Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

Web 2.0 and destination marketing: current trends and future directions

Over the last decade, destination marketers and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) have increasingly invested in Web 2.0 technologies as a cost-effective means of promoting destinations online, in the face of drastic marketing budgets cuts. Recent scholarly and industry research has emphasized that Web 2.0 plays an increasing role in destination marketing. However, no comprehensive appraisal of this research area has been conducted so far. To address this gap, this study conducts a quantitative literature review to examine the extent to which Web 2.0 features in destination marketing research that was published until December 2019, by identifying research topics, gaps and future directions, and designing a theory-driven agenda for future research. The study’s findings indicate an increase in scholarly literature revolving around the adoption and use of Web 2.0 for destination marketing purposes. However, the emerging research field is fragmented in scope and displays several gaps. Most of the studies are descriptive in nature and a strong overarching conceptual framework that might help identify critical destination marketing problems linked to Web 2.0 technologies is missing

Information and communication technologies in food services and restaurants: a systematic review

Purpose – Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a key player in the food services and restaurants sector; thus, the aim of this work consists in studying the previous research on ICTs in food services and restaurants in the context of tourism and hospitality through a systematic literature review. Design/methodology/approach – The systematic literature review is performed on full papers published in journals included in the Journal Citation Report of the WoS in the category of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism. A total of 165 articles from 28 journals are analyzed, following different criteria, such as the research methods, perspectives, statistical techniques, geographical focus, topics, technologies, authors and universities. Findings – The restaurant sector is more and more based on the creation of experiences and ICTs, through their multiple possibilities, can undoubtedly contribute to adding value to the simple meal and create and recreate experiences to attract and retain customers who are increasingly sophisticated and hooked on ICTs. ICTs are basic for managers taking decision at the highest level in food services and restaurants, so ICTs should not be seen as a technical tool but as an essential element for top management. Research limitations/implications – This paper examined articles from very well-known tourism and hospitality journals, leaving aside others as well as different publication formats such as books or papers presented at conferences. Originality/value – A significant contribution made with this paper is the availability of a list of topics in the context of ICTs in food services and restaurants. These topics are classified into three areas (Consumers, Suppliers and Environment and Tendencies) that can serve as a future research framework. The paper also provides useful information to restaurant managers about ICTs, to researchers for their future projects and to academics for their courses

Selling Rooms Online: The Use of Social Media and Online Travel Agents

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the reason why hoteliers choose to be present in online travel agent (OTA) and social media web sites for sales purposes. It also investigates the technological and human factors related to these two practices. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a survey sent to a wide range of hotels in a Swiss touristic region. The empirical analysis involves the specification of two ordered logit models exploring the importance (in terms of online sales) of both social media and the online travel agent, Booking.com. Findings – Findings highlight the constant tension between visibility and online sales in the web arena, as well as a clear distinction in social media and OTA web site adoption between hospitality structures using online management tools and employing personnel with specific skills. Practical implications – The research highlights the need for the hospitality industry to maintain an effective presence on social media and OTAs in order to move towards the creation of a new form of social booking technologies to increase their visibility and sales. Originality/value – This research contributes to understanding the major role played by OTAs and social media in the hospitality industry while underlining the possibility of a major interplay between the two

National Tourism Organizations’ online training offer. Switzerland Travel Academy Case Study

A large number of studies have been undertaken so far both by academic researchers and by communities from the industry on the use of the Internet for educational purposes. However, very limited research has yet been done on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as educational and training modes within the hospitality and tourism field. Travel agent training, certification processes and the use of ICTs to deliver training to the travel trade have been largely excluded from previous academicresearch.This study aims to address this research gap in order to understand the range of e-learning in the tourism field. It explores the use of e-learning courses created by nationaltourism organizations for the education and certification of their travel trade partners. This research will present the managerial perspective and will evaluate one of the best cases of e-learning courses presenting tourism destinations – the Switzerland Travel Academy.This paper will present the overall cycle of the course design, looking in particular at how the e-learning course has been designed, developed, implemented and assessed.Switzerland Tourism’s motivation for having such a training tool, the history of the training platform, management structure and usages will be discussed as well

Digital business model configurations in the travel industry

This study is amongst the first applications of digital business models (BMs) research to the travel industry. A systematic and comprehensive taxonomy of digital BM configurations in the travel industry is developed, supported by examples of real-world companies. Based on qualitative research, 53 digital BMs are identified and classified based on primary value drivers, including 10 novel configurations that are absent from previous studies. The paper contributes to framing digital BM configurations in the travel industry and supports establishing a common understanding among scholars. From the practical side, this study offers templates for building or transforming BMs and could serve as a guide to the current digital travel business landscape

Analysis of scientific production on Technological Innovation in Tourism

Until the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was one of the sectors with the greatest growth potential on a global scale. It is now highlighted as one of the hardest hit sectors in economic terms and requires strategic recovery capacity coupled with technological innovation. Technology and innovation could provide a strong contribution to the development of tourism by integrating knowledge about tourism products, services and experiences and the new needs and behaviours of consumers. This study analysed the scientific productions on technological innovation in the tourism sector using literature review and bibliometric analysis techniques, with data collected from the main databases of international relevance, Web of Science and Scopus. This study presents the mapping and cluster structures for the trends and dynamics of the investigations on the discovered research themes using the VOSviewer software. The results indicate that research related to innovation and technology in tourism has evolved in recent years, as well as highlighting the main areas of activity and presenting contributions to possible future lines of research.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A multidisciplinary approach to sport tourism education in a digital era

Sport tourism has enjoyed a plethora of definitional and theoretical perspectives over the last three decades proposing a dynamic alternative to mass tourism with specific structural features and modus operandi. However, studies examining or suggesting the basic body of knowledge that would satisfy the educational needs of participants in this complex tourism form are lacking. The present study - through an analysis of the involved conceptual fields - aims to minor the gap between theoretical support and direction for tourism academics and the realistic skills needed by the sport tourism industry. The main focus of the study is to provide a theoretical platform based on the available paradigms that would facilitate the build of sport tourism related curriculums. The study embraces an analysis of available secondary sources, academic course outlines, official university’s sites, policy declarations, etc. and parallels theoretical models to produce the basic thematic dimensions of a relevant conceptual framework. Hopefully, the result will offer a vision on the further development of sport tourism education to meet the needs of one of the most promising leisure forms.El turismo del deporte ha disfrutado de una plétora de perspectivas de definición y teóricas durante las tres últimas décadas, proponiendo una alternativa dinámica al turismo en masa con características estructurales específicas y modus operandi. Sin embargo, faltan estudios que examinen o sugirieran el los conocimientos básicos que satisfagan las necesidades educativas de los participantes en esta forma compleja de turismo. El presente estudio, a través de un análisis de los campos conceptuales involucrados, pretende reducir la brecha entre el apoyo teórico y la dirección para el turismo académico y las habilidades realistas necesarias para la industria del turismo deportivo. El objetivo principal del estudio es proveer una plataforma teorética basada en los paradigmas disponibles que facilitarían la construcción de currículos relacionados con el turismo deportivo. El estudio abarca un análisis de fuentes secundarias disponibles, esquemas de recursos académicos, sitios oficiales de la universidad, declaraciones de políticas, etc. Y modelos teoréticos paralelos para producir las dimensiones temáticas básicas de un marco conceptual relevante. Esperamos que el resultado ofrezca una visión sobre el desarrollo la educación del turismo deportivo para satisfacer las necesidades de una de las más prometedoras formas de ocio