How Technology is changing the Tourism Experience

Industry 4.0 and Tourism 4.0

Generally, there is a rise in businesses that depend on Industry 4.0 to keep up with emerging technology, take advantage of business improvement opportunities, and secure their place in the industry's future. Meanwhile, the goal of the Tourism 4.0 project is to unleash the potential for innovation by facilitating communication amongst all players in the smart tourist ecosystem so that they may collaborate to co-create richer experiences using the essential enabling technologies from Industry 4.0. The Tourism 4.0 ecosystem prioritizes locals and their quality of life over tourists, with all other stakeholders positioned around them. Within this frame, we are developing a system with innovative tokens, secure digital IDs, and other disruptive tools, in which at least part of the data and profit is shared with the local communities.

Smart Technology

The government and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) frequently set up an evaluation system by the smart city strategy to develop a smart tourism destination. As a result, the majority of travelers make use of mobile payments via cell phones, local restaurant ratings, and location-based queries. Smart technologies are used by travelers to plan and enhance their travel experiences, such as DMO websites, travel apps, social media, and virtual reality.

Destination Marketing and Management Organization leaders such as Abercrombie & Kent UK (UK) carrying intimate knowledge of the destinations, alongside their “insider access” to the most sought-after events, Access (USA) with the slogan “To inspire people through shared experiences”, and CE Group (USA) for their solid and strong heartbeat towards their incredible team of dedicated staffers who assist and engage with on-site event support and logistics.

To develop a smart tourism destination, the government, and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) often establish an evaluation system according to the policy for smart cities. Therefore, most tourists use smart technologies such as location queries, local restaurant reviews, or mobile payments through smartphones during their travel. Smart technologies are used throughout the whole travel process, including DMO websites, tourism apps, social media, and virtual reality for tourists to arrange and enrich their trips.

As previously indicated, the growth of tourism can enhance living standards and make travel enjoyable. Seeking fresh and exceptional travel experiences has emerged as a novel way to live and is frequently regarded as a crucial step on the path to happiness. Most of the research on tourism and happiness looks at how interactions and destination values affect travelers' pleasure.

Smart Tourism

As a novel idea, "smart" frequently refers to useful gadgets in the framework of social and economic advancement, such as smartphones, smart TVs, and smart automobiles. When we talk about smart, we mean eco-friendly, sustainable, ubiquitous, integrated, and intelligent. The term "smart tourism" refers to the remarkable accomplishments made possible by the contribution of real-time data, integrated technologies, and physical infrastructure into a unified, complex ecosystem equivalent to a metropolis.

The idea of smart tourism created a capability–attributes–and applications framework. The framework addresses the context of smart tourism applications, offering DMOs and private businesses market methods to attain profit and public welfare. Additionally, it is an asset to create more value, especially the co-creation value generated by tourists.

Benefits of Smart Devices in Tourism:

•  Wearable and portable gadgets such as smartwatches, smart glasses, and smartphones are referred to as smart devices. Furthermore, every department and location in the tourist sector uses smart gadgets. Examples of these include self-service ticket machines, self-service kiosks in hotels, self-service flight check-in machines in airports, and tour guide systems in travel attractions.
• The benefits to tourists from using these smart devices are in terms of convenient and effective services. Travelers are drawn to wearable and portable technology because of advancements in ICT and their practicality.
• The tourism sector has transformed thanks to the myriad applications that smartphones, mobile networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), and near-field communication (NFC) technologies have produced.
•  A rise in the number of travelers choosing to go alone rather than via intermediaries like travel companies. With the help of smart technology, travelers can effortlessly reserve hotels, flights, and other travel-related products on mobile websites. They can also quickly access information on transportation, accommodation, and attractions on their smartphones as needed.
• Using cellphones to access websites, social media accounts, and service platforms that provide real-time updates and information about the destination as well as direct communication with other travelers and travel agents to help them plan their trips more effectively.

Smart Tourism and Perceived STTs

Smart devices and smart tourism technologies (STTs) include things like social media, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), mixed reality, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), NFC, and radio-frequency identification (RFID). Emerging STTs are VR and AR.

Consequently, traditional online information channels and other new technologies are considered the two key points of view in this area. Travelers provide much of the content on the internet, and social media is one of the most widely used sources of travel information. Internet-based tourist information can be obtained from four sources: company websites, blogs, public websites, and social media websites. It should be noted that accessibility, security, information trust, interactivity, and personalization are the five characteristics of online information.

STTSs Features:

1.       Informativeness

Informativeness refers to how accurate, dependable, and high-quality the information provided by STTs at tourist destinations is. Since information instantly impacts on visitors' perceptions of STTs, it owns a high value in this era. When STTs provide relevant, sufficient, and trustworthy information regarding activities, accommodations, and transportation, travelers save time and effort in their information-seeking endeavors. Additionally, they express satisfaction with their encounters. Being informative helps visitors assess a destination objectively and enhances their capacity for making wise judgments.

2.       Accessibility

The degree to which visitors may readily obtain and utilize the information provided at the destination through various STTs is referred to as accessibility. The usability of STTs at the destination is determined by their accessibility. When STTs are widely available, people prefer to look up more information about the destination.

3.       Interactivity

When employing STTs, interactivity is characterized as a facilitator that encourages passengers to provide real-time feedback and engage in active discussion. This influences how visitors react to STTs. Travelers who find social media platforms to be highly interactive are more likely to use them and connect with travel suppliers more frequently by making purchases, leaving comments, and providing feedback.

4.       Personalization

The capacity for a traveler to use different types of STTs to receive specific information to meet their own trip-planning needs is referred to as personalization. Through big data or cloud computing, travelers can obtain recommendations that are tailored to their preferences, personality, and past purchasing activity.

5.       Security

Security is the preservation of private data when utilizing different kinds of STTs. When travelers believe their personal information is secure, they are more likely to use STTs while at the location. Security is seen as a fundamental characteristic of perceived STTs in many earlier research.

Findings and Results

Happiness and Tourists’ Travel Satisfaction

Most people define happiness as a certain quality of life or hedonic happiness level. One can use life satisfaction or subjective well-being as a proxy for happiness. According to research, visitors' enjoyment varies depending on their personalities, the kinds of destinations they choose, and the activities they engage in while traveling. Tourism, then, is essentially the pursuit of a hedonic experience.

By lowering hedonic adaptation, particularly in terms of expectancy and serendipity, travel extends happiness. People's general level of happiness can be raised by having a good vacation experience, and interaction is one of the main things that makes people happy. The value-seeking process of tourists concludes that satisfied travel and service experiences can boost tourists' happiness. All facets of tourism are included in smart tourism, such as lodging, attractions, and modes of transportation. Travelers will have a satisfying time at the location if they have positive feelings and attitudes toward STTs. Travel satisfaction thus leads to tourist happiness.

Tourists’ Travel Satisfaction and Revisit Intention

According to researchers in the subject of tourism studies, visitor happiness is crucial in determining their propensity to behave. Recommendation intention and revisit intention toward the destination are referred to as behavioral intention, which is also called loyalty. The degree to which visitors are willing to return to the destination is indicated by their intention to revisit. Satisfied with their experiences, tourists intend to return to the location.