Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the research involving the evolution and development of digital transformation and the new combinations in tourism development. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, which gathered 167 studies published between 1997 and 2023, representing the final sample analysed in this review. The results allow the identification of three main findings: i) there are four thematic groups - Digital Marketing, Digital Economy, Education and Hospitality and Free Digital; ii) there is a growing interest in the research of this topic and the use of available technologies for the development of tourism companies and their businesses and the respective wider economy; and, iii) digital transformation tends to be a positive factor when applied to the tourism sector. This research further proposes a framework that provides a detailed description of these studies with key issues and contributions from the available literature.

Keywords

Digital tourism technology systematic literature review

Introduction

Technological advancement has completely changed the interrelationship between supply and demand in the travel industry and largely affects customers' travel patterns. New technologies and digitalisation have recently significantly impacted, generating enormous amounts of data, information, and knowledge (Cuomo et al., 2020; Minghetti and Buhalis, 2010). From the perspective of AL-Mulali et al. (2021), digitalisation is an important factor for the tourism industry as it has revolutionised tourism initiatives, products, experiences, business ecosystems, and destinations, as well as changing the ways of interaction (Jingen Liang and Elliot, 2021).

These changing interactions have affected behaviour in the tourism market and established new connections with visitors, which tend to a greater appreciation of experiences and promote the growth of such activities as a key factor in destination choice and consequent behaviours during such experiences (Hadinejad et al., 2021).

In this scenario, researchers argue that adopting tourism tools based on information and communication technologies (ICTs) can facilitate travelers' experiences in planning and managing their trips (Yoo et al., 2017). Thus, ICTs stimulate improvements in social and economic impacts that can benefit both developing and already developed countries.

According to Klimova et al. (2020), there is another advantage to the wide adoption of digital services and platforms within tourism and hospitality, as they can develop tourism businesses with technologically intelligent combinations. In this sense, improving technology applied to tourism seems to foster competitive advantages and overcome traditional modes favouring better results and developing countries and regions (Nikolskaya et al., 2019).

From the perspective of Cuomo et al. (2020), this drives the need to deepen our knowledge about the contribution of the usage of digital technologies beyond a focus on tourism services. Furthermore, these authors stress the need to carry out scientific research able to illuminate how tourism is evolving concerning these technological advances, which open up spaces and opportunities for studies approaching how the digital dimension associates with tourism and enriches the literature on this field.

Within this framework, the present study seeks to advance the evolution and development of research on digital transformation and new combinations for tourism development. To this end, this aims at complementing the literature by (i) identifying the increase in research on the application of technology to tourism activities and (ii) identifying the main thematic areas in this field of study.

Hence, we opted to undertake a systematic literature review (SLR), making recourse to the Scopus and Web of Science databases as search platforms for articles. The results identified four key themes (clusters) relating to this field of knowledge: Digital Marketing, Digital Economy, Education and Hospitality and Digital Free. This study contributes to the literature by identifying the main trends in digital transformation, and new combinations in tourism on behalf of the growth of regions, locations, and tourism businesses have, given that this may highlight the potential advantages of the joint deployment of digital means and tourism within the objective of consolidating, were not dynamically boosting these activities.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. First, the literature review section covers the relevant literature on the topic contemplated. Second, the method section explains the scope and systematic review process. Next, the results of the qualitative analysis, discussion, main trends, and research agenda are presented. Finally, the paper outlines the conclusions and limitations of the study.

Theoretical background

Digital tourism

Society is experiencing a period in which it is strongly influenced by technological advances (Jiang et al., 2022). This digital transformation radically changes the structure of industries due to the spread of technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, virtual reality, augmented reality and others (Maki et al., 2022).

Digital technology is an essential and integral part of many businesses worldwide, enabling the enhancement of major economic segments and markets to improve their capabilities (Zheng et al., 2022; Yeung and Galindo, 2019). It can be said that digitization is a positive intermediary for the development of companies and innovation in market performance, as seen in the work of (Suder et al., 2022).

Among these industries, tourism stands out as a relevant economic activity with accelerated growth (Hateftabar, 2022), an employment generator responsible for the development of regions and the improvement of the economy of these spaces in the modern world (Rajamanicam et al., 2018).

This activity is increasingly adapting to new digitalisation trends (Băltescu, 2021) and has focused on a digital economy characterised by the effort of companies to be agile and competitive (Alford and Jones, 2020).

However, some events have directly affected this potential Park et al. (2022) and Lebrun et al. (2022), in which highlight such as the pandemic of COVID-19, which has intensely compromised the entire value chain of global tourism (Ndou et al., 2022).

In this understanding, it is identified that tourism is an activity shared with public agencies, with the participation of a significant number of actors involved in developing a place Acevedo-Duque et al. (2022) and Ruiz-Ballesteros (2022).

This scenario reinforces the need to adapt to a newly configured reality and the expansion of new technologies (Oncioiu and Priescu, 2022) that can assist tourism activities and add value to the customer experience Ito et al. (2022) and Ahn and Back (2019).

Currently, technological expansion in tourism has been vital to supporting the recovery of the activity in the post-COVID period for: (1) restructuring spaces and capacities, (2) redesigning tourism experiences, (3) adopting new standards, regulations and (4) new ways of carrying out activities and interactions in spaces (Ndou et al., 2022).

In the perception of some researchers, Ndou et al. (2022) and Melián-Alzola et al. (2020), this is an opportune moment to renew the tourism offer and adopt technologies and innovations. The combination of digital and tourism, amidst market transformations, is necessary as it sustains and increases the value of tourism (Okafor et al., 2022).

Regarding digital technologies in offering customised experiences to visitors, tourism destinations seek to digitally transform both the tourism experience (Băltescu, 2021) and the tourism products offered worldwide. This new practice opens up space for marketing personalised digital souvenirs or digital gifts for each route or tourist destination (Zhao et al., 2022a). It can also benefit graphic designers, photographers, tourism agents, software developers and visitors to have a memorable digital gift personalised from their visit (Mantas et al., 2021).

Thus, the development of technology and information technology can become a solution for the survival of the tourism industry (Camilleri and Kozak, 2022). Even the use of augmented reality as a tool in virtual tourism is an option consequent to the advancement of technology that aims to facilitate and enhance the user experience of exploring destinations (Akhtar et al., 2021; Busulwa et al., 2022).

Methodology

The present work proposes developing a conceptual framework for a simultaneous digital transformation and tourism approach. To this end, a systematic literature review (SLR) was used, a method that allows analysing, summarising, presenting and discussing the studies that somehow contributed to the literature (Tranfield et al., 2003) through content analysis of scientific articles related to the object of study.

As regards data collection, this took place through the Scopus database – a selective and indexed database that makes use of “cutting-edge software to eliminate data inconsistencies and guarantee that over 99% of the citation references and articles cited correspond with accuracy” (Boyle and Sherman, 2006). The choice of the Scopus database is justified by the quality of the results and its ability to assist the researcher in accurately identifying the necessary relevant information. This database combines progressive technology and human experience (Boyle and Sherman, 2006; Rosário and Dias, 2022), a task fundamental to the development of RSL, for example. Data were also collected from the Web of Science (WoS) base, a multidisciplinary platform that allows tracking historical articles published before 1960 (Marx, 2012) and contains thousands of academic journals with their respective bibliographic information (Ferreira et al., 2021).

We opted for a type of research that associated the keywords and the titles of the articles (“Digital”; “Tourism”).

In addition, we applied the “Area of Study” filters (Business, Administration and Accounting; Economics, Econometrics and Finance) in English and with the content/structure of academic articles to the Scopus database. In the Web of Science database, the filter “Study Area” was applied (Hospitality; Leisure; Sport, Tourism; Management and Economy). The search occurred in February 2023 and originally returned a single database of 249 articles. In methodological terms, to meet the objectives of this study, the data processing phase included all the articles that connected with the central theme, specifically digital technologies applied to tourism. This analytical procedure excluded 56 articles due to their objective not featuring tourism development through digital transformation.

Furthermore, another twenty-six articles were excluded, given their repetition within the database. Following this data processing, a total of 167 indexed articles were obtained, representing the sample applied in this study. The analysis of these articles grouped them into four clusters in keeping with the similar information contained in the respective articles: Digital Marketing, Digital Economy, Education and Hospitality, and Digital Free. Figure 1 provides the methodological structure of the database analysis process.

Figure 1.

Methodological structure applied in the SLR.

To achieve the study objectives, in the first analytical phase, we made recourse to exploratory, descriptive statistics to process the data, especially to produce tables with their absolute and relative frequencies within the scope of identifying the evolution of the research outputs in quantitative terms, tracing the trends in the interest in this field and verifying the composition of the clusters by field of study. Remaining within the scope of drafting the conceptual model, we also applied content analysis to detail the evolution and development of the literature on this theme.

Results

This section details the growth and development of research carried out on digital transformation and the new combinations for developing tourism within the scope of the quantity and trends in publication, the methodologies deployed, leading journals, clusters and key fields of study.

Descriptive results

The study first identified a rising level of research on the involvement of technology in tourism activities, as portrayed in Figure 2. This demonstrates how, out of the 167 articles published, 129 appeared in the period between 2020 and December 2022. The number of studies has risen and reached its peak in 2021, with 59 publications/year. Furthermore, no studies were published on this theme between 1998 and 2009.

