For the fourth time now, experts in tourism from various countries come to attend the ENTER conference in order to inform themselves and others about the current devel­ opments in the usage of information and communication technologies. The ENTER conference is thought as a platform for the exchange of ideas, experi­ ences, opinions, and visions among scientists and practitioners. The visions presented at the last three ENTER conferences have triggered many requirements of important on-going and planned projects in the application of communication and information technologies in tourism. The scope of the papers of this proceedings covers the most recent and relevant to­ pics in our area of interest. The sessions are primarily devoted to intelligent agents and systems, the future role of global (reservation) systems, the new. chances of data­ base applications due to the most recent technological developments. and above all the role of the Internet (and Intranet). I would like to express my cordial thanks to all institutions actively supporting this event, namely: • The Edinburgh & Lothian Tourist Board • The International Federation of Information Technology in Tourism (IFITT) Several people spent numerous hours organizing the scientific programme of EN­ TER. The names of most of them will appear in the following pages.