Tourism Promotion through the Internet (Websites) (Jordan as a Case Study)

This research paper seeks to study the status of tourism promotion in Jordan, in particular via the Internet, with a future plan to develop this type of promotion based on the needs of the country .The aim of this research paper is to draw conclusions that help to know and understand this type of tourism promotion, And to know how to develop it in Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to disseminate the maximum information about the Kingdom. This research paper is designed to determine the conditions of websites used in tourism promotion of Jordan, to find out the obstacles that face this type of promotion via websites, and the factors that affect its development .The findings and recommendations implied by this research paper will be presented to decision-makers in Jordan tourism sector to be taken into account. The research paper adopted carefully a survey form which is designed to collect data and information. It is used to know the trends and opinions of the research paper sample. The results showed that the tourism promotion through the Internet helps to increase competition in the prices of tourism, while the website design helps to spread information about the tourism offers. Both sexes consider that the website design as a means helps to ensure the information veracity of tourism offers. The research paper recommended to continue development of the role of tourism promotion through the Internet in spreading information about the tourism offers, so as to achieve the greatest possible benefits.


Introduction
The world is now witnessing a revolution in communications and information technology which leads to the rapid and tangible development in various economical, social and industrial spheres of all human communities .Consequently, with this revolution the world has become as a small village where knowledge and information can be exchanged in a short period of time with minimal effort and cost, and the development of any country is measured by the knowledge it has and by the technology and communications it uses.
At this stage, there may be no house in the Kingdom of Jordan doesn't have a computer connected to the Internet ,where Jordan now holds an advanced degree among the Arab countries and the world in terms of its interest in the information and communication technology.Since the Internet is one of the most modern methods used to exchange and spread information and knowledge with a lowest cost, there was an idea to create websites that contain all what is useful and constructive to all various spheres of life and science.There are websites that deal with medicine, politics, the press, trade, tourism, trade and advertising and others deal with the matters of military and organizations as related to the interests of its browsers.
at the present time it is hardly to find an institution, whether private or public, lacks of a section that deals with and manages the information technology or a website in order to present information and services which are provided by each organization for its reviewers and its interested people .andthere are websites for all ministries, universities and institutions in the Kingdom through which the browser can get the information that he wants.
But the question remains "How to spread these websites with a continual access for web surfers?".All these questions lead us to think of the factors and principles that must be considered while designing the website.The observers of the websites will find that the majority of them lack of many factors of success due to the absence of establishing the site from the beginning on a basis of a well-planned science ,or that the site was created and then became abandoned.as there are many websites that the number of their visitors reaches to hundreds of thousands per day which indicates to the presence of factors that attract surfers to this website, so this advantage must be exploited for the purpose of commercial promotion of any goods as well as for the purpose of promoting any tourism sites inside the Kingdome.There are many archaeological and tourism sites in Jordan which lack of promotion.Here we need to increase the growth of the tourism sector by electronic means in conjunction with the traditional methods used in tourism promotion in order to increase the national income and growth of Jordan economy.

Previous studies
2.1 (Arab, 2000) this study examined the definition of electronic commerce and the challenges that face from the legal point.It also discussed the intellectual property and the issues of information security and electronic payment via the internet .Moreover it referred to the disputed cases in the electronic commerce environment, the legal aspects and disputed laws in the United States and the European Union as well as the legislative procedures in the field of electronic commerce in a number of countries.
2.2 (Liu and Arnett, 2000) proposed a framework to identify website success factors.Four factors that are critical to website success which was identified as: information and service quality, system use, playfulness and system design quality.In similar lines Al-Mashari and Al-Sanad (2002) listed a number of critical success factors for E-commerce through analyzing several reported case studies of successful E-commerce applications.These factors included user-friendly web interface, top management support, maintaining strong links with customers and suppliers, powering website with strong search engine, ensuring customer acceptance, and providing up-to-date information.Except a handful of papers related to tourism, online destination marketing and comparative study on tourism related websites which have received insufficient attention.(Desouki, 2001) this survey indicated to the use of technology in design, planning, production and development of manufacturing.It referred to the term of electronic commerce and the economic and financial results of the electronic commerce .and it also referred to the effects of technological revolution in the production stage which is a decline in the relative importance of the natural resources and the raw materials as a result of the manufactured materials revolution and the multiplicity of types per item.

