Abstract
‘Smart tourism’ and ‘smart tourism destinations’ (STDs) have become commonplace in the research of the interrelationship between tourism, destinations and the latest Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). However, research has failed hitherto to identify if this evolution towards smartness of tourism is accompanied by a similar process in tourism education to provide the system with prepared human resources once the transformation has been fully completed. This paper aims to fulfil this gap, by taking the case of Spanish public superior education in tourism, to analyse in which degree ICTs, as critical knowledge and skills required within STDs, are included in tourism curricula and how students assess the formation they receive in this regard. The analysis offers several valuable implications for governments in charge of public education design and opens discussion over the possibility to strengthen the technological side of tourism curricula.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Airey, D., Tribe, J. (eds.): An International Handbook of Tourism Education. Routledge, Abingdon (2005)
Airey, D., Dredge, D., Gross, M.J.: Tourism, hospitality and events education in an age of change. In: Airey, D., Dredge, D., Gross, M.J. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education, pp. 3–14. Routledge, Abingdon (2015)
Barron, P., Maxwell, G., Broadbridge, A., Ogden, S.: Careers in hospitality management: generation Y’s experiences and perceptions. J. Hospitality Tourism Manage. 14(2), 119–128 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1375/jhtm.14.2.119
Benckendorff, P., Moscardo, G.: Generation Y and the curriculum space. In: Dredge, D., Airey, D., Gross, M.J. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education, pp. 422–439. Routledge, Abingdon (2015)
Boes, K., Buhalis, D., Inversini, A.: Smart tourism destinations: ecosystems for tourism destination competitiveness. Int. J. Tourism Cities 2(2) (2016). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-12-2015-0032
Buhalis, D.: Information technologies in tourism: implications for the tourism curriculum. In: Buhalis, D., Tjoa, M.A, Jafari, J. (eds.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 1998, pp. 289–297. Springer, Vienna (1998)
Buhalis, D., Amaranggana, A.: Smart tourism destinations. In: Xiang, Z., Tussyadiah, I. (eds.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2014, pp. 553–564. Springer, Cham (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03973-2
Buhalis, D., Law, R.: Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the internet-the state of eTourism research. Tour. Manage. 29(4), 609–623 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2008.01.005
Cantoni, L., Kalbaska, N., Inversini, A.: E-learning in tourism and hospitality: a map. J. Hospitality Leisure Sports Tourism Educ. 8(2), 148–156 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3794/johlste.82.263
Choe, Y., Fesenmaier, D.R.: The quantified traveler: implications for smart tourism development. In: Xiang, Z., Fesenmaier, D.R. (eds.) Analytics in Smart Tourism Design, pp. 65–77. Springer, Switzerland (2017)
Del Chiappa, G., Baggio, R.: Knowledge transfer in smart tourism destinations: analyzing the effects of a network structure. J. Destination Mark. Manage. 30(10), 1757–1771 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2015.02.001
Dredge, D., Airey, D., Gross, M.J.: Creating the future. Tourism, hospitality and events education in a post-industrial, post-disciplinary world. In: Dredge, D., Airey, D., Gross, M.J. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education, pp. 535–550. Routledge, Abingdon (2015a)
Dredge, D., Airey, D., Gross, M. J. (eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education. Routledge, Abingdon (2015b)
Dredge, D., Benckendorff, P., Day, M., Gross, M. J., Walo, M., Weeks, P., Whitelaw, P.: The philosophic practitioner and the curriculum space. Ann. Tourism Res. 39(4), 2154–2176 (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2012.07.017
Dwyer, L., Gill, A., Seetaram, N., (eds.): Handbook of research methods in tourism: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Edward Elgar Publishing (2012)
Gretzel, U., Reino, S., Kopera, S., Koo, C.: Smart tourism challenges. J. Tourism 16(1), 41–47 (2015a). https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-12-2014-0023
Gretzel, U., Sigala, M., Xiang, Z., Koo, C.: Smart tourism: foundations and developments. Electron. Mark. 25(3), 179–188 (2015b). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-015-0196-8
Gretzel, U., Werthner, H., Koo, C., Lamsfus, C.: Conceptual foundations for understanding smart tourism ecosystems. Comput. Hum. Behav. 50, 558–563 (2015c). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.043
Ivars, J.A., Celdrán, M.A., Mazón, J., Perles, Á.: Towards an ICT roadmap for smart tourism destinations based on prospective analysis. E-Rev. Tourism Res. 8, 1–5 (2017)
Jiang, B., Tribe, J.: “Tourism jobs-short lived professions”: Student attitudes towards tourism careers in China. J. Hospitality Leisure Sports Tourism Educ. 8(1), 4 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3794/johlste.81.168
