The tourism industry is known to be both famous and infamous in a way that there is a blurred line between how much tourism is sustainable and how much it is not. However, there…
Abstract
The tourism industry is known to be both famous and infamous in a way that there is a blurred line between how much tourism is sustainable and how much it is not. However, there is no denying of the fact that the industry is in need of innovative and upgraded mechanisms to ensure sustainability. Technology, on the other hand, is making great strides in providing support to ensure sustainable development across various sectors. Taking cues from the existing work, this chapter investigates the various facets of technology in imbibing sustainability, especially in the tourism sector, and proposes a framework for technology-led sustainable tourism development process. The chapter concludes that both technology and sustainable development concept share the common principles of being holistic, futuristic and interrelated (integrated). Therefore, technology can be a proper solution to develop a sustainable model.
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Nguyen Thi Van Hanh and Tran Tuyen
This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of virtual tourism and its potential contribution to sustainable development in the tourism industry.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of virtual tourism and its potential contribution to sustainable development in the tourism industry.
Design/Methodology/Approach
In this chapter, a qualitative approach is used to analyse relevant documents and resources to explore the relationship between virtual tourism and sustainability.
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that virtual tourism has numerous applications in the tourism industry, with evident potential for the future. Furthermore, this research identifies virtual tourism as a promising alternative for sustainable tourism, offering the potential to address key sustainability issues in the field.
Originality/Value
This chapter adds to the existing literature by examining the link between virtual tourism and sustainability, highlighting the potential of virtual tourism as an alternative to traditional sustainable tourism practices. The insights generated from this study can inform the practices of both academics and practitioners in the tourism industry, promoting more sustainable and responsible tourism practices.
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Sofia Reino, Andrew J. Frew and Nicole Mitsche
This paper aims to provide a framework for benchmarking the eTourism capability of a destination’s tourism industry, understanding the eTourism capability of a destination’s…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a framework for benchmarking the eTourism capability of a destination’s tourism industry, understanding the eTourism capability of a destination’s industry as the contribution that the information and communication technologies (ICT) uptake of that industry makes to its own performance. The impact of ICT in tourism has been suggested through extensive research. Previous work has urged the development of wide-angle studies to enable benchmarking of destinations and their industries. However, relevant research is limited. Macro-level studies in the area tend to focus on a single aspect of technology to evaluate adoption, are not sector-specific nor take into consideration the different levels of contribution that systems may bring to performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature on tourism, eTourism, benchmarking and technology adoption provided the baseline for developing this benchmarking tool.
Findings
The literature supported the selection of key tourism industry sectors, i.e. accommodation establishments, visitor attractions and food and beverage; the most suitable methodology, i.e. intermediary performance measures; and the business characteristics that need being taken into consideration when assessing ICT adoption by tourism businesses, e.g. size, type of establishment and area of location.
Research limitations/implications
The framework has not been tested yet. It is based on a review of the literature and needs to be validated through primary research. The framework was developed based on the context of Scotland. Further work should be done to adjust the framework to other destinations worldwide.
Practical implications
The framework enables destinations to benchmark the eTourism capability of their industries.
Originality/value
It provides a comprehensive framework for benchmarking tourism destinations’ industries, which takes into consideration elements of technology adoption, the characteristics of the tourism industry and the particularities of the different ICT elements.
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Antonio Botti and Antonella Monda
The progressive increase in the size of datasets has given life to the so-called big data that provides researchers with the opportunity to extract a greater amount of useful…
Abstract
The progressive increase in the size of datasets has given life to the so-called big data that provides researchers with the opportunity to extract a greater amount of useful information in many sectors, especially in the tourism industry.
The chapter aims to demonstrate that sustainable tourism (ST) could be particularly favored by using big data and a data-driven approach. Furthermore, as ST appears in line with a new type of responsible entrepreneurship, called Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt), this chapter investigates the link between ST and HumEnt and the impact of big data and data-oriented approaches on ST and HumEnt.
The research adopts a qualitative approach, applying the case study technique. The authors conducted ten semi-structured interviews with key informants from a specific form of hospitality: Albergo Diffuso. Findings show the advantages of the data-driven approach to tourism and entrepreneurship highlighting how using data creates new opportunities for decision making in ST and HumEnt.
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Quyet Nguyen and Cong Van Nguyen
This paper aims to examine the impact of the existing information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and the development of the destination’s ICT on the tourism…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of the existing information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and the development of the destination’s ICT on the tourism demand of international tourists in an emerging economy, Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Using time-series data from 1995 to 2019, this study applies vector error correction model to analyse the impact of ICT infrastructure in the short- and long term.
Findings
The results of analysis show that although ICT infrastructure does not affect the number of international tourists in the short term, it positively contributes to tourism development in the long term. In addition, the results also show that in the short term, consumer prices have a negative impact on tourist arrivals while having a positive effect in the long run.
Research limitations/implications
This study only considers the impact of ICT infrastructure on the whole without going into each factor reflecting different aspects of the ICT infrastructure. Moreover, this research only stops at the pre-pandemic period, so it has not shown the role of ICT infrastructure in travel and tourism demand during severe pandemic periods.