Figure 2.

Number of publications and citations per year.

As for the number of citations, the years of 2020 stand out, with 102 citations, including the article “The digital revolution in travel and tourism industry” published in the “Information Technology & Tourism” by Pencarelli (2020) and the year 2022, with 141 citations in total, of which 32 stem from the article “International tourism, digital infrastructure, and CO2 emissions: fresh evidence from panel quantile regression approach” published in “Environmental Science and Pollution Research” by Wei and Ullah (2022).

To identify the main trends in the approaches made in research on tourism and technology (Figure 3), we may report that 41.3% opt for quantitative empirical methodologies while 29.9% are qualitative empirical studies. Furthermore, 22.2% of the articles published apply a conceptual study method, and only 6.6% are mixed studies, thus using quantitative/qualitative approaches.

Figure 3.

Approaches applied in the articles published.

Of the 167 articles analysed, 78 (46.7%) correspond to Digital Marketing, 54 (32.3%) to Digital Economy, 29 (17.4%) Education and Hospitality, and 6 (3.6%) Digital Free as their respective clusters, as set out in Table 1.

Table 1.

Quantity of articles per cluster.

Cluster	n	%
Digital marketing	78	46.7
Digital economy	54	32.3
Education/Hospitality	29	17.4
Digital free	6	3.6
Total	167	100

Note: No, number of articles analysed.

Figure 4 portrays the annual evolution in the number of publications per cluster. Analysing the number of publications annually, the first article came out in 1997 and falls within the Education and Hospitality cluster, followed by the first Digital Economy article published in 2010. In turn, 2018 saw the first publication in the Digital Free cluster and four articles in Digital Marketing, reflecting the recent nature of these themes.

Figure 4.

Annual evolution in the number of publications per cluster.

2020 saw a sharp spike in the level of articles published on the association between tourism and technology, with sixteen articles. This should highlight that 2021 is an outstanding year as articles were published on each cluster and 59 publications thus far this year.

This details how the first article on this theme dates back to the year 1997 and belongs to the “Education and Hospitality” cluster and was published in the “Journal of Sustainable Tourism” under the title of “Saving cultural information: The potential role of digital databases in developing cultural tourism,” by Shackley (1997).

Digital transformation and the new combinations in tourism: Key trends

Regarding the clusters, we may verify the composition of each cluster according to the central themes each article deals with. Hence, we may identify how the “Digital Marketing” cluster contains fields of study on service experiences (39.7%), digital ecosystems (24.4%), sustainable cultural tourism (23.1%) and the adoption and utilisation of technology by small and medium-sized companies (12.8%). In turn, the “Digital Economy” cluster spans the study of digital platforms as a means for setting up businesses (44.4%), emerging forms of consumption (25.9%) and the diffusion of usages of technology in tourism (29.6%). In the case of the “Education and Hospitality” cluster, this features digital literacy within tourism scenarios (65.5%) and the ethical dimension and socially responsible practices (34.5%). In addition, in the “Digital Free” cluster, all articles arising from studying disconnecting during travelling. Table 2 contains the information underpinning these findings.

Table 2.

Composition of each Cluster in this Field of Study.

Clusters	Field of study	No.	%
Cluster 1 - Digital marketing	Service experience	31	39.7
	Digital ecosystems	19	24.4
	Sustainable cultural tourism	18	23.1
	SMEs' adoption and utilisation of technology	10	12.8
Total		78	100
Cluster 2 - Digital economy	Digital platforms for setting up businesses	24	44.4
	Emerging forms of consumerism	14	25.9
	Diffusion of usages of technology in tourism	16	29.6
Total		54	100
Cluster 3 - Education and hospitality	Digital literacy in the tourism scenario	19	65.5
Cluster 3 - Education and hospitality	Ethical facet and socially responsible practices	10	34.5
Total		29	100
Cluster 4 - igital free	Disconnection during travelling	6	100
Total		6	100

Note: No. of number of articles analysed.

Cluster 1 (No.=78): Digital marketing

The first cluster, entitled Digital Marketing, includes a total of seventy-eight articles. The systematic review of the articles enabled the identification of four sub-fields within this cluster, service experience, digital ecosystems, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), adoption and utilisation of technology and sustainable cultural tourism.

The first field groups thirty-one stories from the seventy-eight publications in this cluster and contains the core objective of analysing the service experience. This covers the extent that the adoption of technologies completely transforms the structure of the tourism industry as they enable visitors (tourists and excursionists) to share their experiences of travel destinations and supply information through recourse to digital platforms. However, this technological adoption enables the user (visitor) to assist other individuals in making better decisions in selecting destinations and the services on offer. In this context, the penetration of mobile phones and the advances of the Internet have increasingly driven the development of tourism and motivated both economic and social development (Adeola and Evans, 2019; Almeida-Santana et al., 2020; AL-Mulali et al., 2021; Belonozhko et al., 2018; Bu et al., 2020; Christou et al., 2023; Frenzel et al., 2022; Grundner and Neuhofer, 2021; Mathew and Soliman, 2021; Magano and Cunha, 2020; Sun and Guo, 2022; Saini and Arasanmi, 2021; Yaşarsoy et al., 2022). In keeping with the same perspective, the authors Sakas et al. (2022), Preko et al. (2022); Escandon-Barbosa and Salas-Paramo (2021), Gon (2021), Tripathi and Wasan (2021), Hasan et al. (2020), Ivanova (2021), Martí et al. (2021), Lim et al. (2017), Prokopenko et al. (2020), Myat et al. (2019) and Tsourgiannis and Valsamidis (2019) detail how digital marketing tools, when understood as of strategic importance to promotion, may generate more dynamic campaigns with correspondingly more positive effects through the utilisation of tourism applications and websites that lead visitors to convey their preferences and interact with the services on offer in the sector. Finally, this considers the need to implement specific marketing strategies for enhancing the images of places and regions that experience the effects of a reduction in visitors brought about by natural disasters, pandemics and even in cases of acts of terrorism (Avraham, 2021; Do et al., 2021; Giovanis et al., 2022; Kitsios et al., 2022; Ketter and Avraham, 2021; Lebrun et al., 2021; Susanto et al., 2022).

The second field integrates nineteen studies of seventy-eight publications analysing digital ecosystems, hence, the co-creation ongoing between communications, tourism and technology. In the perspective of Anuj et al. (2023), Chernbumroong et al. (2022), Niziaieva et al. (2022), Dewantara et al. (2022), Cassia et al. (2020) and Marques and Borba (2017), the digital ecosystems help in democratising communications and contribute to more accurate and easier communications with visitors; expanding the scope of participation to an extent capable of involving a set of interconnected and interactive actors, rendering the locations and tourism information more accessible. In turn, the authors Kerdpitak et al. (2022), Fernández-Díaz et al. (2022), Kalia et al. (2022), Gračan et al. (2021), Cavalheiro et al. (2021), Hristoforova et al. (2019), Pencarelli (2020) and Bassano et al. (2019) add to this understanding by setting out how digital ecosystems foster new forms of interaction and new opportunities for the usage of digital technologies to empower regions in the search for economic development, fostering the process of construction and incentivising people to interact with tourism and hotel businesses and thereby generating networked communities. Several authors (Cassia et al., 2020; Fernández-Díaz et al., 2021; Guedes et al., 2022; Rahmoun and Baeshen, 2021; Yu et al., 2022; Yang et al., 2022) discuss the perspective that enriches the studies of digital ecosystems in addition to the utilisation of assistive technology, thus providing high-quality tourism experiences to persons experiencing physical and mental challenges. Consequently, this trend is heading towards the growing deployment of technology to make life easier, generate equality, and foster both social inclusion and quality of life. This research represents an important contribution to the analysis of this cluster and differentiates this field from other authors in approaching the adoption of technology as favouring accessible tourism.

The third field combines eighteen studies of seventy-eight articles analysing sustainable cultural tourism. According to the authors Nassanbekova and Yeshenkulova (2022), Neumann and Mason (2022), Luo et al. (2022), Costantino et al. (2022), Camilleri (2018), Njovo and Makacha (2018), Misso et al. (2018) and Mitova et al. (2021), the capacity to appropriately apply digital systems does not require major additional financial investment to generate development and partnerships for sustainable tourism management. Sustainable cultural tourism can also nurture interactivity and mutually complementary relationships among tourism professionals and clients. Furthermore, Kerdpitak (2022), Yeniasır and Gökbulut (2022) and Hofman et al. (2021) add the experience of issues related to the management of tourism practices that foster the capacity and ability to transition from existing business models towards a circular configuration in addition to how experiences of nature may inspire visitors to adopt conservation behaviours and protect natural environments. Another tourism experience arises from religious motivations and pilgrimages that also need consideration within the local management framework, given that they also ensure sustainable practices and social and economic growth (Alebaki et al., 2022; Deb et al., 2022; Mantas et al., 2021; Maquera et al., 2022; Romanelli et al., 2021; Wei and Ullah, 2022).

The fourth dimension unifies ten studies on seventy-eight publications in this cluster to evaluate the adoption and utilisation of technology by small and medium-sized companies. This field recognises how digital platforms potentially enable SMEs to benefit from the application of digital technologies and online marketing in keeping with their more urgent need to stand out among their competitors' clashes with the limits in effect on their promotional budgets when compared to their larger peers, major companies located in the leading cities and countries (Alford and Jones, 2020; Dyachenko et al., 2021; Hernández Sánchez and Oskam, 2022; Kurniawati et al., 2022; Melović et al., 2022; Minor et al., 2019; Pérez et al., 2022; Styvén and Wallström, 2019; Suder et al., 2022; Tiago et al., 2020).