Jovicic, D.Z.: From the traditional understanding of tourism destination to the smart tourism destination. Curr. Issues Tourism (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2017.1313203
Koo, C., Park, J., Lee, J.-N.: Smart tourism: Traveler, business, and organizational perspectives. Inf. Manage. (2017, In press) (Editorial). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2017.04.005
Koo, C., Yoo, K.-H., Lee, J.-N., Zanker, M.: Special section on generative smart tourism systems and management: Man-machine interaction. Int. J. Inf. Manage. 36(6), 1301–1305 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2016.05.015
Leung, D., Law, R., van Hoof, H., Buhalis, D.: Social media in tourism and hospitality: a literature review. J. Travel Tourism Mark. 30(1–2), 3–22 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2013.750919
Majó, J.: Las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones en el Currículum de los Estudios de Turismo. In: V Congreso “Turismo y Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones” TuriTec, pp. 303–325. Universidad de Málaga, Málaga (2004)
Medina, S., González, R.: LA FORMACIÓN EN TECNOLOGÍAS DE LA INFORMACIÓN Y DE LAS COMUNICACIONES (TIC) EN LA TITULACIÓN DE TURISMO:¿ ES ADECUADA? Teoría de La Educación. Educación Y Cultura En La Sociedad de La Información 11(3), 371–388 (2010)
Ministerio de Industria, E. y T.: Plan Nacional e Integral de Turismo 2012–2015 (2013). Retrieved from http://www.tourspain.es/es-es/VDE/DocumentosVisionDestinoEspaa/PlanNacionaleIntegraldeTurismo2012_2015_FINAL_REVISADO150313.pdf
Morais, E.P., Cunha, C.R., Gomes, J.P.: The information and communication technologies in tourism degree courses: the reality of Portugal and Spain. J. E-Learning High. Educ. 2013 (2013). https://doi.org/10.5171/2013.611948
Munar, A.M., Bødker, M.: Information technologies and tourism. The critical turn in curriculum development. In Airey, D., Dredge, D., Gross, M.J. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education, pp. 105–117. Routledge, Abingdon (2015)
Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D., Ladkin, A.: Smart technologies for personalized experiences: a case study in the hospitality domain. Electron. Mark. 25, 243–254 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-015-0182-1
Richardson, S.: Undergraduates’ perceptions of tourism and hospitality as a career choice. Int. J. Hospitality Manage. 28(3), 382–388 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2008.10.006
Richardson, S., Thomas, N.J.: Utilising generation Y: United States hospitality and tourism students’ perceptions of careers in the industry. J. Hospitality Tourism Manage. 19, e10 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1017/jht.2012.1
SEGITTUR: Informe destinos turísticos inteligentes: construyendo el futuro (2015). Retrieved from http://www.segittur.es/opencms/export/sites/segitur/.content/galerias/descargas/proyectos/Libro-Blanco-Destinos-Tursticos-Inteligentes-construyendo-el-futuro.pdf
Sheldon, P., Fesenmaier, D., Woeber, K., Cooper, C., Antonioli, M.: Tourism education futures, 2010–2030: building the capacity to lead. J. Teach. Travel Tourism 7(3), 61–68 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/15313220801909445
Sigala, M., Baum, T.: Trends and issues in tourism and hospitality higher education: visioning the future. Tourism Hospitality Res. 4(4), 367–376 (2003)
Tribe, J.: The philosophic practitioner. Ann. Tourism Res. 29(2), 338–357 (2002)
Vera, J.F., Ivars, J.A.: La formación y la investigación turística en España: una visión de síntesis. Papers de Turisme 29, 7–27 (2001)
Wang, D., Park, S., Fesenmaier, D.R.: The role of smartphones in mediating the touristic experience. J. Travel Res. 51(4), 371–387 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287511426341
Wang, D., Li, X.R., Li, Y.: China’s “smart tourism destination” initiative: A taste of the service-dominant logic. J. Destination Mark. Manage. 2(2), 59–61 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2013.05.004
Wang, X., Li, X.R., Zhen, F., Zhang, J.: How smart is your tourist attraction?: measuring tourist preferences of smart tourism attractions via a FCEM-AHP and IPA approach. Tour. Manage. 54, 309–320 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.12.003
Xiang, Z., Fesenmaier, D.R.: Big data analytics, tourism design and smart tourism. In: Xiang, Z., Fesenmaier, D.R. (eds.) Analytics in Smart Tourism Design, pp. 299–307. Springer, Switzerland (2017)
Acknowledgements
This research has been carried out within the project “New approaches for tourism destinations planning and management: conceptualization, case studies and problems. Definition of smart tourism destinations models” (CSO2014-59193-R) under the Spanish R&D&I Plan financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Femenia-Serra, F. (2018). Smart Tourism Destinations and Higher Tourism Education in Spain. Are We Ready for This New Management Approach?. In: Stangl, B., Pesonen, J. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72923-7_33
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72923-7_33
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72922-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72923-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)