Rethinking tourism payments

Abstract

Digital payments are reshaping tourism in ways that extend beyond convenience or transaction efficiency. This research note argues that payment plays distinct yet interrelated roles across the tourism system: as an experiential touchpoint shaping tourists’ cognitive and affective evaluations, as a social access mechanism influencing inclusivity and perceived equity, and as a structural force that reconfigures power relations across the tourism value chain. By articulating these three conceptual propositions across micro (experience), meso (market access, equity, and participation), and macro (industry structure) levels, this note positions payment as an increasingly important yet underexplored research agenda for understanding the future of tourism.