Information & Communication Technologies

Focus and Themes

The SIG aims to provide a networking hub for CAUTHE members to co-create and participate in professional development projects related to the use and impact of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in the wide tourism industry and education. Given the diversified transformational impact of ICT, the SIG’s activities will focus on investigating the impact of technologies on four key areas: tourism demand, tourism supply, tourism industry, tourism education and tourism research. Major topics will include:

  • ICT and tourism demand: co-creation, consumer behaviour, customer empowerment and engagement
  • ICT applications and challenges for tourism firms and organisations: integrating ICT into business operations and value chains, big data, crowdsourcing / crowdfunding, destination management systems, data analytics
  • The structural changes of ICT in tourism industry: networking, collaboration, business models, coopetition
  • ICT and tourism education: pedagogical e-learning models, e-assessment, MOOCS, ICT skills and competencies in tourism, teaching ICT and ICT curriculum development in tourism
  • ICT and research in tourism / hospitality: online research, open source data and research, online research ethics, online research tools, e-research methodologies (e.g. netnography)
  • ICT and the future: understanding how changes in ICT is occurring, what is next, forecasts and scenarios about the future

NEW!! SIG Snapshot video (3 mins) Professor Marianna Sigala & Associate Professor Ian Yeoman 

Key Outcomes for Members

The SIG aims to benefit members by:

  • creating a forum for exchanging and discussing knowledge and best practices as well as staying alerted about ICT applications, impacts and challenges in the tourism industry and education need to be alerted and informed about current developments and
  • enabling tourism educators and industry partners to liaise and develop networks through which they can collaboratively pursue research in the area of ICT and tourism
  • developing and implementing workshops, seminars, research and publication opportunities whereby tourism academics and professionals can use for developing their ICT knowledge and skills, advancing their careers and outputs
  • evaluating and demonstrating the role and future potential of ICT in order to boost the current use of ICT as well as guide and drive technology tourism research and innovative industry practices.

Upcoming 2024

  • Annual SIG meeting to be held on Thursday 8 February at 4pm – 5:30pm (AEDT) at CAUTHE 2024 Conference. The agenda will include a welcome to old and new members, review of past year, discussion and action plan for 2024, investigation of co-chair and any other business.

Past Activities

2022

  • The 2022 Information & Communications and Technology SIG meeting was held online on Friday 11 February at 17:00-18:00 (AEDT). Discussions focussed on emerging technologies in our sectors and the ways they impact our industry to inspire us to draft and lead a future research agenda in the field. Ideas for research collaborations and other scholarly activities were brainstormed and elaborated by the participants.

2020

  • At the SIG meeting at the CAUTHE 2020 Conference members were encouraged to contribute to a book on technologies and wine tourism. There was also opportunity to discuss emerging topics and opportunities for research and publications in the technology field.

2019

  • A workshop meeting Contemporary issues in technologies and tourism and research agendas was held at CAUTHE 2019 with speakers Prof Dimitrios Buhalis (Bournemouth University), Prof Marianna Sigala (University of South Australia) and Prof Ian Yeoman (Victoria University Wellington).
  • The SIG has finalised a book book titled Science Fiction, Disruption and Tourism (co-edited by Ian, Uma and Marianna). The book is currently with the publisher.
  • A book and call for book chapters on the topic of technologies and wine tourism to be published by Springer is under development.

2018

  • Submissions received for chapters to a co-edited book titled ‘Science Fiction, Disruption and Tourism’.

2017

2016

  • The SIG was formally approved in March 2016.
  • A SIG planning meeting was held at the CAUTHE 2016 conference. The meeting attracted 16 attendees and discussion included facilitating a technologies stream at CAUTHE 2017 conference, targeting a journal to edit a special issue and hosting a workshop

SIG Coordinators

  • Professor Marianna Sigala

    Newcastle Business School

    University of Newcastle