Cluster 2 (No.=54): Digital economy

Digital economy constitutes the name attributed to cluster 2, which contains fifty-four articles. The contents of this cluster span three facets of study: digital platforms for setting up businesses, emerging forms of consumerism and spreading technology in tourism.

The group incorporates twenty-four studies of fifty-four publications that analyse digital platforms for setting up businesses. According to Zhou et al. (2022), Kontis and Skoultsos (2022), Huda (2022), Tang et al. (2022), Gössling (2021), Van Nuenen and Scarles (2021), Kazandzhieva (2021), Klimova et al. (2020), Opute et al. (2020), Ramos et al. (2021), Shrestha et al. (2020) and Frolova et al. (2019), these digital platforms can drive the economic development of tourism companies and lead to the implementation of new businesses and investments, generating profits for tourism professionals. Furthermore, they can cover tourism routes through mobile applications and online purchases and, with an intelligent combination of technology, able to drive revenues and overcome the traditional restrictions on the tourism sector (Curto et al., 2021; Dell'Era et al., 2021; Marino and Pariso, 2022; Mariani et al., 2021; Nikolskaya et al., 2019; Pardo Abad and Fernández Álvarez, 2020; Verhun et al., 2022; Wilson et al., 2021).

Within this framework, attention goes to expanding additive manufacturing or 3D printing to provide collaborative market souvenirs, thus involving visitors in creating their designs (Anastasiadou and Vettese, 2021; Gupta et al., 2018; Hu et al., 2022; Kurniati and Suryanto, 2023; Marino et al., 2022).

The second field integrates fourteen studies of fifty-four publications that approach the emerging forms of consumerism. Part of the premise derives from the swift emergence of new configurations and interests, and digital technology may act as an important tool able to leverage and enhance the value of institutions, whether public or private, highlighting heritage tourism through means of tourism practices of different types, such as cultural tourism and tourism in eccentric spaces for example (Alvarado-Sizzo, 2021; Elshaer et al., 2022; Hamid et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2022; Król, 2020; Lennon, 2017; Munjal, 2021; Navarrete, 2019; Schuhbauer and Hausmann, 2021; Zollo et al., 2021).

Within this perspective, there is a need to identify the different tourism publics to provide visits and tours of interest to the respective niches. Within this scope, Tang (2023), Bareither (2021), Lennon (2017), Amalia and Hanika (2021) and Valls and Roca (2021) differ from the other authors in this cluster in highlighting dark tourism and reviewing the concept in this type of tourism as regards the visit, the understanding and the educational process. In the view of these authors, this constitutes an important means of remembering the past and that, for many visitors, provides a form of pilgrimage. This, therefore, overcomes the belief that cemeteries would only ever be places for rites and moments of loss and sadness. Consequently, this association of technology and socio-cultural spaces contributes to the essence of the creative processes necessary to contemporary societies.

The third field unifies sixteen studies of fifty-four publications that evaluate the spreading usage of technology in tourism. To grasp this facet, Marchesani (2022), Ammirato et al. (2022), Zhao et al. (2022b), Li et al. (2022), Ye et al. (2022), Tang (2022), Tarazona et al. (2020), Zhou (2019), De Lucia et al. (2021), Cheung et al. (2021), Al-Thoblany and Alyuosef (2021), Paül i Agustí (2021), Wijaya et al. (2021), Watkins et al. (2018) and Minghetti and Buhalis (2010) state that the usage of mobile technologies brings about greater autonomy within an ambience of globalised tourism and the failure to make recourse to digital means within this environment impacts on the economic development of countries and regions.

Cluster 3 (No.=29): Education and hospitality

The third cluster, designated Education and Hospitality, covers a total of twenty-nine articles. Their systematic structure returns two fields of study in this cluster: digital literacy in the tourism sector and ethical and socially responsible practices.

The first field integrates nineteen studies of twenty-nine articles that approach digital literacy in tourism. Several studies (Adeyinka-Ojo et al., 2020; Atadil et al., 2021; Alrawadieh et al., 2021; Carlisle et al., 2021; Choi et al., 2022; Gkoumas, 2018; Munjal and Singh, 2021; Mariani and Borghi, 2021; Parsons et al., 2023; Shackley, 1997; Soliman et al., 2022) highlight the relevance of applying digital databases to value heritage and safeguard cultural information as well as for developing digital literacy and hospitality capacities among tourism professionals through fostering the new perspectives necessary to deal with the changes arising in the emerging digital economy. Furthermore, Cheng et al. (2023), Oncioiu et al. (2022), Kumar and Khan (2021), Zaragoza-Sáez et al. (2021), Smith (2021), Singh and Munjal (2021), Gričar et al. (2021), Wee et al. (2019) highlight the importance of boosting the qualifications of tourism students and educators so that there is greater integration of digital reading habits through digital libraries and thereby generating a more intelligent society heading into the future.

The second field unifies ten studies out of the twenty-nine articles that consider ethics and socially responsible practices. The authors Ingrassia et al. (2022), Stankov and Gretzel (2021), Rydzik and Kissoon (2021), Guerreiro et al. (2019), Morellato (2014), and Munar and Gyimóthy (2013) develop the understanding that following the means of tourism practices undergoing constant evolution, there is a need for teaching programs that reach beyond technical competences and endow a deeper ethical level and greater responsibilities on technology users and the next generation of tourism students.

Another facet illuminated by Munar and Ek (2022), Seraphin (2021), Dutta et al. (2021), and Gholamhosseinzadeh et al. (2021) approaches the ethical role of bloggers and influencers and grasping their authority in the interests of consumers as, after having established relations of trust with their followers, these individuals wield increasing powers of influence over their purchasing habits.

Cluster 4 (No.=6): Digital free

The final cluster identified goes by the name of Digital Free and incorporates but one field of study. Six research papers contribute toward understanding the theme of sharing and disconnecting while travelling, with the authors Cai and McKenna (2023), Li et al. (2020), Egger et al. (2020) and Li et al. (2018) from the same perspective analysing the scope for disconnecting while engaging in tourism and the potential benefits from not using digital technology.

This facet foresees visitors turning off the technological world within the framework of exploring experiences and relationships within tourism contexts without such connections. Floros et al. (2021) and Egger et al. (2020) state that there is a need to take a stance against mobile devices and warn on aspects interrelating with health and technological dependence, even when travelling for pleasure. In addition, Li et al. (2018) inform on just how this disconnection may come about at the time of travelling in which the current profiles of travellers tend to assume constant access to applications and technology-based services.

It is emphasized in this cluster that offline tourism is important, as it increases the chances of enjoying nature and the sense of adventure. Although it may become an obstacle for visitors, as it generates a lack of social communication, especially from social media fans Syvertsen (2022).

To portray the considerations made on the topic and identify new combinations of digital tourism, an integrative framework (Figure 5) was designed to illustrate the relationships between the four different clusters identified and explained previously.

Figure 5.

An integrative framework for the digital in tourism.

Discussion and research agenda

In the past, technologies were used to generate savings in operating costs. Currently, their evolution and application are perceived in situations that facilitate business, productivity and quality of work, as well as assisting the ecosystem in tourism. The digital transformation in tourism and the present systematic literature review contribute to advancing our understanding of this evolution and the development of the literature on digital transformations and new combinations for the tourism sector.

In this sense, the research was able to summarise the different fields of research and their interrelationships and the literature review, also demonstrates how the development of tourism through the application of technology encompasses not only the physical characteristics resulting from the deployment of technologies available in the market but also contributes powerfully to the development of companies and businesses operating in the tourism sector. And despite the existence of a current that tries to defend the non-use or at least the reduction of the use of technology in tourism and leisure travel, we can say that digital transformation tends to have a positive impact when applied to tourism and represents a central factor in the economic transformation of a region or country. Based on our literature review, we drive specific suggestions to guide future research on the adoption of digital technology for tourism, which are summarised in Table 3.

Table 3.

Future directions for research.

Cluster	Futures directions	Example research questions
Digital marketing	Within the emerging forms of consumerism, there is great potential for developing tourism heritage through recourse to technologies such as QR Codes, virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence.	How can the use of technologies be elements of differentiation and impact tourism competitiveness to generate visibility and find your potential customers?
Digital marketing	Faced with changes in client behaviors, storytelling may represent an alternative source of generating competitiveness and opening spaces for future studies that identify useful motivations for local narratives as a source of attraction to visit or revisit.
Digital economy	There is a vast field to be explored about the use of technologies in tourism in places such as cemeteries, as a cultural resource that can then facilitate visits to these spaces as a contribution to the diversification of traditional markets.Low levels of research in digital ecosystems that enable the co-creation between communication and accessible tourism opens up the space for new research focusing on assistive technology; thus, the role of fostering functionality and the greater participation of persons with disabilities and/or incapacities through boosting autonomy, quality of life, independence and social inclusion.	What are the possible contributions of assistive technology as a tool for accessing cultural information in the accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities?
Education and hospitality	Empowerment and improving education may be seen as an object highlighted within the scope of tourism, given that in the sale of commodities, people and their services are competitive differentials in the choice of travel destinations and/or places to visit (hotels, tourism trails/routes).	What are the technical, behavioral and digital skills to be included in the training of professionals working in hospitality tourism?
Education and hospitality	Studies identifying which new professional competencies are necessary for the training of professionals in this environment require balancing the digital and in-person dimensions, capable of suggesting professional training and education for the acquisition of knowledge and developing new abilities through the supply of better qualified professionals for providing higher quality services.
Digital free	There is an expanding scope for studying the digital free concept in forthcoming years in keeping with how the over-usage of technology has become increasingly discussed by the medical class, which recommends moderation in social media usage in keeping with the impacts on health.	What are the gains and losses associated with tourism in the context of digital transformation and adoption of technologies?
Digital free	This approach opens space to study the digital free phenomena from suppliers' perspective, especially those recourse to technologies to maintain their businesses to understand how they deal with this proposition to cut back on tourism usage.

