Journal of Sustainable Tourism
Editors: Bill Bramwell (Sheffield Hallam University) and Bernard Lane (Visiting Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University)
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Volume: 5 Number: 2 Page: 131–150
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Travel Distribution Technologies and Sustainable Tourism Development: The Case of South Pacific Microstates
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Simon Milne and Leszek Nowosielski
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The island microstates of the South Pacific face the major challenge of fine tuning tourism products and marketing strategies to meet the changing needs of the traveller, while at the same time creating
a more sustainable industry. This paper examines how new travel distribution technologies can influence attempts to meet this challenge.The discussion begins with a review of the literature on the growth
of `new' tourism in small island states- focusing on the key role ascribed to evolving distribution technologies, especially computer reservations systems (CRS). The growth of CRS is then examined, with
an emphasis on the rising levels of ownership concentration that characterise this segment of the tourism industry. Data on the role that CRS technologies can play in influencing tourism flows within the
South Pacific are then presented. Access to CRS is shown to be extremely limited for many smaller destinations and locally owned companies, placing them at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis their larger
counterparts. The broader implications of the findings for sustainable development processes are explored and a number of recommendations are made as to how Pacific microstates may improve their ability
to take advantage of emerging travel distribution technologies.
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