Demonstration web-portal for tourism enterprises

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe multiple case studies based on free/open-source software (F/OSS) web applications. F/OSS web applications were deployed to create a demo web-portal for Swiss small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs). The web-portal will demonstrate web applications for the purpose of F/OSS awareness and their subsequent trials. Design/methodology/approach - Multiple case studies using rapid prototyping methods to deploy F/OSS web applications were used. Findings - It was found that a web-portal for increasing awareness and enabling interactive trials in the context of web applications suited to service organisations such as the SMTEs would enable further investigation regarding F/OSS adoption in the SMTE community. Research limitations/implications - Major components deployed in developing a web-portal provide a limited set of trials and do not represent the wide range of F/OSS applications which might be applicable to the SMTE community. Originality/value - F/OSS applications, especially web-based business applications, are increasingly being adopted for commercial purposes. However, building awareness and enabling exploration of such applications in the context of SMTEs is still a rare occurrence.