Digital marketing

The “Digital marketing” cluster clarifies the gains and the scope for promoting both the companies and the places and regions to attract visitors and thus positions communications as key to implementing such processes.

The relationship between digital marketing and tourism is positive in clarifying that regions and places can come to disclose their spaces, curiosities, and culture and excite people to raise the flow of visitors. This means that when well used by public and private companies, this opportunity can establish a dialogue with the general public, even in scenarios of low-budget communication and marketing.

Digital economy

In turn, the “Digital economy” cluster examines the importance of appropriately applying technologies to the tourism sector and casts light on the benefits for developing countries and regions. This emphasises how digital exclusion in a globalised tourism context leads to inequalities, impacting the economy and causing disparities in the usage and access to technology among visitors. The rise of the internet added by mobile devices and their easy use present changes in the usual travel market and travellers' consumption. Thus, this interaction movement reflects a positive way to think globally and act locally, offering greater development to the tourism sector.

Education and hospitality

The major contribution of the “Education and Hospitality” cluster stems from its consideration of the strategic challenge of the tourism industry, illuminating the threats deriving from this digital era and their impacts on businesses in this area, such as hotels, restaurants and travel agencies, from the perspective of the need for the empowerment and development of the professionals employed by these companies in a digitally focused literacy process. Publications of this nature are relevant and provide practical implications as they alert to one of the inherent requirements of tourism development, education. Business models increasingly depend on technology in their various activities, and the automation of processes requires a new human role. The definition of tasks performed by machines versus men involves bringing schools and industries closer together, including specific courses to expand business skills, especially digital skills and communication.

Digital free

As regards the “Digital Free” cluster, this emerges from an understanding that contrasts with the other clusters in proposing the non-usage or at least control over digital technology in tourism spaces alongside the advantages for visitors engaging in the offline exploration of contemporary relationships and experiences. Despite being shy about the number of publications, this current makes one reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of using technology. This opens space for conjecture about the need for online versus offline relationships in tourism. It is necessary to discern the implementation of technology and the automation of processes to facilitate adherence to spaces, from the promotion of moments and travel experiences that also promote mental well-being mindfulness for the benefit of psychological health on holiday.

Theoretical and practical contributions

This study makes several related contributions. Firstly, the study identifies and illustrates the relationships between the four different clusters, in which a framework has been elaborated to portray the considerations made on the topic and identify new combinations of digital tourism (see Figure 5). This structure results from the articles reviewed and explains the digital media applied to tourism according to the four clusters identified and characterised in the previous section.

Secondly, building on this overview, including the fields of study identified at the core level contained in the studies that make up this systematic review, specifically, service experiences, digital ecosystems, technology adoption and utilisation by SMEs, sustainable cultural tourism; emerging forms of consumerism, digital platforms for launching businesses, diffusion of technology in tourism; ethical facets and socially responsible practices, digital literacy in tourism and disconnection while travelling.

This study has practical implications for tourism organizations. Specifically, the study reinforces that technology in tourism can be equally valuable to private and public businesses and visitors. In a highly competitive environment, many tourism organisations need to be more agile and flexible to adapt to changing market conditions. Various forms of technologies have emerged to facilitate their operations, and many tourism-related businesses are increasingly turning to digital to enhance the tourism offer based on the natural, cultural and social elements that make each territory unique and increase their revenues.

In this research, questions are raised about the application of technology in business and the need to understand these changes in the supply and tourism adaptation environments.

Conclusion and limitations

The study concluded the vital role of technologies in accelerating the sustainable development of regions and places and in contributing to visitor behaviour. Furthermore, it can be observed from the framework presented that, despite being a topic only recently addressed in the literature, it is of great importance to the academic community, as reflected in the growing number of studies in this field. This trend requires looking at how such studies corroborate ongoing activities in a business sector of great importance for the social development of emerging economies.

Despite its novelty and contribution, this study has limitations. Noteworthy is the fact that we used it until February 2023, which may have limitations on the scope of the literature review with the non-inclusion of studies on this topic after that date. Therefore, it can be suggested to expand the range of databases considered to see if the same patterns remain or if there is an increase in the number of clusters and fields of study. In addition, another proposition extends to research that seeks to expand technology-focused research fields to the diverse fields of the tourism sector.

Thus, one can highlight how tourism intensifies the social inclusion of people with different types of disabilities (assistive technology) and eccentric tourism, which caters to people with different tastes and opinions than usual and generates new curiosity among visitors, such as tourism that takes place in more unusual circumstances, such as cemeteries, for example.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work is financed by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P., under the projects “UIDB/04630/2020”, “UIDB/04752/2020” and through the individual research grant UI/BD/151538/2021 of Ives Emídio Gutierriz.

ORCID iD

Joao J Ferreira

Author Biographies

Ives Gutierriz is a Doctoral Student in Management at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Portugal. He is MSc. in Management of Organizations Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), Portugal and Master in Administration (Unifacs), Brazil. He holds a Postgraduate Degree in Strategic Marketing and Sales Management and a Bachelor's Degree in Social Communication with a specialisation in Advertising and Advertising (Estácio), Brazil. He is currently a PhD Research Studentships at the Applied Management Research Unit (UNIAG) at IPB, Portugal, and his research interests include tourism, business management and public policy. He has published in journals and has communications at international scientific conferences.

João J. Ferreira is Associate Professor at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Portugal. He holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain. Currently, he is the scientific coordinator of the UBI Research Unit for Business Sciences (NECE), Portugal. He has edited or co-edited several books on innovation and entrepreneurship and published over 200 papers in premier international journals, including IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Cleaner Production, Management Decision, and Service Business. He is Associate Editor of Management Decision, and his research interests include strategy, competitiveness, and entrepreneurship.

Paula O. Fernandes has a PhD in Economics and Management (2005), Professor of Management at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), Portugal, since December 1992. She is a researcher and Scientific Coordinator of UNIAG (Applied Management Research Unit, since 2013) and was a researcher at the Research Unit in Business Sciences (NECE-UBI, 2010-2017). She participated in 17 international and national R&D projects (7 as Responsible Researcher). She published more than 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and proceedings, has several communications at international scientific conferences and won 10 scientific awards. She serves as a member of the Program Board and Organizing Committees for some Scientific Committees of International Conferences and has collaborated as a reviewer with several journals.

References

Acevedo-Duque

Prado-Sabido

Gomes Ramires

, et al. (2022) New year’s eve show: an opportunity to further develop sustainable local tourism in Chile. Sustainability 14(7): 3962. DOI: 10.3390/su14073962.

Adeola

Evans

(2019) Digital tourism: mobile phones, internet and tourism in Africa. Tourism Recreation Research 44(2): 190–202. DOI: 10.1080/02508281.2018.1562662.

Adeyinka-Ojo

Lee

Abdullah

, et al. (2020) Hospitality and tourism education in an emerging digital economy. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-12-2019-0075.

Ahn

Back

(2019) Cruise brand experience: functional and wellness value creation in tourism business. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 31: 2205–2223. DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-06-2018-0527.

Akhtar

Khan

Mahroof Khan

, et al. (2021) Post-COVID 19 tourism: will digital tourism replace mass tourism? Sustainability 13(10): 5352. DOI: 10.3390/su13105352.

Al-Mulali

Solarin

Andargoli

, et al. (2021) Digital adoption and its impact on tourism arrivals and receipts. Anatolia-International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research 32(2): 337–339. DOI: 10.1080/13032917.2020.1856692.

Al-Thoblany

Alyuosef

(2021) The role of digital management in improving the performance of tourism sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the light of 2030 vision. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment 13: 1–15. DOI: 10.1080/20430795.2021.1882236.

Alebaki

Psimouli

Kladou

, et al. (2022) Digital winescape and online wine tourism: comparative insights from Crete and Santorini. Sustainability 14(14): 8396. DOI: 10.3390/su14148396.

Alford

Jones

(2020) The lone digital tourism entrepreneur: knowledge acquisition and collaborative transfer. Tourism Management 81: 104139. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104139.

10.

Almeida-Santana

David-Negre

Moreno-Gil

(2020) New digital tourism ecosystem: understanding the relationship between information sources and sharing economy platforms. International Journal of Tourism Cities. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/IJTC-09-2019-0173.

11.

Alrawadieh

Cetin

(2021) Digital transformation and revenue management: evidence from the hotel industry. Tourism Economics 27(2): 328–345. DOI: 10.1177/1354816620901928.

