An ICT based framework for the enhancement of information sharing and collaboration in Zimbabwe’s tourism sector

Abstract

Innovations in ICT continue to transform business processes in ways never imagined before. When organisations take full utility of available technologies, business processes become more efficient while service delivery improves. Ultimately this bridges gaps between inter organisational relationships by making information sharing easier and more secure. This is crucial in the tourism sector where information is the lifeblood of the sector. The study sought to develop an ICT based framework for enhancing information sharing in tourism in Zimbabwe. The design science research paradigm for Information technology was employed to conduct a qualitative research. The data for the study was collected through semistructured interviews and was analysed using structural coding to find emerging themes. The findings of the study revealed that collaborative information sharing in Zimbabwe is very minimal mainly occurring mandatorily between government institutions and tourism providers. Issues of trust, diversified information needs, poor infrastructure and rivalry between regulators and tourism providers hamper information sharing. The study developed a framework which when adopted can help mitigate against the issues hampering information sharing. The framework was evaluated by an expert reviewer whose comments helped in the refinement of the framework.