SoCoMo marketing for travel and tourism: Empowering co-creation of value.

Advanced technology enables users to amalgamate information from various sources on their mobile devices, personalise their profile through applications and social networks, as well as interact dynamically with their context. Context-based marketing uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) that recognise the physical environment of their users. Tourism marketers are increasingly becoming aware of those cutting-edge ICTs that provide tools to respond more accurately to the context within and around their users. This paper connects the different concepts of context-based marketing, social media and personalisation, as well as mobile devices. It proposes social context mobile (SoCoMo) marketing as a new framework that enables marketers to increase value for all stakeholders at the destination. Contextual information is increasingly relevant, as big data collected by a wide range of sensors in a smart destination provide real-time information that can influence the tourist experience. SoCoMo marketing introduces a new paradigm for travel and tourism. It enables tourism organisations and destinations to revolutionise their offering and to co-create products and services dynamically with their consumers. The proposed SoCoMo conceptual model explores the emerging opportunities and challenges for all stakeholders

Adventure tourism in the Kwazulu-Natal Province : identification of hotspots and mobile knowledge

This research focused on adventure tourism in KZN. The adventurer traveller is interested in remote pristine hotspots. A concern is that irresponsible behaviour on the adventurer’s part could lead to the destruction of the fragile natural environment, as well as negatively interfere with the local traditional cultural values. Adventure hotspots were identified by using the functionalities of a GIS. These findings were validated by tourism practitioners in KZN. The researcher also proposed a practical solution that could improve or enhance the behaviour of adventurers. Existing media were collated into information prompts. These information prompts were categorised in tables that could be linked to a mobile GIS environment. The researcher then examined the framework requirements for a mobile GIS. This resulted in a set of seven criteria that brought together the core essentials required for the conceptual framework of a mobile GIS device dedicated to the adventurer in KZN.GeographyM.A. (Geography