The 44 papers presented in this volume advance the state of the art in social media and Web 2.0, electronic tourism marketing, web site and search engine optimization, technology adoption and diffusion, online communities, tourism management and decision support, eLearning, mobile technologies and...

This special issue aims at drawing attention to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly social media, in religious tourism and pilgrimage. The first paper analyses the online travel reviews (OTRs) about the Sacred Mounts of Oropa and Orta in Italy, highlighting...

Through an empirical study among travellers from Russia and the other Former Soviet Union (FSU) Republics, this paper provides a comprehensive view of role and impact of social media on the whole travel planning process: before, during and after the trip, providing insights on usage levels, scope...

Due to the increasing popularity of smartphones and their apps, mobile technologies have been effectively changing the nature of travel. This study employed a data mining approach to classify the types of information services and design features of travel-related iPhone apps as well as users’...

The paper introduces the idea of interaction with networks of socially intelligent objects as a way of supporting tourists and introducing them to the culture of a territory and as a way of maintaining the cultural heritage of an area. This is illustrated by the development of a mobile application...

The potential benefits of social media for the promotion of hospitality and tourism businesses has been well researched from the consumers' perspective. Using in-depth interviews with 5 hospitality and tourism practitioners in Hong Kong, this study explores practitioners' perceptions regarding ...

The impact is discussed of the convergence of ICT and independent travel from the perspective of a group of 8 tech-savvy flashpackers. The mobilities paradigm is employed to examine the convergence of technology and backpacking tourism. The study of the flashpacking phenomenon through a 'mobilities ...

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have had a significant impact on both the travel and tourism experience and industry. In particular, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have found ICT a powerful ally to harmonize and coordinate the activities of local stakeholders as well...

A mixed method approach is used to investigate the drivers of e-commerce adoption by an initial sample of 826 Egyptian travel agents based in Greater Cairo. It was found that agents' adaptation to technology change is the strongest driver of e-commerce adoption followed by the perception of...

This study draws upon diffusion modelling to examine hospitality website adoption within Malaysia in particular. Data came from an Internet adoption study of the 540 hotels registered with the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia. The results suggest 38% of Malaysian hotels may never adopt a traditional...