12.

Alvarado-Sizzo

(2021) Spatial representations, heritage and territorial-synecdoche in contemporary tourism. Tourism Geographies 25: 1–20. DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2021.1905708.

13.

Amalia

Hanika

(2021) Tourism in digital era: the influence of digital marketing on the intention to visit museum. Malaysian Journal of Communication 37(3): 16. DOI: 10.17576/JKMJC-2021-3703-16.

14.

Ammirato

Felicetti

Linzalone , et al. (2022) Digital business models in cultural tourism. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research 28(8): 1940–1961. DOI: 10.1108/IJEBR-01-2021-0070.

15.

Anastasiadou

Vettese

(2021) Souvenir authenticity in the additive manufacturing age. Annals of Tourism Research 89: 103188. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103188.

16.

Anuj Upadhyay

Kargeti

, et al. (2023) Adoption of digital marketing among tourism industry of Uttarakhand in India. International Journal of Business Excellence 29(1): 80–97. DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2020.10033064.

17.

Atadil

Erdem

Green

, et al. (2021) Digital natives in the hospitality workforce: an exploratory study on mobile dependency. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management 30(7): 785–798. DOI: 10.1080/19368623.2021.1897054.

18.

Avraham

(2021) Combating tourism crisis following terror attacks: image repair strategies for European destinations since 2014. Current Issues in Tourism 24(8): 1079–1092. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2020.1764510.

19.

Băltescu

(2021) Millennials’ choices in applying digital techniques for tourism purposes. Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence 15(1): 257–267. DOI: 10.2478/picbe-2021-0025.

20.

Bareither

(2021) Difficult heritage and digital media: ‘selfie culture’ and emotional practices at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. International Journal of Heritage Studies 27(1): 57–72. DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2020.1768578.

21.

Bassano

Barile

Piciocchi

, et al. (2019) Storytelling about places: tourism marketing in the digital age. Cities 87: 10–20. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2018.12.025.

22.

Belonozhko

Siteva

(2018) Digital tourism in the development of the Arctic region. Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism 6(30): 1154–1164. DOI: 10.14505/jemt.v9.6(30).03.

23.

Boyle

Sherman

(2006) Scopus ™: the product and its development. The Serials Librarian 49(3): 147–153. DOI: 10.1300/J123v49n03_12.

24.

Parkinson

Thaichon

(2020) Digital content marketing as a catalyst for e-WOM in food tourism. Australasian Marketing Journal 29(2): 142–154. DOI: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2020.01.001.

25.

Busulwa

Pickering

Mao

(2022) Digital transformation and hospitality management competencies: toward an integrative framework. International Journal of Hospitality Management 102: 103132. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103132.

26.

Cai

McKenna

(2023) Power and resistance: digital-free tourism in a connected world. Journal of Travel Research 62(2): 290–304. DOI: 10.1177/00472875211061208.

27.

Camilleri

(2018) The promotion of responsible tourism management through digital media. Tourism Planning & Development 15(6): 653–671. DOI: 10.1080/21568316.2017.1393772.

28.

Camilleri

Kozak

(2022) Interactive engagement through travel and tourism social media groups: a social facilitation theory perspective. Technology in Society 71: 102098. DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.102098.

29.

Carlisle

Ivanov

Dijkmans

(2021) The digital skills divide: evidence from the European tourism industry. Journal of Tourism Futures. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/JTF-07-2020-0114.

30.

Cassia

Castellani

Rossato

, et al. (2020) Finding a way towards high-quality, accessible tourism: the role of digital ecosystems. The TQM Journal. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/TQM-03-2020-0062.

31.

Cavalheiro

GMDC

Mayer

, et al. (2021) Applying patent analytics to understand technological trends of smart tourism destinations. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. Online ahead-of-print: 1–17. DOI: 10.1080/09537325.2020.1870950.

32.

Cheng

Xue

Yang

, et al. (2023) A digital transformation approach in hospitality and tourism research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-06-2022-0679.

33.

Chernbumroong

Nadee

Jansukpum

, et al. (2022) The effects of gamified exhibition in a physical and online digital interactive exhibition promoting digital heritage and tourism. TEM Jornal 11(4): 1520–1530. DOI: 10.18421/TEM114-12.

34.

Cheung

Leung

Cheah

, et al. (2021) Exploring the effectiveness of emotional and rational user-generated contents in digital tourism platforms. Journal of Vacation Marketing 28(2): 152–170. DOI: 10.1177/13567667211030675.

35.

Choi

Kim

(2022) Digital natives: internal defence mechanism to distrust tourism advertisements. Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2095508.

36.

Christou

Hadjielias

Simillidou

, et al. (2023) The use of intelligent automation as a form of digital transformation in tourism: towards a hybrid experiential offering. Journal of Business Research 155: 113415. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113415.

37.

Costantino

Mantini

Benedetti

, et al. (2022) Digital and territorial trails system for developing sustainable tourism and enhancing cultural heritage in rural areas: the case of san giovanni lipioni, Italy. Sustainability 14(21): 13982. DOI: 10.3390/su142113982.

38.

Cuomo

Tortora

Foroudi

, et al. (2020) Digital transformation and tourist experience co-design: big social data for planning cultural tourism. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 162: 120345. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120345.

39.

Curto

Rubino

Verderosa

(2021) Investigating Airbnb evolution in an urban tourism context: the application of mathematical modelling and spatial analysis. Current Issues in Tourism 25: 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2021.1932767.

40.

De Lucia

Pazienza

Balena

(2021) How does ICT influence residents' attitudes towards tourism as a driver of development? A generalised ordered logistic regression analysis: ICT for tourism as driver of development in lagging behind regions. International Journal of Tourism Research 23(6): 1126–1150. DOI: 10.1002/jtr.2473.

41.

Deb

Nafi

Valeri

(2022) Promoting tourism business through digital marketing in the new normal era: a sustainable approach. European Journal of Innovation Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/EJIM-04-2022-0218.

42.

Dell'Era

Trabucchi

Magistretti

(2021) Exploiting incumbents' potentialities: from linear value chains to multisided platforms. Creativity and Innovation Management 30(1): 31–46. DOI: 10.1111/caim.12413.

43.

Dewantara

Gardiner

Jin

(2022) Travel vlog ecosystem in tourism digital marketing evolution: a narrative literature review. Current Issues in Tourism. Online ahead-of-print: 1–15. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2136568.

44.

Nguyen

D’Souza

, et al. (2021) Strategic responses to COVID-19: the case of tour operators in Vietnam. Tourism and Hospitality Research 22(1): 5–17. DOI: 10.1177/1467358421993902.

45.

Dutta

Sharma

Goyal

(2021) Customer’s digital advocacy: impact of reviews and influencers in building trust for tourism and hospitality services. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-09-2020-0123.

46.

Dyachenko

Humenna

Zelenko

, et al. (2021) Role of creativity, innovations, digital and cognitive technologies for marketing of family, small and medium tourism businesses in regional economic development during and after Coronavirus pandemic. Almatourism - Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial Development 12(23): 199–219. DOI: 10.6092/issn.2036-5195/12330.

47.

Egger

Lei

Wassler

(2020) Digital free tourism–An exploratory study of tourist motivations. Tourism Management 79: 104098. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104098.

48.

Elshaer

Fayyad

Ammar

, et al. (2022) Adaptive reuse of heritage houses and hotel conative loyalty: digital technology as a moderator and memorable tourism and hospitality experience as a mediator. Sustainability 14(6): 3580. DOI: 10.3390/su14063580.

49.

Escandon-Barbosa

Salas-Paramo

(2021) Tourism amidst COVID-19: consumer experience in luxury hotels booked through digital platforms. Tourism Recreation Research 48(1): 141–146. DOI: 10.1080/02508281.2021.1940708.

50.

Fernández-Díaz

Correia

Matos

(2021) Portuguese and Spanish DMOs’ accessibility apps and websites. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research 16(4): 874–899. DOI: 10.3390/jtaer16040050.

51.

Fernández-Díaz

Jambrino-Maldonado

Iglesias-Sánchez

, et al. (2022) Digital accessibility of smart cities-tourism for all and reducing inequalities: tourism agenda 2030. Tourism Review. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/TR-02-2022-0091.

52.

Ferreira

Fernandes

Veiga

, et al. (2021) Prevailing theoretical approaches predicting sustainable business models: a systematic review. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 71(3): 790–813. DOI: 10.1108/IJPPM-12-2020-0653.

53.

Floros

Cai

McKenna

, et al. (2021) Imagine being off-the-grid: millennials’ perceptions of digital-free travel. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 29(5): 751–766. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1675676.

54.

Frenzel

Giddy

Frisch

(2022) Digital technology, tourism and geographies of inequality. Tourism Geographies 24(6-7): 923–933. DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2022.2142843.

55.

Frolova

Avramenko

Beskorovaynaya

, et al. (2019) Digital economy in the management system of tourism enterprises. Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism 10(6 (38)): 1345-1350. DOI: 10.14505/jemt.v10.6(38).17.

56.

Gholamhosseinzadeh

Chapuis

Lehu

(2021) Tourism netnography: how travel bloggers influence destination image. Tourism Recreation Research 48: 1–17. DOI: 10.1080/02508281.2021.1911274.

57.