Practical implications
The research results are an essential basis to support the Vietnamese Government’s strategy to pursue an accelerated investment policy in ICT infrastructure, especially investment in the tourism and hotel industries. On the other hand, the research results also create more motivation and confidence for managers and operators of destinations in Vietnam to invest in ICT infrastructure and apply ICT in management.
Originality/value
This study adds to the literature on tourism–ICT linkages in an emerging tourism market directly between ICT infrastructure and international arrivals with a dynamic time series–based approach that considers the dynamics in the tourist demand identification model. In addition, this study used consumer price index to assess the impact of price on tourist demand instead of using the exchange rate or using the relative prices between the origin and destination countries.
研究目的
本文探讨了现有 ICT 基础设施和目的地 ICT 发展对新兴经济体越南国际游客旅游需求的影响。
研究设计/方法/方法
该研究使用 1995 年至 2019 年的时间序列数据, 应用矢量纠错模型 (VECM) 来分析 ICT 基础设施的短期和长期影响。
研究发现
分析结果表明, 虽然ICT基础设施在短期内不会影响国际游客数量, 但从长远来看对旅游业发展有积极贡献。此外, 研究结果还表明, 在短期内, 消费价格对游客人数产生了负面影响, 而从长期来看, 则产生了积极影响。
实践意义
研究结果是支持越南政府加快信息通信技术基础设施投资政策战略的重要基础, 特别是对旅游业和酒店业的投资。另一方面, 研究成果也为越南旅游目的地的管理者和经营者投资ICT基础设施和在管理中应用ICT创造了更多动力和信心。
研究原创性/价值
本研究通过考虑旅游需求识别模型中的动态的基于动态时间序列的方法, 增加了有关新兴旅游市场中旅游与 ICT 联系的文献, 该联系直接在 ICT 基础设施和国际入境者之间进行。此外, 该研究使用 CPI 来评估价格对游客需求的影响, 而不是使用汇率或使用来源国和目的地国之间的相对价格。
Alexandra Coghlan and Lewis Carter
Mobile games and ICT-based mixed reality tools offer significant opportunities for tourism. This chapter reviews the existing literature in both these areas, and presents a novel…
Abstract
Mobile games and ICT-based mixed reality tools offer significant opportunities for tourism. This chapter reviews the existing literature in both these areas, and presents a novel way of combining games and virtual reality into an interpretive tool. As a complex, threatened marine ecosystem, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef faces significant interpretive challenges, and almost no new interpretive tools have been developed over the last 30 years. Here, the authors unpack the stages and interdisciplinary approach required to design the tool and highlight how it might fit within the broader scope of ICT developments in tourism. We outline areas of future research, with a particular focus on how ICT might contribute to making nature-based tourism more sustainable, by finding fun, innovative ways to engage tourists in the conservation of some of our most iconic natural assets.
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Travel counseling and recommender systems on the Internet have not yet become smart enough to fulfill the elementary functions a fastidious consumer may expect. The EU‐funded…
Abstract
Travel counseling and recommender systems on the Internet have not yet become smart enough to fulfill the elementary functions a fastidious consumer may expect. The EU‐funded project named DieToRecs (http://dietorecs.itc.it/) aims at improving recommender system functionality by incorporating relevant findings from tourist behavior research. The computational intelligence needed to optimize the user‐system encounter greatly depends on how far the user has advanced in his travel decision process. This report elaborates the levels of counseling intelligence, explores the basic marketing paradigm of matching the products/services desired and offered, and ponders on the consequences for devising a recommender or counseling system capable of learning.
Destination marketing systems (DMS) represent a vital inter-organisational information system (IOIS) for supporting the collaborative e-marketing strategies of tourism firms and…
Abstract
Purpose
Destination marketing systems (DMS) represent a vital inter-organisational information system (IOIS) for supporting the collaborative e-marketing strategies of tourism firms and the competitiveness of tourism destinations. However, many DMS have failed to deliver the expected outcomes, while the performance measurement of DMS has not been thoroughly investigated in the literature so far. The study synthesises research from the fields of DMS, IOIS and collaborative practices for investigating the perceptions of various tourism DMS stakeholders about the evaluation of DMS performance. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted a nation-wide survey for measuring the perceptions of various tourism DMS stakeholders in Greece about the importance of the roles that DMS should serve as well as the items that should be used for measuring the performance of these DMS’ roles.
Findings
The findings showed that the public and private stakeholders held different perceptions about the roles of DMS as well as about the metrics that need to be used for evaluating DMS performance. The findings also showed that the perceptions that stakeholders hold about the roles of the DMS influence their perceptions about the performance evaluation of DMS.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are based on evaluating a specific type of IOIS and sector/context. Thus, caution is required in generalising the results to other types of IOIS and social/environmental contexts.
Practical implications
The study highlighted that the performance and success of DMS, and of IOIS projects in general, require the nurturing of a collaborative culture and the co-ordination of the various stakeholders’ perceptions and interests.
Originality/value
The study addresses the gap in DMS performance evaluation and it contributes to the literature about IOIS evaluation by adopting a stakeholders approach.