Digital Traceability and Electronic Commerce in Tourism, Hospitality and Food Service: Platforms, Provenance and Consumer Trust

Dear Colleagues,

Digital traceability has become central to contemporary electronic commerce. Provenance data (where an input originated, who handled it, and under what conditions) now reaches consumers through digital platforms rather than paper certificates, driven by expanding regulation, sustainability and authenticity claims, and affordable identification technologies.

In tourism, hospitality and food service, this shift acquires a distinctive e-commerce dimension. Guests rarely select the traced inputs themselves, yet provenance increasingly operates as a pre-purchase signal on booking platforms, food delivery applications, digital menus and live-streamed channels, where it shapes search, trust and willingness to pay, and allows operators to turn verifiable supply chain investments into differentiation and premium value. Research on blockchain in tourism has focused mainly on disintermediation, payments and loyalty, while traceability studies have centred on upstream supply chains and retail consumers; how platform-mediated provenance shapes consumer decisions in service settings therefore remains under-researched and fragmented across disciplines.

This Special Issue invites theoretical, empirical and design-oriented contributions on how digital traceability is displayed, verified and valued on digital platforms in tourism, hospitality and food service and on the conditions under which technical verification becomes consumer trust.

Topics include but are not limited to:

• Platform business models and value creation around digital traceability;
• Provenance as a pre-purchase signal: online trust, credibility and willingness to pay;
• Interface and disclosure on digital platforms: QR codes, digital product passports, digital menus, booking pages;
• Live-streaming commerce: real-time provenance verification and online purchase behaviour;
• Blockchain, distributed ledgers and simpler alternatives for verifying provenance on digital platforms;
• Verifiable provenance versus sustainability claims: greenwashing, governance and regulatory compliance;
• Employees as the link between traceability systems and digital platforms: data accuracy and communication of verified provenance;
• Adoption of digital traceability platforms by small and micro-enterprises.

Prof. Dr. George Lăzăroiu
Dr. Laura Cismaru
Dr. Phil Jolly
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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