Serious games and the gamification of tourism

Xu, Feifei; Buhalis, Dimitrios; Weber, Jessika

doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2016.11.020

Cited by 354 publications

(260 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Despite such warnings, current gamification studies in sustainability and smart tourism have focused only on the performance and application of gamification without considering customer adoption patterns and perceptions during the process [22][23][24]. Plenty of optimistic speculations suggest that users generously adopt gamification because games are fun, but those beliefs appear to be biased by early adopters who always follow a hedonic buying pattern.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Gamified Smart Tourism Applications: An Integrative Approach

Yoo

Kwon

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:Considering that the core concerns in sustainability are threats to the survival of humankind and the ecosystems that humans depend on, changing the consumption and production behaviors of individuals and society is inevitable. However, people are reluctant to change their own behavior in support of sustainability goals. This tendency seems to be especially strong in tourism because the main value of tourism is hedonic utility. Thus, the tourism industry is now introducing gamification and smart tourism to shift tourist behavior toward sustainability, but most of studies and practices only focus on the performance and application of gamification without considering customer adoption patterns and perceptions during the process. This study empirically investigated what factors affect the adoption of smart tourism applications that incorporate game elements, using the Google Maps tourist guide program. As an initial approach, we incorporated diverse theoretical approaches: perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use; perceived enjoyment from technology acceptance model; information and interaction motivations from the uses and gratifications theory; the network effect; distributive justice; flow as responses to the game characteristics of smart tourism applications; and information privacy concerns as a negative factor for diffusion. The result showed that hedonic characteristics of the gamified smart tourism application (GSTA) are strong in adoption. Perceived enjoyment had a significant influence on the intention to use, but information quality, related to cognitive experience, did not. The flow and perceived distributive justice associated with the game content were not significant, but the interaction motivation was significant in the research model. The results of this study show that individuals regard a GSTA as a low-level game tool. Also, it is important to preoccupy the smart tourism application market in terms of marketing strategy because the network effect is relevant to both perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. We also found that the need to provide personal information would negatively affect the adoption of a gamified smart tourism application.

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confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Gamified Smart Tourism Applications: An Integrative Approach

Yoo

Kwon

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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“…It promotes the concept of "meaningful gamification" which enables participants to "find meaning in a real-world activity, which can then lead to building up internal motivation to engage with that activity". Xu et al (2017) identify six areas in which, according to them, gamification can benefit tourism, which include "raise brand awareness", "enhance tourist experiences", "engagement", "improve customer loyalty", "entertainment" and "employee management", and provide several examples illustrating such applications (though some of them seem related rather to games than gamification).…”

Section: Application Of Gamification In Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing the tourist attraction visiting process with gamification: key concepts

Swacha

Ittermann²

2017

Engineering Management in Production and Services

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A B S T R A C TThe main purpose of this paper is to describe key gamification techniques that can be applied to enhance the tourist attraction visiting process. The paper is based on the methodology of design patterns; particularly it adopts the definition and classification schemes originally proposed and developed in the context of gamification of work to specify gamification techniques related to various aspects of the tourist attraction visiting process. The main result is the selection of twelve gamification techniques for enhancing the tourist attraction visiting process, four for each of the three phases of the visiting process (before, during and after the visit). The paper shows that gamification techniques can be applied to enhance the tourist attraction visiting process. Implementation of the proposed gamification techniques is supposed to both improve visitor experience and give the tourist attraction managers a tool for boosting interest in less popular exhibitions and events. K E Y W O R D S tourism gamification, visitors' experience, tourist attraction management

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“…Academics (Xu, Buhalis, & Weber, 2017) notice increased attention towards gamification in business, marketing, education or healthcare specialists. It is well known that the correct use of the gamification principles may lead to richer interactions, a higher level of satisfaction as well as it can raise the brand awareness and improve user's attitude towards the brand.…”

Section: Exploitation Of the Virtual Worlds In Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gamification in virtual reality thus represents a powerful marketing tool for travelling industry because it allows users to get to know the location they show interest in, granting them memorable experiences and subconsciously, raising the brand awareness and desire to visit the location in person. Research (Xu et al, 2017) indicates that virtual worlds stimulate emotions connected with imagination. The freedom of choice in customizing the avatar appearance and freedom of movement stimulates user's imagination which leads to a higher level of satisfaction.…”

Section: Exploitation Of the Virtual Worlds In Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploitation of the Virtual Worlds in Tourism and Tourism Education

Zejda

2016

Czech Journal of Tourism

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Academics perceive a great potential of virtual worlds in various areas, including tourism and education. efforts adapting the virtual worlds in practice are, however, still marginal. there is no clear definition of the virtual world.therefore the author of this article attempts to provide one. the paper also focuses on the barriers of a wider exploitation of the virtual worlds and discusses the principles that might help to increase their potential in tourism area. One of the principles -gamification -favours a wider adaptation of the virtual worlds in tourism. Applying gamification principles provides visitors with some unique experiences while serving as a powerful marketing tool for institutions. the benefits of implementing tourism education activities based on cooperative principles set in an immersive environment of the virtual worlds are depicted afterwards. finally, this paper includes successful case studies, which show advantages and drawbacks of some approaches in exploiting the virtual worlds in tourism and tourism education.

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Serious games and the gamification of tourism

Cited by 354 publications

References 54 publications

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Gamified Smart Tourism Applications: An Integrative Approach

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Gamified Smart Tourism Applications: An Integrative Approach

Enhancing the tourist attraction visiting process with gamification: key concepts

Exploitation of the Virtual Worlds in Tourism and Tourism Education

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