Abstract
Orientation: This article considered the use of technological tools by tourism trade exhibition visitors from a marketing perspective. Research purpose: The main aim of this article was to investigate the adoption and use of technology by tourism providers within the context of business events and exhibitions. Motivation for the study: To inform the tourism business practitioners about the efficient and appropriate uses of technological platforms in connecting and interacting with potential stakeholders at tourism events or exhibitions. Research design, approach and method: A conceptual model was suggested and four hypotheses were advanced and empirically tested for the prediction of a business tourist’s intention to accept technology (BTIAT) model. The target population was professional exhibition visitors – consisting of six groups: hunters, sport shooters, gun collectors, game farmers, professional hunters and anglers – who attended HuntEx 2015 (sample size = 403). A quantitative, inductive research approach was adapted, while general linear modelling (GLM) was applied to analyse the data. Main findings: The study’s findings indicate that business tourists’ intention to use online technology was explained when the interaction between business tourists’ perceived usefulness of online technology and business tourists’ perceived ease of use of online technology are entered into the equation. Practical/managerial implications: The providers of business tourism services (owners and managers) should consider the development of mobile applications to enhance the overall experience of business tourists when attending an event or exhibition, on condition that the application is relevant to the event and easy to use. Contribution/value-add: The study suggested the adequate adoption and efficient uses of mobile applications by business tourism providers as a tool in improving and rendering more attractive the tourists’ experience.
Highlights
Tourism and travel-related industries are one of the world’s largest economic sectors
The model was benchmarked with similar online models. This resulted in three measuring instruments: the perceived usefulness of online technology, perceived ease of use of online technology, and intention to use online technology, which were included in the construction of the final instrument
The purpose of this study was to investigate the key aspects of the adoption and use of mobile application in its simplest form (Mortenson & Vidgen 2016) by business event tourists
Summary
Tourism and travel-related industries are one of the world’s largest economic sectors. The growth and expansion of technology and the usage thereof among tourists are adding to the tourism industry, which is becoming more technology friendly and using it as a means of increasing revenue and opportunities (Kennedy-Eden & Gretzel 2012). With the increase in the availability of mobile applications, such as Picksie and TouristEye, the providers of tourism services could use mobile applications as a form of interacting and connecting with consumers even if the mobile application is not tourism specific (De Oliveira Nunes & Mayer 2014; Dinh et al 2011; Kennedy-Eden & Gretzel 2012). According to De Oliveira Nunes and Mayer (2014), the use of a mobile application within the tourism industry could enhance the tourist experience as well as increase the level of activity and interaction between tourists and service providers. Mobile applications could be used by tourism providers in ensuring that consumers are continuously updated and informed (Gavalas et al 2012; Xia, Zhang & Zhang 2018) about the http://www.actacommercii.co.za
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