Creating opportunities for temporary disconnection: How tourism professionals provide alternatives to being permanently online

Abstract

The ongoing normalization of digital connection has also increased the interest in digital disconnection research. The desire to disconnect is typically considered a critical reaction to the peculiar affordances and prerequisites of fully participating in digital society. While social and political potentials of disconnections as well as reasons to turn away from media are explored in various trajectories, we still know relatively little about the “what then” and “what else” of digital disconnection. In this article, we address this gap and investigate what stories are told and which imaginaries are invoked in order to commodify disconnection in an exemplary field of the growing disconnection industry, namely tourism. Drawing from interviews and analysis of online representations, we analyze how tourist marketers and accommodation providers in the Austrian province of Salzburg are communicating why people should use their vacation to disconnect and what they can expect to find once they are disconnected. Following our analysis, we identify three general themes of how disconnection is countered to living in deeply mediatized and highly connective times: (1) nature and authenticity, (2) (re-)connecting with the self, finding balance, and (3) connection to family/friends/local people. We conclude by discussing the broader implications of our analysis and what the identified ambivalences of disconnection suggest for further advancing disconnection research in the future.

Digital Disconnection as an Opportunity for the Tourism Business: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Academic interest in this topic is increasing and new complementary products and services are becoming popular in the tourism market. The main characteristics of these holidays are limited Internet access, the creation of technologyfree spaces such as cafes and bars, "digital detox programs" in order to improve work and personal life, a healthy lifestyle and contact with the "real world" [6] using new concepts with commercial appeal such as "e-lienation" [55] or "technology dead zones" in rural settings [6,56,57].…”

“…However, digital disconnection tourism does not just entail independent travel without any access to IT as a way of escaping from everyday life, [56] but is becoming an emerging market trend that is growing in popularity in the tourism industry [49]. Customers who want to travel to places without ICT do not have to organize their trip themselves because they can make use of the products and packages already available in the market.…”

“…Lately, travel is treated as an opportunity not only for physical, but also virtual isolation which generates countertrends to postmodernism so that tourists reject technology intensive tourism and participate in experiences such as "slow travel", smart tourism, sustainable tourism or different types of technology free retreats. Recent research in this field has focused on the personal needs of the tourist as an important factor when reducing ITrelated activities in tourism [2,6,11,16,56,58,59].…”

“…Being disconnected during the trip has both positive and negative consequences, since experiencing and perceiving this state depends on the personal needs and choices of each person. There are tourists who want to enjoy their leisure time and refrain from using technology and digital devices, which has created an emerging market of tourists seeking digital disconnection [56]. This type of experience with freedom from digital technology has components of both human behavior and social relationships.…”

Getting back to human touch: habit and change decisions during mobile device intermediations at events

“…Opposite to how mobile device use is addressed in schools, tourists are reacting to the pressure of constant connectivity (Egger et al , 2020). Yearning for an enhanced lifestyle, well-being and human connection while traveling, the hospitality industry is witnessing trends for tourists who seek a digital-free vacation (Schwarzenegger and Lohmeier, 2021).…”