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As hospitality industry executives contemplate the launch of the new millennium, they need to recognize the huge changes that are occurring in the way business is being conducted and begin planning in earnest as to how they will respond. For those operating within the physical world, the concept of electronic or "eBusiness" may appear to be of limited significance. But such assumptions could be costly. eBusiness and its applications are undoubtedly the number one topic in the boardrooms of most of the world's largest companies. The financial markets are making massive invest-ments in the companies that deliver Internet technologies, content and related products and services, and the corporate world is now moving toward eBusiness offerings at a rapid clip. On the business-to-business (B2B) front, eBusiness is projected to grow enormously in the United States over the next several years, with business-to-consumer (B2C) trade not as big, but growing just as fast. The McKenna Group estimates that the B2B marketplace could grow in value to $500 billion in 2003. But those estimates may be low. General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Daimler Chrysler, for example, have just announced that they plan to combine their efforts to form a B2B integrated supplier exchange through a single global portal. Meanwhile, on the retail front, the race is on to win the Internet consumer, whose ranks are growing rapidly. Traditional retailers have much to be concerned about as retail sales over the Internet skyrocket. And while such activity has yet to grow to the same extent in Europe and Asia/Pacific where the cost of phone calls remains an issue, it surely will over time. In the meantime, travel is one of the more popular online products for sale and over the next several years, it is projected in the United States alone to grow to $12 billion. eBusiness is rewriting the economic rules globally for every industry including hospitality, travel and leisure. Indeed, it's important to recognize that we are now operating in what has been described as the "new economy," as global trends drive change, including globalization, consolidation, convergence, technology and communications. Even more, it is clear that the underlying sources of value are also changing. Use of intangible assets such as information, brands, customers, relation-ships and networks distinguish the most successful companies in the world... To read the complete article, click here to download the printable pdf file (96 kb).
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