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Disconnected and Unplugged: Experiences of Technology Induced Anxieties and Tensions While Traveling

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Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of being disconnected while traveling for technologically savvy travelers. This paper will explore how new technologies ‘separate’ travelers from the physical and embodied travel experience, and how experiences and tensions caused by being disconnected or unplugged are negotiated. For this study, travelers’ experiences were elicited through a series of online interviews conducted primarily through email and Facebook. Pearce and Gretzel’s (Int J Tourism Sci 12(2):1–20, 2012) technology-induced tensions and recent literature on internet/technology addiction provide a conceptual framework for the analysis.

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Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Travel and Tourism Research Association annual conference held in Bruges, Belgium in June 2014.

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Correspondence to Cody Morris Paris .

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Paris, C.M., Berger, E.A., Rubin, S., Casson, M. (2015). Disconnected and Unplugged: Experiences of Technology Induced Anxieties and Tensions While Traveling. In: Tussyadiah, I., Inversini, A. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_58

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