Impact of Mobile Applications in Changing the Tourist Experience

Dias Sónia () and Afonso Victor Alves
Additional contact information
Dias Sónia: Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies, Estoril, Portugal
Afonso Victor Alves: Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies, Estoril, Portugal

European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 113-120

Abstract: This exploratory study investigates the impact of technology on the tourist experience. This research analyzed the effect of new technologies on the behaviour of new tourism consumers, the importance of mobile technology in the tourism industry, and the phenomenon of mobile tourism in the change of the tourism experience. It also studied the spillover effect that these changes have had on the use of mobile applications in tourism, trying to understand their impact on the tourism experience. A quantitative and qualitative analysis supported this investigation through a survey of 110 Portuguese tourists using applications and two interviews with administrators of mobile application development companies, and, finally, through the analysis of four case studies. The main conclusion is that smartphones and mobile travel applications can substantially alter the tourist experience. Tourists assume that smartphones have motivated changes in the activities and emotions experienced, especially in social applications that allow them to maintain contact with their friends and families and increase security levels.

Keywords: Tourism; Tourist experience; Apps; Mobile applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2021-0011 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:ejothr:v:11:y:2021:i:1:p:113-120:n:9

DOI: 10.2478/ejthr-2021-0011

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation is currently edited by Joanna Kosmaczewska

More articles in European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().