BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN TOURISM AND TECHNOLOGY

The paper presents the relationship between the development of tourism business and the technology developed through the concept of innovative business model, as illustrated in the literature as a particularly important concept in the world where technological change presents new ways to do business and as an Instrument to obtain the competitive advantage. It is presented the The structure of the business model for the traditional tourism operator and for the online tourism operator based on the Canvas Business Model introduced by Osterwalder and Pigneur. The paper illustrates the influence of new technologies in building innovative business models in the tourism sector by considering the impact of the social and technological factors. Tour operators need to constantly innovate to meet the needs of increasingly experienced customers and to maintain themselves in a strong competitive market. From the case studies presented, namely the business model of a traditional agency -Thomas Cook and an online agency - Expedia Inc., it follows that the development of on-line tourism businesses facilitates the convergence between the business model of traditional agencies and online travel agencies.