E-tailing as an evolution of the distribution channel in tourism

Inspired by literature review and empirical analysis, the paper provides a representation of the new forms of interaction in the tourism industry, benefiting from the integration of the new technological tools that facilitate access to information. The study applies the wider literature in e-tailing and tourism in order to ascertain how the structure of the industry has been transformed and how it will continue to follow an evolutionary path. New companies have entered the market, existing ones have revised their strategies and consumers have become more sophisticated when using the Internet as a tool for doing research and for finding affordable deals. From the results of a questionnaire, the paper provides empirical evidence of how the tourist industry can improve the virtual world on the basis of its experiences in the real world. At the same time, it updates the knowledge available on the distribution channel in the tourism industry taking into consideration the recent evolutions of the structure of travel intermediation.