County Readiness for eTourism Using Systematic Gap Analysis: The Case of Jordan

Abstract

The primary focus of this study is to establish a mechanism for assessing a country readiness for eTourism using two paradigms: systematic review and gap analysis. This assessment will be conducted by applying eTourism technology aspects as the main detriments of eTourism and behavioral aspects as moderating factors to generate a three-level gap index. The systematic review for determining gap analysis will be based on a framework developed in the literature of the eTourism Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM). This study, based on ETAM, develops its own framework for the systematic review. A comparative study was performed on two dimensions. The first dimension involves the examination of technology-related factors, encompassing security, accessibility of mobile applications, support for mobile payments, user interface design, and quality. To improve understanding of how tourists assess the four technological aspects, the second dimension included two moderating factors: attitude and trust. Based on the systematic review, this paper demonstrates a methodology for calculating individualized gaps for the six factors, as well as compounded gap indexes for the two dimensions and the total composite gap index (CGI) for all six factors through the utilization of an Excel spreadsheet. Based on the overall assessment, as the authors deduced from the discussions, Jordan's readiness for eTourism still needs further improvements to its eTourism factors. Future investigations will involve the implementation of a framework, such as Expert Choice, to emulate the methods utilized in this research. In addition, the outcome of this endeavor should suggest potential avenues for continuous improvement and diversification of eTourism research.