2.3
2.4 (Sahawneh, 2000) This study focused on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , what has been achieved in the field of electronic commerce and what are the difficulties that were faced by companies that have websites and deal through them with the others.In this regard, the survey was conducted on 36 companies that have a website.The study showed that most of these sites were not used for the purposes of electronic commerce.And the most important difficulties that face the Kingdom in the application of electronic commerce are trust, security and lack of awareness of electronic topics.
2.5 (Abraham and Others, 2002) This study examined the rapid growth in the information and communication field that has, to a large extent, helped to have a large spread of information .It also considered the study of this sector as one of the most crucial factors of economic development and electronic commerce.It also referred to the concept of e-tourism and mobile tourism as well as the effects of the supposed competition in the tourism sector.The study also discussed the reality of e-tourism in the Arab countries and what the e-services can provide to tourists, such as e-books, images, video, e-booking and e-cards.
2.6 (Toro, 2002) determined that the features that satisfy users include entertainment value, information value, interactive value, design and usability.And that websites are supposed to satisfy all users.
2.7 (Barnes and Vidgen, 2007) evaluated websites by using a 23-item questionnaire called "Webqual".In this study, assessment questions are divided into five groups: usability, empathy, design, information and trust.
2.8 (Boisvert and Caron, 2006) applied an evaluation form comprising 91 criteria to evaluate the websites from different fields in Canada and identified 18 essential features that websites must include.
2.9 (Cao, Zhang, and Seydel, 2005) used an evaluation form consisting of these categories system quality, information quality, service quality, and attractiveness to evaluate e-trade websites.
2.10 (Chevalier andBonnardel, 2007 andChevalier andIvory, 2003) proposed that the features client-oriented constraints (originality, branding usage, sales improvement, site structure and content) and user oriented constraints (aesthetics, attractive content) should be taken into account in website design.
2.11 (Cox and Dale, 2002) stated that the characteristics ease of use, customer confidence on-line resources, and relationship services have a key role in determining the quality of a website.

Problem of the research paper
This research paper seeks to identify the tourism promotion through the internet with taking Jordan as a case study.It also aims to determine the types of obstacles and difficulties that face this type of promotion, and prevent it from performing its desired role.As well as the impacts imposed on its desired performance by patterns of discrimination.

Research paper questions
Since this research paper is one of the analytical studies and the first to study this type of tourism promotion in Jordan, as researchers stated, it is trying to answer the following questions: 1).What are the chances of developing this type of promotion of tourism?
2).What is the percentage of the Jordanian tourism offers abroad through this type of tourism promotion?
3).What is the degree of the tourist's satisfaction for the Jordanian offers via the Internet?4).What are the difficulties and obstacles that face this type of tourism promotion?5).What are the vision and the proposals for improving this type of promotion?

Objectives of the research paper
The research paper aims to draw conclusions that help to know and understand this type of tourism promotion, how to develop this kind of tourism promotion in Jordan and to achieve a wider spread of information about Jordan.
As stated above, the research paper was intended to study the reality of tourism promotion of Jordan, specifically via the Internet, with a future plan to develop this type of promotion based on the needs of the country.This research paper will seek to achieve these goals through the following issues: 1).Recognizing the concept of tourism promotion.
2).Defining the promotional advertising means with special focus on the promotion via the Internet.
3).Identifying the elements of the promotion mixture and its influencing factors.4).Clarifying the current reality of websites.5).Understanding the available websites.6).Discussing the reality of improvement and training in Jordan to develop this kind of promotion.7).Discussing the tourist's satisfaction with the sites of tourism promotion in Jordan.