Giovanis

Rizomyliotis

Kavoura

(2022) On the relationships between digital brand evidence, relationship quality and behavioural intentions among online tourism agencies’ customers. European Journal of Tourism Research. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.54055/ejtr.v30i.2592.

58.

Gkoumas

(2018) Challenges and obstacles for the first digital repository for tourism studies in Greece. European Journal of Tourism Research 18: 146–159.

59.

Gössling

(2021) Tourism, technology and ICT: a critical review of affordances and concessions. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 29(5): 733–750. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1873353.

60.

Gon

(2021) Local experiences on Instagram: social media data as source of evidence for experience design. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 19: 100435. DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100435.

61.

Gračan

Zadel

Pavlović

(2021) Management of visitor satisfaction by using mobile digital tools and services to create concept of smart destination. Ekonomski Pregled 72(2): 185–198. DOI: 10.32910/ep.72.2.2.

62.

Gričar

Šugar

Bojnec

(2021) The missing link between wages and labour productivity in tourism: evidence from Croatia and Slovenia. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 34(1): 732–753. DOI: 10.1080/1331677X.2020.1804427.

63.

Grundner

Neuhofer

(2021) The bright and dark sides of artificial intelligence: a futures perspective on tourist destination experiences. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 19: 100511. DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100511.

64.

Guedes

Faria

Gouveia

, et al. (2022) The effect of virtual proximity and digital adoption on international tourism flows to Southern Europe. Tourism Economics. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1177/135481662211167.

65.

Guerreiro

Viegas

Guerreiro

(2019) Social networks and digital influencers: their role in customer decision journey in tourism. Journal of Spatial and Organizational Dynamics 7(3): 240–260.

66.

Gupta

Bakshi

Dogra

(2018) Engaging consumers in the digital era: an analysis of official tourism Facebook pages in India. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal 66(1): 63–77.

67.

Hadinejad

Noghan

Moyle

, et al. (2021) Future research on visitors’ attitudes to tourism destinations. Tourism Management 83: 104215. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104215.

68.

Hamid

AHA

Mohamad

Suki

(2021) Tourists’ revisit intention to UNESCO world heritage sites in a developing nation: investigating the mediating role of place dependence. Journal of Vacation Marketing 27(2): 119–132. DOI: 10.1177/1356766720969739.

69.

Hasan

Abdunurova

Wang

, et al. (2020) Using deep learning to investigate digital behavior in culinary tourism. Journal of Place Management and Development 14(1): 43–65. DOI: 10.1108/JPMD-03-2020-0022.

70.

Hateftabar

(2022) Analyzing the adoption of online tourism purchases: effects of perceived tourism value and personal innovativeness. Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–17. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2071682.

71.

Hernández Sánchez

Oskam

(2022) A “new tourism cycle” on the Canary Islands: scenarios for digital transformation and resilience of small and medium tourism enterprises. Journal of Tourism Futures. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/JTF-04-2022-0132.

72.

Hofman

Walters

Hughes

(2021) The effectiveness of virtual vs real-life marine tourism experiences in encouraging conservation behaviour. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 30: 1–25. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1884690.

73.

Hristoforova

Silcheva

Arkhipova

, et al. (2019) Improvement of digital technologies in marketing communications of tourism and hospitality enterprises. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism 10(4): 829–834. DOI: 10.14505/jemt.10.4(36).13.

74.

Zhao

Jiang

(2022) E-commerce platform resources, sequence of digital strategic actions and competitive advantage: an empirical study from online tourism industry. International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations 27(1): 61–83. DOI: 10.1504/ijnvo.2022.125999.

75.

Huda

(2022) Digital marketplace for tourism resilience in the pandemic age: voices from budget hotel customers. International Journal of Organizational Analysis 31(1): 149–167. DOI: 10.1108/IJOA-10-2021-2987.

76.

Ingrassia

Bellia

Giurdanella

, et al. (2022) Digital influencers, food and tourism—a new model of open innovation for businesses in the Ho. Re. Ca. sector. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity 8(1): 50. DOI: 10.3390/joitmc8010050.

77.

Ito

Kono

Gui

(2022) Psychological consequences of tourism ideal affect. Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–12. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2021.2023479.

78.

Ivanova

(2021) Event tourism development in Bulgaria: key factors and main goals. Икономически изследвания (1): 168–191.

79.

Jiang

Moyle

Yung

, et al. (2022) Augmented reality and the enhancement of memorable tourism experiences at heritage sites. Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2026303.

80.

Jingen Liang

Elliot

(2021) A systematic review of augmented reality tourism research: what is now and what is next? Tourism and Hospitality Research 21(1): 15–30. DOI: 10.1177/1467358420941913.

81.

Kalia

Mladenović

Acevedo-Duque Á (2022) Decoding the trends and the emerging research directions of digital tourism in the last three decades: a bibliometric analysis. Sage Open 12(4): 179. DOI: 10.1177/21582440221128179.

82.

Kazandzhieva

(2021) Enhancing the competitiveness of destination Bulgaria through digital transformation in tourism. Икономически изследвания (2): 177–198.

83.

Kerdpitak

(2022) The effects of innovative management, digital marketing, service quality and supply chain management on performance in cultural tourism business. Uncertain Supply Chain Management 10(3): 771–778. DOI: 10.5267/j.uscm.2022.4.005.

84.

Kerdpitak

Pungnirund

Hotrawaisaya

, et al. (2022) Effect of competitive advantage, digital marketing to supply chain management on tourism business performance in Thailand. Uncertain Supply Chain Management 10(3): 721–728. DOI: 10.5267/j.uscm.2022.5.003.

85.

Ketter

Avraham

(2021) # StayHome today so we can# TravelTomorrow: tourism destinations’ digital marketing strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 38(8): 819–832. DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2021.1921670.

86.

Kim

Radic

Chua

, et al. (2022) Digital currency and payment innovation in the hospitality and tourism industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management 107: 103314. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103314.

87.

Kitsios

Mitsopoulou

Moustaka

, et al. (2022) User-Generated Content behavior and digital tourism services: a SEM-neural network model for information trust in social networking sites. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights 2(1): 100056. DOI: 10.1016/j.jjimei.2021.100056.

88.

Klimova

Bogomazova

Anoprieva

, et al. (2020) Digital supply chain management in the tourism and hospitality industry: trends and prospects. International Journal of Supply Chain Management 9(3): 843–849.

89.

Kontis

Skoultsos

(2022) Digital evolution in tourism marketing channels: Greek tourism industry and Online Travel Agencies. European Journal of Tourism Research 30: 1–17.

90.

Król

(2020) Digital cultural heritage of rural tourism facilities in Poland. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development 11(4): 488–498. DOI: 10.1108/JCHMSD-10-2019-0130.

91.

Kumar

Khan

(2021) Tourism education in India: a supply-demand gap. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Systems 14(2): 116.

92.

Kurniati

Suryanto

(2023) Tourism development policy based on digital economy in Lombok national tourism destination. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR) 10(1): 85–92. DOI: 10.15549/jeecar.v10i1.1074.

93.

Kurniawati

Kohar

UHA

Meiji

NHP

, et al. (2022) Digital transformation for micro, small, and medium enterprises to develop sustainable community-based marine tourism. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 11(2): 1118–1127. DOI: 10.46222/ajhtl.19770720.279.

94.

Lebrun

Bouchet

(2021) Domestic tourists’ experience in protected natural parks: a new trend in pandemic crisis? Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 35: 100398. DOI: 10.1016/j.jort.2021.100398.

95.

Lebrun

Corbel

Bouchet

(2022) Impacts of Covid-19 on travel intention for summer 2020: a trend in proximity tourism mediated by an attitude towards Covid-19. Service Business 16(3): 469–501. DOI: 10.1007/s11628-021-00450-z.

96.

Lennon

(2017) Conclusion: dark tourism in a digital post-truth society. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-12-2016-0075.

97.

Pearce

Low

(2018) Media representation of digital-free tourism: a critical discourse analysis. Tourism Management 69: 317–329. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.06.027.

98.

Pearce

Oktadiana

(2020) Can digital-free tourism build character strengths? Annals of Tourism Research 85: 103037. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.103037.

99.

Liang

, et al. (2022) Research on the integration of cultural tourism industry driven by digital economy in the context of COVID-19—based on the data of 31 Chinese provinces. Frontiers in Public Health 10(42): 780476. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.780476.

100.

Lim

Mostafa

Park

(2017) Digital omotenashi: toward a smart tourism design systems. Sustainability 9(12): 2175. DOI: 10.3390/su9122175.

101.

Luo

Jiang

, et al. (2022) Knowledge map of digital tourism: a bibliometric approach using CiteSpace. Problems and Perspectives in Management 20(4): 573–587. DOI: 10.21511/ppm.20(4).2022.43.

102.

Magano

Cunha

(2020) Digital marketing impact on tourism in Portugal: a quantitative study. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 9(1): 1–19.

103.

Maki

Alshaikhli

Gunduz

, et al. (2022) Development of digitalization road map for healthcare facility management. IEEE Access 10: 14450–14462. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3146341.

104.

Mantas

Ioannou

Viennas

, et al. (2021) Digital gifts and tourism mementos: a sustainable approach. Sustainability 14(1): 98. DOI: 10.3390/su14010098.

105.

Maquera

da Costa

Mendoza

, et al. (2022) Intelligent digital platform for community-based rural tourism—a novel concept development in Peru. Sustainability 14(13): 7907. DOI: 10.3390/su14137907.

