Special Issue "Technological Transformations towards a More Sustainable Environment in Hospitality and Tourism"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. João Guerreiro
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: augmented and virtual reality; artificial intelligence; relationship marketing
Prof. Dr. Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: technologies and marketing; consumer–brand relationship; branding

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been changing the way in which consumers perceive their travel experiences. While VR allows hospitality and tourism managers to develop new and exciting environments that present fully immersive experiences, AR technologies can be used to follow the consumer experience over time and present virtual objects that are overlaid in their real-world environment. AI is also transforming the hospitality and tourism landscape with the use of AI virtual assistants embedded in a growing number of IoT devices. Although the use of such technologies may have broad implications for hospitality and tourism in general, they may be extremely important tools for economic, environmental and social sustainable development, and for addressing some of the major challenges that hospitality and tourism are facing nowadays. Some examples of challenges in the hospitality and tourism landscape are those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure that over-tourism is handled correctly when the pandemic is over. AI, AR, VR and IoT may present opportunities to develop and expand the uses of new technologies to reduce such effects.

This Special Issue regarding “Technological Transformations Towards a More Sustainable Environment in Hospitality and Tourism” searches for original research works that present both theoretical and managerial contributions related to the use of new technologies in hospitality and tourism. The current Special Issue encourages the submission of manuscripts that target different topics, including, but not limited to:

  • The use of new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR/IoT) to reduce the effects of a COVID-19 crisis in tourism
  • The use of new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR/ IoT) to reduce the effects of over-tourism
  • How can new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR / IoT) be used as a tool to develop sustainable and pro-environmental behaviors in tourism?
  • Multisensory experiences using new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR / IoT) in tourism
  • The use of new theories to explain how new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR/IoT) may affect consumer behavior and consumer relationships with brands in tourism
  • How can new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR/IoT) affect tourists’ well-being?

How can new technologies (e.g. AI/AR/VR/IoT) be used to enhance stakeholder (suppliers, attractions, local governments, heritage sites, transport systems) sustainability and performance?

Prof. Dr. João Guerreiro
Prof. Dr. Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • augmented reality
  • virtual reality
  • tourism
  • AI
  • IoT
  • multisensory
  • sustainability

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Social Networking Service as a Marketing Technology Tool and Sustainable Business in the Lodging Industry: Investigating the Difference across Older and Younger Age Groups among Tourists
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5673; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105673 - 18 May 2021
Viewed by 439
Abstract
Despite the importance of social networking services (SNSs), their engagement and their role as a critical marketing technology tool in explaining travellers’ approach behaviours are not well known. The present study investigated the influence of SNS engagement on traveller loyalty generation for a [...] Read more.
Despite the importance of social networking services (SNSs), their engagement and their role as a critical marketing technology tool in explaining travellers’ approach behaviours are not well known. The present study investigated the influence of SNS engagement on traveller loyalty generation for a chain hotel brand and the health of this business by considering the roles of brand attitude, awareness, trust, and attachment and the impact of age. Fostering customers’ SNS engagement in the hospitality industry will be a vital constituent of hotels’ sustainable business. A quantitative process was used to meet the research objectives. The proposed research framework encompassing these variables was successfully developed. The framework’s efficiency in predicting brand loyalty was also demonstrated. Our results showed that SNS engagement considerably enhances loyalty and other study constructs. Attachment had a salient role in boosting loyalty. In addition, age had a moderating influence. The study constructs maximized the influence of SNS engagement on loyalty as mediators. Overall, our results considerably increase our understanding regarding the role of SNS engagement in the formation of traveller loyalty to chain hotel brands and the sustainability of such businesses. Full article
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Article
Study on Glacial Tourism Exploitation in the Dagu Glacier Scenic Spot Based on the AHP–ASEB Method
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2614; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052614 - 01 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 557
Abstract
Due to the impact of COVID-19, people’s demand for non-contact tourism is increasing. The development of Internet technologies such as the Internet of Things, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) can meet this demand. Internet technology makes non-contact tourism grow. However, these [...] Read more.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, people’s demand for non-contact tourism is increasing. The development of Internet technologies such as the Internet of Things, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) can meet this demand. Internet technology makes non-contact tourism grow. However, these new technologies are emerging only within application cases, which cannot provide comprehensive methodological guidance for tourism suppliers. Despite the booming development of winter tourism in China, there are still many problems, especially affecting the tourist experience.rarchy process (AHP) and activity, setting, experience and benefit (ASEB) grid analysis were used to analyze the activities, settings, experiences and benefits of the scenic spot from the tourist perspective taking the Dagu Glacier Scenic Spot (DGSS) as an example. The research aims to increase the attraction of the scenic zone, and promote the coordinated and sustainable development of business in West China under the goal of improving tourists’ experiences. The results show that: subgoals of experience (E) and benefit (B) are the main directions of the development of ice and snow tourism in the DGSS. Furthermore, the threat of benefits (TB), the threat of setting (TS), the threat of experience (TE), the opportunities of benefits (OB), the opportunities of setting (OS), and the opportunities of experience (OE) are the main concerns. Full article
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