The Importance of the research paper
This research paper was designed to determine the conditions of sites that were used in promoting Jordan's tourism, the obstacles that face this type of promotion and the factors that affect the development of this type of promotion.The findings and recommendations as implied by this research paper will be presented to decision-makers in Jordan's tourism sector to be taken into account.
This paper reviews the relations between websites and tourism information available about Jordan at home and abroad.The importance of this research paper comes from the importance of the tourism sector, which plays an important role in the economic and social development of the Kingdom.This research paper provides a database and important indicators for one of the ways to promote tourism in Jordan.

Hypotheses of the research paper
1) The tourism promotion through the Internet does not help to disseminate the information about the tourism offers.
2) The tourism promotion through the Internet does not help to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.
3) The website design does not help to disseminate information about tourism offers.
4) The website design does not help to show the veracity of the information about tourism offers.
5) The website design does not help to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.

The type and the approach of the research paper
This research paper belongs to the exploratory, analytical studies, and it follows the approach of collecting and analyzing data to draw conclusions.The research paper is conducted on websites by distributing a questionnaire to a number of tourists where (170) questionnaires were distributed, (136) were returned and (34) were excluded.Therefore, the research paper was based on (136) questionnaires to a number of tourists who were visiting Jordan and were able to obtain their data through via the internet.The questionnaire represents the research community and the research paper sample.

Data collection tool and the procedures for veracity and reliability
This research paper relied on a survey form designed carefully to collect data and information, and to know the trends and views of the research paper sample, which answers the questions of the research paper, and reflects its goals.
We ensured the veracity of the survey form ability in measuring the intended elements exactly, and that the questions form reflects the inquires and the aims of the research paper through presenting the questionnaires form to a range of professional arbitrators on the subject of study to bring honesty and objectivity to the questionnaire form and to ensure its validity.The amendment on the form proposed by the arbitrators has been made.

The reliability of the tool
The reliability of the tool was tested by applying the Cronbach Alpha coefficient test and according to table number (1), the collected data shows reliability in all of the dimensions, the alpha value was greater than 0.60 which means that there is reliability in all these dimensions.
The alpha value for all items amounted to 0.925, which is, of course, greater than 0.60 and this indicates reliability in the study tool.(Note 1)

Sex
The table (No. 2) Shows that 65.4% of the research paper sample was male and 33.6% were female (Note 2).

Age
The table (No.3) shows that a total of 58.1% of the research paper was equal to or above the age of 35, 17.6% aged from 30 -34, 14.7% aged from 25-29 and 9. 6% aged from 20-24.(Note 3)

Income
We note from Table 4 that 50.7% of the sample is making more than 1000 dollars, 25% of them have incomes ranging between 501-1000 dollars, and 24% of them have incomes ranging between 2000-5000(Note 4)

The first hypothesis
The tourism promotion through the Internet does not help to disseminate the information about the tourism offers.
It is clear from table(5) that each item has got a rate above 3.00, with Significance Level of less than 0.05 which means that all these items are present and significant.It also noted that the standard deviation for each of them is small and this means that the research paper sample has a considerable agreement on the existence degree of these items.Item No.1, which measures the role of promotion via the Internet in facilitating the access to the information about the tourism promotion of Jordan, came first with an average of 4.47.While item No.2 came second, this item measures the role of tourism marketing via the Internet in decreasing the cost of offering the information about tourism offers of Jordan.Meanwhile the item No.10 had the fourth rank and item No. 3 ranked fourth.Item No.8 which measures the role of promotion via the Internet in increasing the number of offers by providing additional services, ranked last.
The overall items which collectively represent the first hypothesis has reached a Mean of 4.25, larger than 3.00.The level of significance was 0.00 less than 0.05.This means that this significance is just a moral one.Therefore, we reject the first hypothesis and recognize that promoting tourism through the Internet helps to spread information about the tourism offers.(Note 5)

