The Internet as a powerful instrument for competitive
advantage recommendations for the Austrian SME
accommodation sector
Markus Gratzera, Werner Winiwarterb
aE-Commerce Competence Center EC3
Donau City Straße 1, 1220 Vienna, Austria
markus.gratzer@ec3.at
bDepartment of Computer Science and Business Informatics,
University of Vienna
Liebiggasse 4/3-4, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
werner.winiwarter@univie.ac.at
Abstract
The Internet provides companies with several types of opportunities to conduct their business
but also alters the rules of competition within an industry by causing several threats (Werthner
and Klein, 1999). By looking at these threats and opportunities we have defined a generic
framework, which was already introduced at last year’s ENTER conference in Helsinki
(Gratzer and Winiwarter, 2003a). We have applied our generic framework to the SME
accommodation sector in Austria and have compared the results of an expert survey and a hotel
survey (Gratzer, 2003; Gratzer and Winiwarter, 2003b), which were carried out in Austria last
year. The information we received together with enterprise information provided us with the
possibility to draw a picture of the strategic use of the Internet and the ability of companies to
gain competitive advantage. This paper focuses on the main findings of the surveys, the
identification of possible success indicators, and the formulation of recommendations for the
market players in the Austrian SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) accommodation sector.
Keywords: competitive advantage, competitive strategy, accommodation sector, Internet
1 Introduction
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and tourism are two of the most
dynamic drivers of our global economy. As many authors have claimed, tourism must
be treated as an information-intensive industry (Poon, 1993; Sheldon, 1997; Inkpen,
1998; Werthner and Klein, 1999). Travel and tourism can be defined as an
information business,...