Perceived barriers to e-commerce adoption in SMEs in developing countries: the case of travel agents in Egypt

Travel agents, the typical category of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), face the threat of disintermediation of the global travel market. Although e‐commerce adoption supports their survival, travel agents are slow adopters of technology. The barriers to e‐commerce adoption in small enterprises are well‐examined in developed countries, however it is not rigorous to generalise these studies to developing countries without empirical results. This study, using structural equation modelling with a sample of 411 travel agents, aims to investigate the perceived barriers to e‐commerce adoption in Egyptian travel agents. The research findings reveal that technology attributes and resource limitations are the most perceived barriers from managers' viewpoint.