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This case study reports the experience of
one small business, Zorbas Apartments, of being involved in the Crete
Telework Network. The Network provides connectivity and support for hotels
that offer telework facilities to tourists.
Hotel owner Yorgos Xilouris writes:
At the beginning of the tourism season in 1999 we started
our Internet presence by launching a home page for "Zorbas
Apartments". Already from the first year we noticed that often visitors
(mainly the ones that booked through our Internet page) were asking us for
the possibility of having Internet services available in our pension.
Since such clients used the Internet to find an
accommodation it was obvious that more or less they were frequent users of
the web. Therefore we were happy when we were contacted by FORTHnet SA to
participate in the CTN project. This meant we were able to offer to our
clients not just a PC with an Internet connection but even extra services
such as Virtual Office facilities & 24h Technical support.
Zorbas apartments are a small family-run hotel of 7
apartments & studios. We operate all year round. During this first year
of participation in the CTN project we have had about 35 customers using the
Internet services offered here (all the clients that booked accommodation
through our Internet site plus 10 from our repeat visitors).
There is a "Resort Office" (ISDN) in a common
space of the pension, or clients can get an Internet connection in their
room for using their own laptop.
We have found that:
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Clients use IT were very enthusiastic about the possibility
of using Internet in their hotel room.
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Heavy users bring their own laptop, and they are extremely
enthusiastic about being able to get such services in holiday
locations
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It seems that tourists do not expect to find such services
in hotels, so usually they do not think about using the Internet, not
because they do not need it during their holidays but because they are
almost sure they will get a negative answer. Once they note the CTN logo and
description they ask to make use of Internet services.
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We also noted many clients had seen the facilities advertised
on our website
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In a few cases (3 visitors) offering such services was the
reason clients had chosen to book their holiday with us rather than another
pension on Crete.
Our experience from this first year of participation in the CTN project
was positive and it is certainly our intention to continue offering Internet
services to our clients also for the coming years
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