The second hypothesis
The tourism promotion through the Internet does not help to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.
We note from table (6) that each item has a mean above 3.00, with significance level of less than 0.05, which indicates that they are significant.This means that the promotion via the internet helps in all of these items as it enables you to use the information effectively to search for a competitive advantage among the tourism companies, as well as such promotion is important to precisely select the tourism offers and the information about the prices.In addition, it allows companies to be in contact with a large number of visitors without any geographic boundaries and thus increases the added value.It also leads to make the operation so simple and facilitate the way to deliver products to the market through the web cast with their specifications and prices, and then they become available to customers.
It is noted that the standard deviations for each item is small.This means that there is an agreement among the members of the research paper sample on the degree of the existence of these things.Item No.1 ranked first with a mean of 4.29, while Item No.4 came second with a mean of 4.2, Item No.7 ranked third with a mean of 4.23, item No.5 ranked fourth with a mean of 4.22 and the last item No.6 ranked last with a mean of 4.19.
The overall items measuring this hypothesis had a mean of 4.24, i.e. more than 3.00, and the significance level was 0.00 which is less than 0.05.This means that they had a moral significance, so the second hypothesis is rejected, i.e. the promotion of tourism through the Internet helps to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.(Note 6)

The third hypothesis
The website design does not help to spread information about tourism offers.From Table 7, we note that all items have a mean of more than 3.00, and each item had a significance level of less than 0.05, this means that they had a moral significance and the design via the Internet assists in all of these areas.
It is noted that the standard deviation for each of these items was small.This means that there is an agreement among the members of the research paper sample on the degree of the presence of each of these areas.
Item No. 17 ranked first with a mean of 4.50, item No. 18 came second with a mean of 4.31, item No. 19 ranked third with a mean of 4.30, item No. 21 ranked fourth with a mean of 4.23 and item No. 20 ranked last with a mean of 4.17.
The overall items measuring this hypothesis had a mean amounted to 4.30, higher than 3.00, and the significance level was 0.00 which is less than 0.05.thismeans that they were significant, i.e., the third hypothesis is rejected .That is to say, the design of the website helps to disseminate information about tourism offers.(Note 7)

Fourth hypothesis
The website design does not help to ensure the veracity of the information about the tourism offers.
From Table (8), we note that each item has a mean of more than 3.00, with a significance level of less than 0.05.This means that they were morally significant, and the design of the website assists in all of these areas.
It is noted that the standard deviation for each of them was small.This means that there is an agreement among the members of the research paper sample on the degree of the presence of each of these areas.
The item No. 23 ranked first with a mean of 4.33, item No. 16 ranked second with a mean of 4.24, item No. 22 ranked third with a mean of 4.23, item No. 15 ranked fourth with a mean of 4.13, while item No. 24 ranked fifth with a mean of 4.12.
The overall items measuring this hypothesis had a mean amounted to 4.21, larger than 3.00, and the level of significance was 0.00 lower than 0.05.thismeans that they were significant, i.e., the fourth hypothesis is rejected.
And we admit that the design of the website helps in ensuring the validity of the information about tourism offers.(Note 8)

Fifth hypothesis
The design of the website does not help to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.
We note from Table No (9) that each item had a mean of more than 3,00 with a significance level of less than 0.05 i.e.They were morally significant.This means that the design of the website helps to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.
The standard deviation for each of them was small.And this means that there is an agreement between the members of the sample on the degree of the presence of each of these areas.
Item No. 13 ranked first with a mean of 4.28 ,item No. 14 ranked second with a mean of 4.22, ,item No. 12 ranked third with a mean of 4.17 and item No. 11 ranked last with a mean of 4.09.
The overall items measuring the fifth hypothesis had a mean of 4.19, larger than 3.00, and the level of significance level was 0.00 lower than 0.05.This means that they were significant, and the fifth hypothesis is rejected.So we admit that the design of the website helps to increase competition in the prices of the tourism offers.(Note 9)

