Summary
This book brings together cutting edge research and applications of social media and related technologies, their uses by consumers and businesses in travel, tourism and hospitality.
The first section addresses topical issues related to how social media influence the operations and strategies of tourism firms and help them enhance tourism experiences: open innovation, crowdsourcing, service-dominant logic, value co-creation, value co-destruction and augmented reality. The second section of the book looks at new applications of social media for marketing purposes in a variety of tourism-related sectors, addressing crowd-sourced campaigns, customer engagement and influencer marketing. The third section uses case studies and new methodologies to analyze travel review posting and consumption behaviors as well as the impact of social media on traveller perceptions and attitudes, with a focus on collaborative consumption and sharing economy accommodation. Finally, the fourth section focuses on hot topics and issues related to the analysis, interpretation and use of online information and user-generated content for deriving business intelligence and enhancing business decision-making.
Written by an international body of well-known researchers, this book uses fresh theoretical lenses, perspectives and methodological approaches to look at the practical implications of social media for tourism suppliers, destinations, tourism policy makers and researchers alike. For these reasons, it will be a valuable resource for students, managers and academics with an interest in information and communication technologies, marketing for tourism and hospitality, and travel and transportation management.
Ulrike Gretzel is a Visiting Professor in the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. She received her PhD in Communication from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on persuasion in human-computer interaction, social media, technology adoption, intelligent system design and smart tourism.
Marianna Sigala is a Professor at the University of South Australia. Her interests include service management, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in tourism and hospitality, and e-learning. She is currently the editor of the Journal of Service Theory & Practice and the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Cases. She is a past President of EuroCHRIE and has served on the Board of Directors of I-CHRIE, IFITT and HeAIS.
