Smart destinations and tech-savvy millennial tourists: hype versus reality

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to contrast the expectations placed on the smart destination as a theoretical management approach with the reality of emergent tech-savvy tourism demand by examining the response of this segment to three critical dimensions of technology use in the context of smart destinations. Tech-savvy tourists are here represented by highly educated Spanish millennial tourists. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained through an online survey and analysed through descriptive techniques and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS. Literature review was critical for setting the foundations of the research in this novel context. Findings Results suggest the existence of a gap between the smart destination theoretical expectations and created hype and the real response of the examined demand in the three main scopes for this tourist-smart destination technology-based relationship, namely, mobile technology use, data sharing for personalised experiences and smart technologies for enhanced experiences. Research limitations/implications Convenience sampling was used, and the results of the study cannot be generalised to all millennial tourists. The research is a first approximation to the interrelationship between tourists and smart destinations. Practical/implications Tourists’ role and experiences mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs) are decisive in smart destinations. Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), through their policies and actions, ought to take into account the limited predisposition of tourists in using mobile devices, sharing data and using smart technologies for their experiences. Privacy concerns appear to have special relevance for tourists and, therefore, for the future of smart destinations. Originality/value The findings offer relevant insights for smart destinations from a neglected angle hitherto, as they introduce several interesting nuances which do not match entirely the fast track taken by institutions, media and academia. This is critical for better understanding tourists in the current panorama, for DMOs and for the theoretical foundations of smart tourism. Besides, the exploratory data analysis reveals potential dimensions of millennials’ behaviour, which can be useful for further investigations.

Smart Tourism: Concepts and Insights from Central Europe

“…As our research revealed, tourists used information technologies during their journey to a large extent. However, based on the research of Femenia-Serra, Perles-Ribes, et al (2018), the interaction is still very limited. The problem can be partially solved by using volunteered geographical information (VGI), which is a reliable source of Big data (Baggio & Scaglione, 2018).…”

Could Smart Tourists Be Sustainable and Responsible as Well? The Contribution of Social Networking Sites to Improving Their Sustainable and Responsible Behavior

“…It is generally recognized that the tourists-a crucial element and key actors of the ST ecosystem-are rather neglected by academic research [13,16,17]. Our study constitutes a contribution to addressing this research gap.…”

“…Academic research has been interested in the environmentally responsible behavior of tourists [7,10], as well as in the uses of social media (SM) by tourists [18,19]. Lately, scholars have also been interested in the field ST management framework, and have explored the related dimensions, issues and aspects [13,16]. This section focuses on sustainable and responsible behavior by tourists, the concept of smart tourists and the influence of SM/SNSs on tourist consumer behavior.…”

Sustainable, Smart and Muslim-Friendly Tourist Destinations

“…Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have revolutionized the hospitality and tourism industries [26]. As a result of the use of ICT, tourists are increasingly aware of the characteristics of the tourism offering and seek greater customization [27][28][29][30] (in addition, they are acquiring greater power through the use of technologies to co-create value with other stakeholders of that destination [31]).…”

“…Like other young people, they are very attached to new technologies [77][78][79], use their smartphones for multiple purposes and use them throughout the various stages of their trip [31,41,80,81]. They download apps, such as apps that provide prayer times, especially in non-Muslim countries where there are no muezzins making the call to prayer over loudspeakers on mosques; apps that indicate the direction of Mecca so that the traveler can pray facing the right direction [82] (Fakhruroji 2018); and apps that geo-locate restaurants and places of worship.…”