106.

Marchesani

(2022) Exploring the relationship between digital services advance and smart tourism in cities: empirical evidence from Italy. Current Issues in Tourism. Online ahead-of-print: 1–12. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2153652.

107.

Mariani

Borghi

(2021) Are environmental-related online reviews more helpful? A big data analytics approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-06-2020-0548.

108.

Mariani

Bresciani

Dagnino

(2021) The competitive productivity (CP) of tourism destinations: an integrative conceptual framework and a reflection on big data and analytics. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-09-2020-1102.

109.

Marino

Pariso

(2022) The digital platform experience of a leading country in wine tourism: from COVID-19 to the new era. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management 19(07): 2250021. DOI: 10.1142/S0219877022500213.

110.

Marino

Pariso

Picariello

(2022) Digital platforms and entrepreneurship in tourism sector. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues 9(4): 282–303. DOI: 10.9770/jesi.2022.9.4(15.

111.

Marques

Borba

(2017) Co-creating the city: digital technology and creative tourism. Tourism Management Perspectives 24: 86–93. DOI: 10.1016/j.tmp.2017.07.007.

112.

Martí

García-Mayor

Serrano-Estrada

(2021) Taking the urban tourist activity pulse through digital footprints. Current Issues in Tourism 24(2): 157–176. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2019.1706458.

113.

Marx

(2012) Tracking historical papers and their citations. European Science Editing 38(2): 35–37.

114.

Mathew

Soliman

(2021) Does digital content marketing affect tourism consumer behavior? An extension of t echnology acceptance model. Journal of Consumer Behaviour 20(1): 61–75. DOI: 10.1002/cb.1854.

115.

Melián-Alzola

Fernández-Monroy

Hidalgo-Peñate

(2020) Information technology capability and organisational agility: a study in the Canary Islands hotel industry. Tourism Management Perspectives 33: 100606. DOI: 10.1016/j.tmp.2019.100606.

116.

Melović

Baynazoğlu

Šerić

(2022) Family businesses in tourism–the use of digital technologies in times of uncertainty and crisis. Journal of Family Business Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/JFBM-06-2022-0086.

117.

Minghetti

Buhalis

(2010) Digital divide in tourism. Journal of Travel Research 49(3): 267–281. DOI: 10.1177/0047287509346843.

118.

Minor

Carlisle

Dixey

(2019) Rethinking digital foci - what are the real digital needs of Welsh tourism organisations? E-review of Tourism Research 17(2): 188–203.

119.

Misso

Andreopoulou

Cesaretti

, et al. (2018) Sustainable development and green tourism: new practices for excellence in the digital era. Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development 11(1): 65–74. DOI: 10.1504/JIBED.2018.090035.

120.

Mitova

Borisova

Koulov

(2021) Digital marketing of Bulgarian natural heritage for tourism and recreation. Sustainability 13(23): 13071. DOI: 10.3390/su132313071.

121.

Morellato

(2014) Digital competence in tourism education: cooperative-experiential learning. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism 14(2): 184–209. DOI: 10.1080/15313220.2014.907959.

122.

Munar

(2022) Digital tourism communication and democracy. Tourism Culture & Communication 22(2): 143–155. DOI: 10.3727/109830421X16296375579589.

123.

Munar

Gyimóthy

(2013) Critical digital tourism studies. In: Tourism social media: transformations in identity, community and culture. (Tourism Social Science Series, vol. 18). pp. 245–311. DOI: 10.1108/S1571-5043(2013)0000018016.

124.

Munjal

(2021) Charting the role of digital platforms for cultural heritage tourism in India. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-10-2020-0126.

125.

Munjal

Singh

(2021) Going digital is the only way forward for the Indian hospitality and tourism industry. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-09-2020-0119.

126.

Myat

Sharkasi

Rajasekera

(2019) Myanmar’s tourism: sustainability of ICT to support hotel sector for online booking and digital marketing. Benchmarking: An International Journal. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/BIJ-07-2017-0200.

127.

Nassanbekova

Yeshenkulova

(2022) Mapping analysis of the research trends on digital technologies and circular economy in tourism. Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism 13(7): 2048-2057. DOI: 10.14505/jemt.v13.7(63).24.

128.

Navarrete

(2019) Digital heritage tourism: innovations in museums. World Leisure Journal 61(3): 200–214. DOI: 10.1080/16078055.2019.1639920.

129.

Ndou

Mele

Hysa

, et al. (2022) Exploiting technology to deal with the COVID-19 challenges in travel & tourism: a bibliometric analysis. Sustainability 14(10): 5917. DOI: 10.3390/su14105917.

130.

Neumann

Mason

(2022) The influence of transportation and digital technologies on backcountry tourism and recreation in British Columbia, Canada. Tourism Geographies 25: 1–20. DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2022.2098373.

131.

Nikolskaya

Lepeshkin

Blinova

, et al. (2019) Improvement of digital technology in the tourism sector. Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism 10(6): 1197-1201. DOI: 10.14505/jemt.v10.6(38).01.

132.

Niziaieva

Liganenko

Muntyan

, et al. (2022) Balancing interests in the field of tourism based on digital marketing tools. Journal of Information Technology Management 14: 59–77. DOI: 10.22059/jitm.2022.88875.

133.

Njovo

Makacha

(2018) Cultural capital, digital capital and stakeholder partnerships: a holy trinity for a sustainable cultural tourism trajectory. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 7(5): 13.

134.

Okafor

Khalid

Gama

LEM

(2022) Do the size of the tourism sector and level of digitalization affect COVID-19 economic policy response? Evidence from developed and developing countries. Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–24. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2107898.

135.

Oncioiu

Priescu

(2022) The use of virtual reality in tourism destinations as a tool to develop tourist behavior perspective. Sustainability 14(7): 4191. DOI: 10.3390/su14074191.

136.

Oncioiu

Anton

Ifrim

, et al. (2022) The influence of social networks on the digital recruitment of human resources: an empirical study in the tourism sector. Sustainability 14(6): 3693. DOI: 10.3390/su14063693.

137.

Opute

Irene

Iwu

(2020) Tourism service and digital technologies: a value creation perspective. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 9(2): 1–18.

138.

Pardo Abad

Fernández Álvarez

(2020) Landscape as digital content and a smart tourism resource in the mining area of Cartagena-La Unión (Spain). Land 9(4): 112. DOI: 10.3390/land9040112.

139.

Park

Kim

(2022) How does COVID-19 differ from previous crises? A comparative study of health-related crisis research in the tourism and hospitality context. International Journal of Hospitality Management 103: 103199. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103199.

140.

Parsons

Choi

Thomas

, et al. (2023) The policy responses of tourism agencies to emerging digital skills constraints: a critical assessment of six countries. International Journal of Tourism Research 25(1): 97–108. DOI: 10.1002/jtr.2554.

141.

Paül i Agustí

(2021) The clustering of city images on Instagram: a comparison between projected and perceived images. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 20: 100608. DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100608.

142.

Pérez

APM

Martínez-Sánchez

Nicolas-Sans

(2022) The Spanish tourism sector: digital transformation and total factor productivity. Cuadernos de Economía 45(127): 140–155. DOI: 10.32826/cude.v1i127.612.

143.

Pencarelli

(2020) The digital revolution in the travel and tourism industry. Information Technology & Tourism 22(3): 455–476. DOI: 10.1007/s40558-019-00160-3.

144.

Preko

Amoako

Dzogbenuku

, et al. (2022) Digital tourism experience for tourist site revisit: an empirical view from Ghana. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/JHTI-10-2021-0294.

145.

Prokopenko

Rusavska

Maliar

, et al. (2020) Digital-toolkit for sports tourism promoting. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering & Technology 11(5): 84–96. DOI: 10.34218/IJARET.11.5.2020.010.

146.

Rahmoun

Baeshen

(2021) Marketing tourism in the digital era and determinants of success factors influencing tourist destinations preferences. Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal (APMAJ) 16(1): 163–181.

147.

Rajamanicam

Mohanty

Chandran

(2018) Assessing the responsible tourism practices for sustainable development-an empirical inquiry of yelagiri, Tamil nadu. JOHAR 13: 1–29.

148.

Ramos

Ruiz-Pérez

Alorda

(2021) A proposal for assessing digital economy spatial readiness at tourism destinations. Sustainability 13(19): 11002. DOI: 10.3390/su131911002.

149.

Romanelli

Gazzola

Grechi

, et al. (2021) Towards a sustainability-oriented religious tourism. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 38(3): 386–396. DOI: 10.1002/sres.2791.

150.

Rosário

Dias

(2022) Industry 4.0 and marketing: towards an integrated future research agenda. Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks 11(3): 30. DOI: 10.3390/jsan11030030.

151.

Ruiz-Ballesteros

(2022) What community for community-based tourism? Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–14. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2091982.

152.

Rydzik

Kissoon

(2021) Decent work and tourism workers in the age of intelligent automation and digital surveillance. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 30: 1–18. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1928680.

153.

Saini

Arasanmi

(2021) Attaining digital advocacy behaviour through destination image and satisfaction. International Journal of Tourism Cities. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/IJTC-07-2019-0108.

154.

Sakas

Reklitis

Terzi

, et al. (2022) Multichannel digital marketing optimizations through big data analytics in the tourism and hospitality industry. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research 17(4): 1383–1408. DOI: 10.3390/jtaer17040070.