First question
Are there differences with statistical indications in the sample responses due to the sex variable?
According to Table No. ( 9), we find that the dimensions 1, 2 and 5 had each a significance level greater than 0.05 i.e.There were no significant differences between males and females in these areas.Each dimension amounted to a mean greater than 3.00 for both sexes with a significance level less than 0.05, which means that these dimensions were significant for both sexes.
The significance level of differences for dimension (3) was 0018, which is less than 0.05.This means that there were significant differences in moral indication of males, i.e.The males consider that the website design helps to disseminate the information about tourism offers more than the females do.But both sexes recognize that because the significance level for each of them was less than 0.05.
In dimension No. 4 the significance level of the differences was 0.035 which is less than 0.05.This means that there were significant differences in moral indication of males as well, i.e. while both sexes believe that the website design helps to ensure the validity of the information about the tourism offers.As the levels of significance for each of them is less than 0.5, the males recognize that more than the females do.(Note 10)

The second question
Are there differences with the statistical indications in the research paper sample responses due to the age variable?
We note from Table 10 that the values of significance level were more than 0.05, i.e. there were no significant differences in the responses of the sample due to the age variable.In other words, all the tourists of all ages agree on the presence degree of the five dimensions.(Note 11)

The third question:
Are there differences with statistical indication in the responses of the sample due to the income variable?
We note from Table 10 that the values of significance level were more than 0.05, i.e. there were no significant differences in the responses of the sample due to the income variable.In other words, all the tourists of different incomes agree on the degree of the five dimensions.(Note 12)

Results
The research paper drew the following conclusions: 1 -Tourism promotion through the Internet helps to disseminate information about the tourism offers.
2 -Promotion tourism via the Internet increases competition in the prices of tourism offers.
3 -The website design helps to disseminate information about the tourism offers.4 -The website design helps to ensure the veracity of the information about tourism offers.

-Website design helps to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers.
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 131 6 -Both sexes see that the design of the website helps to disseminate information about the tourism offers.However, the male recognizes that more.
7 -Both sexes see that the design of the website helps to ensure the veracity of the information about tourism offers, but the male recognizes that more.

Recommendations
The research paper recommends the following: 1 -Continuing the development of the role of the tourism promotion through the Internet in disseminating information about tourism offers to achieve the greatest possible benefits.
2 -Since the promotion of tourism via the Internet helps to increase competition in the prices of tourism offers, the research paper recommends to show a continuous interest in this positive role and to extend its scope.
3 -Paying more attention to the role of the website design in disseminating information about tourism offers in order to deliver the required information for different countries.The role of promotion in the spread of information 1 0,17 1,77 The role of promotion in the increase of the price competition 2 0,83 0,18 The role of design in the dissemination of information 3 0,22 1,53 The role of design in the veracity of information 4 0,16 1,80 The role of design in the increase of price competition 5

Table 1 .
Cronbach Alpha test results

Table 2 .
Frequencies and percentages of the variable sex

Table 3 .
Frequencies and percentages of Age variable

Table 4 .
Frequency and percentage of the monthly income variable

Table 5 .
The mean, standard deviation, t value and the level of significance of the role of promotion tourism through the Internet in spreading information about tourism offers

Table 6 .
The mean, standard deviation, t value and the level of significance of the role of tourism promotion through the Internet in increasing competition in the prices of tourism offers

Table 7 .
The mean, standard deviation, t value and significance level of the role of website design in increasing the dissemination of information about tourism offers

Table 8 .
The mean, standard deviation, t value and significance level of website role in ensuring the veracity of the information about tourism offers

Table 9 .
The mean, standard deviation, t value and the significance level of the role of website design in increasing competition in the prices of tourism offers

Table 10 .
The Means of answers ranks for age variables, the significance level among these means, and the significance level of the differences seen between these answers by using the Independent Samples Test

Table 11 .
A test of variance to the variable of age

Table 12 .
Test of variance for income variable