A cultural transferability on IT business application: iReservation system

Purpose - The emergence of innovative internet-based reservation systems (iReservation systems) is threatening the sustainability of retail travel agencies (TAs) in Brunei Darussalam. With the friendliness and convenience offered by iReservation systems, many customers nowadays prefer to book their tickets and accommodations online. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of iReservation systems on TAs in Brunei Darussalam. In other words, the authors are interested to find out how TAs and customers react to iReservation systems. Design/methodology/approach - To fulfil this objective, surveys were conducted on both the responses from TAs and their customers regarding iReservation systems in Brunei Darussalam. Findings - Most individual customers prefer to book their tickets and accommodations through iReservation systems. However, government and corporate customers still prefer to book tickets and accommodation by TAs. Most TAs are affected by iReservation systems either negatively or positively, depending on how TAs respond with their sustaining strategies such as segmentation, targeting and positioning in the market. Originality/value - It is clear that without proper strategies in facing turbulent changes in the tourism industry, eventually traditional TAs will be disintermediated.