155.

Schuhbauer

Hausmann

(2021) Cooperation for the implementation of digital applications in rural cultural tourism marketing. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research 16(1): 106–120. DOI: 10.1108/IJCTHR-08-2020-0171.

156.

Seraphin

(2021) The digital traveller: implications for data ethics and data governance in tourism and hospitality. Journal of Consumer Marketing 40(2): 155–170. DOI: 10.1108/JCM-12-2020-4278.155-170.

157.

Shackley

(1997) Saving cultural information: the potential role of digital databases in developing cultural tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 5(3): 244–249. DOI: 10.1080/09669589708667289.

158.

Shrestha

Wenan

Khadka

, et al. (2020) Digital tourism security system for Nepal. KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS) 14(11): 4331–4354. DOI: 10.3837/tiis.2020.11.005.

159.

Singh

Munjal

(2021) How is the hospitality and tourism industry in India responding to the dynamic digital era? Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes 13(2): 163–167. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-09-2020-0118.

160.

Smith

(2021) Pandemic and post-pandemic digital pedagogy in hospitality education for generations Z, alpha, and beyond. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research 45(5): 915–919. DOI: 10.1177/10963480211000818.

161.

Soliman

Baher

Soliman

(2022) Digital literacy and its effect on employees’ innovation in Egyptian official tourism organizations. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 11(6): 2079–2091. DOI: 10.46222/ajhtl.19770720.343.

162.

Stankov

Gretzel

(2021) Digital well-being in the tourism domain: mapping new roles and responsibilities. Information Technology & Tourism 23(1): 5–17. DOI: 10.1007/s40558-021-00197-3.

163.

Styvén

Wallström

(2019) Benefits and barriers for the use of digital channels among small tourism companies. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 19(1): 27–46. DOI: 10.1080/15022250.2017.1379434.

164.

Suder

Duda

Kusa

, et al. (2022) At the crossroad of digital and tourism entrepreneurship: mediating effect of digitalization in hospitality industry. European Journal of Innovation Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/EJIM-08-2022-0422.

165.

Sun

Guo

(2022) A new destination on the palm? The moderating effect of travel anxiety on digital tourism behavior in extended UTAUT2 and TTF models. Frontiers in Psychology 13: 965655. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.965655.

166.

Susanto

Hendrayati

Rahtomo

, et al. (2022) Adoption of digital payments for travelers at tourism destinations. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 11(2): 741–753. DOI: 10.46222/ajhtl.19770720.254.

167.

Syvertsen

(2022) Offline tourism: digital and screen ambivalence in Norwegian mountain huts with no internet access. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 22(3): 195–209. DOI: 10.1080/15022250.2022.2070540.

168.

Tang

(2022) Digital economy drives tourism development—empirical evidence based on the UK. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 36(1): 2003–2020. DOI: 10.1080/1331677X.2022.2094443.

169.

Tang

(2023) Digital economy and total factor productivity of tourism enterprises in China: the perspective of market competition theory. Current Issues in Tourism. Online ahead-of-print: 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2159338.

170.

Tang

Ren

Zhou

(2022) Does the digital economy promote “innovation and entrepreneurship” in rural tourism in China? Frontiers in Psychology 13: 979027. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.979027.

171.

Tarazona-Montoya

Peris-Ortiz

Devece

(2020) The value of cluster association for digital marketing in tourism regional development. Sustainability 12(23): 9887. DOI: 10.3390/su12239887.

172.

Tiago

Gil

Stemberger

, et al. (2020) Digital sustainability communication in tourism. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge 6(1): 27–34. DOI: 10.1016/j.jik.2019.12.002.

173.

Tranfield

Denyer

Smart

(2003) Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management 14(3): 207–222. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.00375.

174.

Tripathi

Wasan

(2021) Positioning of tourist destinations in the digital era: a review of online customer feedback. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/WHATT-09-2020-0122.

175.

Tsourgiannis

Valsamidis

(2019) Digital marketing in tourism: why Greek tourists use digital marketing applications like Airbnb. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/IJCTHR-03-2019-0043.

176.

Valls

Roca

(2021) Visualizing digital traces for sustainable urban management: mapping tourism activity on the virtual public space. Sustainability 13(6): 3159. DOI: 10.3390/su13063159.

177.

van Nuenen

Scarles

(2021) Advancements in technology and digital media in tourism. Tourist Studies 21(1): 119–132. DOI: 10.1177/1468797621990410.

178.

Verhun

Buntova

Boretska

, et al. (2022) Digital tools for the development of the hospitality and tourism industry in the context of a digitized economy. Economic Affairs 67(4): 869–876. DOI: 10.46852/0424-2513.4s.2022.20.

179.

Watkins

Ziyadin

Imatayeva

, et al. (2018) Digital tourism as a key factor in the development of the economy. Economic Annals XXI(169): 40–45. DOI: 10.21003/ea.V169-08.

180.

Wee

Ghani

NAM

Jinal

, et al. (2019) Eco-tainment digital library and leisure tourism: a practical approach for generation Z. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering 8(1): 183–187.

181.

Wei

Ullah

(2022) International tourism, digital infrastructure, and CO2 emissions: fresh evidence from panel quantile regression approach. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 29(24): 36273–36280. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-18138-2.

182.

Wijaya

Suasih

NNR

Wibawa

, et al. (2021) Policy for the development of custom villages into a digital-based tourism village that can adapt to the new normal era (Case study of custom villages in Bali, Indonesia). Scientific Papers: Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture & Rural Development 21(4): 621–626.

183.

Wilson

Garay-Tamajon

Morales-Perez

(2021) Politicising platform-mediated tourism rentals in the digital sphere: airbnb in Madrid and Barcelona. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 30(5): 1080–1101. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1866585.

184.

Yang

Fan

Jiang

, et al. (2022) Search query and tourism forecasting during the pandemic: when and where can digital footprints be helpful as predictors? Annals of Tourism Research 93: 103365. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2022.103365.

185.

Yaşarsoy

Çalişkan

Pamukçu

(2022) The place and importance of digital reputation management in tourism establishments. Revista Turismo & Desenvolvimento 39: 41–63. DOI: 10.34624/rtd.v39i0.30336.

186.

Wang

Sun

(2022) The coupling and coordination relationship of the digital economy and tourism industry from the perspective of industrial integration. European Journal of Innovation Management. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/EJIM-08-2022-0440.

187.

Yeniasır

Gökbulut

(2022) Effectiveness of usage of digital heritage in the sustainability of cultural tourism on islands: the case of northern Cyprus. Sustainability 14(6): 3621. DOI: 10.3390/su14063621.

188.

Yeung

Galindo

(2019) Why do public blockchains need formal and effective internal governance mechanisms? European Journal of Risk Regulation 10(2): 359–375. DOI: 10.1017/err.2019.42.

189.

Yoo

Goo

Huang

, et al. (2017) Improving travel decision support satisfaction with smart tourism technologies: a framework of tourist elaboration likelihood and self-efficacy. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 123: 330–341. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2016.10.071.

190.

Lian

Geng

, et al. (2022) Analyzing the structure of tourism destination network based on digital footprints: taking Guilin, China as a case. Data Technologies and Applications. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/DTA-09-2021-0240.

191.

Zaragoza-Sáez

Marco-Lajara

Ubeda-Garcia

(2021) Digital skills in tourism. A study from the next tourism generation (ntg) alliance. Measuring Business Excellence. Online ahead-of-print. DOI: 10.1108/MBE-11-2020-0151.

192.

Zhao

Chen

, et al. (2022a) Depicting urban multi-scale tourist activity spaces using digital footprints for smart destinations. Current Issues in Tourism 26: 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2104696.

193.

Zhao

Mei

Xiao

(2022b) Impact of the digital economy in the high-quality development of tourism—an empirical study of xinjiang in China. Sustainability 14(20): 12972. DOI: 10.3390/su142012972.

194.

Zheng

Chen

Zhang

, et al. (2022) Does vivid imagination deter visitation? The role of mental imagery processing in virtual tourism on tourists’ behavior. Journal of Travel Research 61(7): 1528–1541. DOI: 10.1177/00472875211042671.

195.

Zhou

(2019) Research on development mode of intelligent rural tourism under digital background. Informatica 43(3): 337–341. DOI: 10.31449/inf.v43i3.2806.

196.

Zhou

Liu

Luo

(2022) Impact effects of digital technology application on quality tourism development: empirical evidence from China. Transformations in Business and Economics 21(3): 52–72.

197.

Zollo

Rialti

Marrucci

, et al. (2021) How do museums foster loyalty in tech-savvy visitors? The role of social media and digital experience. Current Issues in Tourism 25: 1–18. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2021.1896487.

Digital transformation and the new combinations in tourism: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Theoretical background

Digital tourism

Methodology

Results

Descriptive results

Digital transformation and the new combinations in tourism: Key trends

Cluster 1 (No.=78): Digital marketing

Cluster 2 (No.=54): Digital economy

Cluster 3 (No.=29): Education and hospitality

Cluster 4 (No.=6): Digital free

Discussion and research agenda

Digital marketing

Digital economy

Education and hospitality

Digital free

Theoretical and practical contributions

Conclusion and limitations

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

Funding

ORCID iD

Author Biographies

References