 338.486.22:[339:655.41](560)
Abstract: E-commerce, which has been a very prominent issue with the help of current developments in information and communication technologies and worldwide prevalence of the internet, has been intensively used considering the benefits for both customers and businesses. Tourism businesses, which demand to be successful in such rapidly changing competitive business environments, attempt to develop e-commerce applications in order that they can compete with their competitors and make use of new opportunities. It is emphasized that despite the various benefits of e-commerce, it might also bring the end of some sectors, which have not developed essential arrangements and infrastructures for this virtual environment. It is estimated that the need for package tours, tour operators and travel agencies will decrease in the future depending on the growing interest in the independent travel, the number of searches that people make on the internet search engines and tendency to act in accordance with the travel programs. The primary aim of this study is to figure out how much travel agencies in EskiĢehir use the e-commerce, the positive and negative effects of e-commerce on travel agencies and how e-commerce is perceived by agency administrators and employees. Besides, this study aims at determining the relationship among the perceptions of these employees and their performance. Within the scope of this research, 61travel agencies operating in EskiĢehir were selected and a survey consisting of close-ended questions applied to these business administrators and employees. The results revealed that almost all travel businesses have a web site, and the most important reason why they use the internet is easy accessibility and getting new customers. Employees think that use of e-commerce will not have any negative effect on the future of their businesses. According to results of correlation analysis, there was significant relationship found between employees‘ perceptions about the effects of e-commerce use on businesses and their performance in which they are employed.
Key words:E-commerce, travel agencies, employee performance