VDM Hartmann, S: Potential disintermediation of tourism distribu

Over the last decades, different types of tourism distribution mechanisms have evolved. Recently, the emergence of online booking tools, enabled by the evolution of the Internet, has created concerns among traditional tourism intermediaries such as travel agencies. As customers grow increasingly confident in using Internet technologies, there is a high potential for clients to organise their travel completely on their own, threatening to bypass the hitherto used travel agencies. Especially, the corporate travel sector is said to be capable of disintermediating traditional tourism distribution channels as mainly standardised information that is free of emotions is needed for this industry. This study aims to find out whether the phenomenon of potential disintermediation of traditional tourism distribution channels in the business travel sector can be supported.