Tourism Professionals’ Awareness of the New Technologies: A Premise of the Destinations’ Modernization and Development

Abstract

AbstractIn the context of the current requirements regarding the modernization and the development of tourist destinations in order to remain competitive and attractive for the modern tourist, the use of new technologies becomes an urgent necessity, representing a reality of the present and especially of the future. People’s attitudes on the use of emergent technologies in tourism varies from stakeholders to practitioners and tourists. In this respect, a mix of qualitative marketing research based on semi-structured interviews was conducted with practitioners. The results of the study highlighted on the long-term positive attitude of tourism practitioners towards the use of new technologies in tourism, especially during pandemic and the positive effects on the development and modernization of tourist destinations. On the short-term, an ambivalent reaction probably due to the technological and digital “binge” during pandemic was registered. The practical implications of the results for the stakeholders imply that the abrupt and salient use of digital services and new technologies could provoke on the short term an ambivalent response from users. The paper also offers suggestions for future research directions.KeywordsTourist destinationNew technologiesIoTVRAIWeb 4.0