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Smart technologies for personalized experiences: a case study in the hospitality domain

Electronic Markets volume 25, pages 243–254 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent advances in the field of technology have led to the emergence of innovative technological smart solutions providing unprecedented opportunities for application in the tourism and hospitality industry. With intensified competition in the tourism market place, it has become paramount for businesses to explore the potential of technologies, not only to optimize existing processes but facilitate the creation of more meaningful and personalized services and experiences. This study aims to bridge the current knowledge gap between smart technologies and experience personalization to understand how smart mobile technologies can facilitate personalized experiences in the context of the hospitality industry. By adopting a qualitative case study approach, this paper makes a two-fold contribution; it a) identifies the requirements of smart technologies for experience creation, including information aggregation, ubiquitous mobile connectedness and real time synchronization and b) highlights how smart technology integration can lead to two distinct levels of personalized tourism experiences. The paper concludes with the development of a model depicting the dynamic process of experience personalization and a discussion of the strategic implications for tourism and hospitality management and research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Management, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK

    Barbara Neuhofer, Dimitrios Buhalis & Adele Ladkin

Authors
  1. Barbara Neuhofer
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  2. Dimitrios Buhalis
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  3. Adele Ladkin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Neuhofer.

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Responsible Editor: Chulmo Koo

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Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D. & Ladkin, A. Smart technologies for personalized experiences: a case study in the hospitality domain. Electron Markets 25, 243–254 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-015-0182-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-015-0182-1

Keywords

  • Personalization
  • Experience
  • Smart technology
  • Case study
  • Hospitality
  • Tourism

JEL classification

  • L83