The Information Technology Application To Tourists And Its Review In Philosophy

With the rapid development of science and technology and the continuousimprovement of the paid time off system, tourism as a new service industry hasplayed an irreplaceable role in China’s economic development. However, tourism isundergoing a significant change. The simplistic business mode of travel agents can nolonger meet the personalized needs of tourists. Information technology (IT), with itsparticipatory, interactive and extensive features, has shown great advantages andconvenience. Tourists thus no longer need to rely upon travel agencies for travelitineraries. Instead, with the help of IT, they can now make travel plans on their own.Based on the analysis of related literatures, this paper attempts to study theapplication of IT from the perspective of tourists, as well as some philosophical issuesinvolved. On the one hand, the paper focuses on how IT is applied by tourists, eitheramong tourists themselves (travel blog, travel micro-blogging), or between touristsand tourism enterprises in their interactive processes (travel search engines, mobilepositioning system). This paper then probes the impact generated by IT on tourists.The purpose of this study is to make tourism management agencies, tourismenterprises and tourists recognize the importance of IT and circumvent the negativeeffects of it. On the other hand, this paper carries out some relative philosophicalreflection. It tries to analyze the relationship between IT and environmental issues, aswell as that between people and technology. On the basis of these analyses the paperalso puts forward some countermeasures against negative impacts brought bytechnology.