Academia.

The Difference Between

Practice and Research

Roberto Peretta

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers

#14 .:. Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Università degli studi di Bergamo. Area didattica di Lingue e Letterature straniere

Progettazione e gestione dei sistemi turistici / Planning and Management of Tourism Systems

Centro Studi per il Turismo e l’Interpretazione del Territorio (CeSTIT)

IfittItaly

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and ResearchingWhat are we talking about, today?

2

1. The academia

2. Quality evaluation

3. The Ifitt Digital Library

4. An Ifitt paper on mobile

5. An Ifitt paper on quality“Quality is the totality of

characteristics of an

entity that bear on its

ability to satisfy stated

and implied needs”

(ISO 8402)

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

Several academics (scholars and researchers), who deal with our specific field of

digital communication in tourism, have long belonged to the Ifitt,

the International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism,

established in 1997.

The Ifitt holds conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses related to tourism

and technology,

and has set up national Chapters in some countries – Norway, Finland,

Switzerland, and Italy among them.

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014 3

The Academia About Digital and Tourism

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

4

Practical Skills vs. Research

You can easily learn how to use

(well… relatively easily…)

a word processor like MS Word

a mobile phone like an iPhone

an in-car navigator like Tom-Tom.

You'll only have to make them work. Period.

But if you want to study your word processor,

your iPhone or your Tom-Tom,

if you want to know how they work,

practice is not enough.

You'll have to read, understand,

investigate, compare theories, and measure,

in a word, you'll have to research.

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

Topics at the Ifitt congresses include

Social Media

Electronic Marketing

Websites and Search Engine Optimization

Technology Adoption and Diffusion

Online Communities

Tourism Management and Decision Support

Mobile Technology and Services

Recommender Systems in Tourism

E-Intermediaries and Networks in Tourism

Customer Research

User Generated Content

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Academical Topics

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

Members of the Ifitt have contributed to the definition of a tourism website

evaluation model, currently used to assess

whether a tourism website “meets the standard”,

if it should be improved,

which are its weak points,

how these weak points can be overcome,

taking into consideration all the involved actors

(technicians, creatives, content providers, owners, managers, community

managers, tourism operators, users...).

Not by chance, this evaluation model is based on a standard proposed by ISO

(International Organization for Standardization).

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Quality Evaluation

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

7

The Ifitt Digital Library

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

8

An Ifitt Paper on Mobile

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

How your lecturer would solve the Services question while comparing mobile city

apps or webapps.

Academia. The Difference Between Practicing and Researching

9

An Ifitt Paper on Quality

UniBg 44111 2014-2015 .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. Roberto Peretta .:. December 17, 2014

How Ifitt members introduce our quality evaluation model.