National Security ‘Integrated National Security’ 4.1 Tourism Tourism will continue to be a major contributor to the economic well‐being of St. Lucia, and it is therefore imperative that ICT plays its optimum role in supporting its growth. As such, the Programmes in this sector are intended to enable and improve the overall coordination of the marketing and other key tourism management functions through the use of ICT. If done well, these Programmes will result in the sustainable development of this sector. The ‘Virtual St. Lucia’ Programme This Programme is intended to facilitate the use of ICT within St. Lucia’s hospitality sector with an emphasis on promotion through integrated marketing communications. A key technology component of this Programme is the strengthening of St. Lucia’s presence on the Internet. This will include the redesign of the current Tourist Board’s Website, the development of local more content, and a greater utilisation of social networking technology such as Facebook and YouTube. Simultaneously with the introduction of new technology would be the facilitation of change and the introduction of new business processes into the tourism sector. It is clear that if the stakeholders in this sector do not embrace new ways of doing business and do not change their business processes, then the intended benefits of the Virtual St. Lucia initiative will not be maximised. It should be noted that the use of mobile technology will be an integral part of this programme, including its capability as a broadcast mechanism for security alerts and weather warnings. The ‘One St. Lucia’ Programme The key outcome of this Programme will be to provide visitors to St. Lucia with a seamless and stress‐free vacation planning experience. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to strengthen the information management capabilities of the national tourist office and other related organisations in the sector. ICT must be utilised to easily interface, collaborate, and share information among the various stakeholders. Databases with the appropriate data mining capabilities must be created to enable new business opportunities to be identified and to allow information necessary for improving the visitor experience to be gleaned. Information at a national level must be created to aid tourism research, destination marketing, and evaluation of the economic, social and ecological impacts of the sector. The technology must be utilised to [21]

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