IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i19p11002-d649695.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Proposal for Assessing Digital Economy Spatial Readiness at Tourism Destinations

Author

Listed:
  • Vicente Ramos

    (SmartDestination Working Group, Applied Economics Department, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain)

  • Maurici Ruiz-Pérez

    (SmartDestination Working Group, Geography Department, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain)

  • Bartomeu Alorda

    (SmartDestination Working Group, Industrial Engineering and Construction Department, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain)

Abstract

Information and communications technologies (ICT)—and more precisely, their use from fulltime connected mobile gadgets—offer valuable opportunities to interact with tourists using their own devices. In order to exploit these benefits, destinations should have appropriate digital infrastructure to allow for bidirectional smart communication with their visitors. However, the spatial distribution of such coverage, and the geographical concurrence of tourism activities and ICT infrastructure, have been poorly examined. This paper contributes to this analysis by quantifying digital accessibility with both a broader regional approach and a narrower local perspective. First, we propose a digital immersion index, and apply it to the Balearic Islands, Spain. Second, alternative Moran’s indices are used to study the spatial distribution and correlation of tourism and technological infrastructure for a local destination. The results are presented through easily interpretable maps, which can inform tourism policies, such as identifying and prioritizing ITC investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Vicente Ramos & Maurici Ruiz-Pérez & Bartomeu Alorda, 2021. "A Proposal for Assessing Digital Economy Spatial Readiness at Tourism Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:19:p:11002-:d:649695
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/11002/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/11002/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ray F. Iunius & Laura Cismaru & Diana Foris, 2015. "Raising Competitiveness for Tourist Destinations through Information Technologies within the Newest Tourism Action Framework Proposed by the European Commission," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Jack E. Triplett, 1999. "The Solow productivity paradox: what do computers do to productivity?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(2), pages 309-334, April.
    3. Dimitrios Buhalis & Aditya Amaranggana, 2013. "Smart Tourism Destinations," Springer Books, in: Zheng Xiang & Iis Tussyadiah (ed.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2014, edition 127, pages 553-564, Springer.
    4. Nagy K. Hanna, 2010. "Implications of the ICT Revolution," Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management, in: Transforming Government and Building the Information Society, chapter 0, pages 27-65, Springer.
    5. Joseph K. Nwankpa & Jeffrey W. Merhout, 2020. "Exploring the Effect of Digital Investment on IT Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-26, September.
    6. Meena Kumari Pradhan & Jungjoo Oh & Hwansoo Lee, 2018. "Understanding Travelers’ Behavior for Sustainable Smart Tourism: A Technology Readiness Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, November.
    7. María Cristina Rodríguez Rangel & Marcelino Sánchez Rivero, 2020. "Spatial Imbalance Between Tourist Supply and Demand: The Identification of Spatial Clusters in Extremadura, Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Ginevra Balletto & Alessandra Milesi & Mara Ladu & Giuseppe Borruso, 2020. "A Dashboard for Supporting Slow Tourism in Green Infrastructures. A Methodological Proposal in Sardinia (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Lidija Lalicic & Irem Önder, 2018. "Residents’ Involvement in Urban Tourism Planning: Opportunities from a Smart City Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    10. Xianghong Zhou & Weiwei Chen, 2021. "The Impact of Informatization on the Relationship between the Tourism Industry and Regional Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-23, August.
    11. Wolfram Höpken & Matthias Fuchs, 2016. "Introduction: Special Issue on Business intelligence and big data in the travel and tourism domain," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-4, March.
    12. Mateusz Naramski, 2020. "The Application of ICT and Smart Technologies in Polish Museums—Towards Smart Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-27, November.
    13. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer & Vicente Ramos, 2020. "A Charter for Sustainable Tourism after COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-4, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ionica Oncioiu & Iustin Priescu, 2022. "The Use of Virtual Reality in Tourism Destinations as a Tool to Develop Tourist Behavior Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zand, Fardad & Van Beers, Cees & Van Leeuwen, George, 2011. "Information technology, organizational change and firm productivity: A panel study of complementarity effects and clustering patterns in Manufacturing and Services," MPRA Paper 46469, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Junjie Gao & Younghwan Pan, 2022. "Evaluating Influencing Factors of Tourists’ Experiences with Smart Tour Guide System: A Mixed Method Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Robert C. Feenstra & Christopher R. Knittel, 2009. "Reassessing the US Quality Adjustment to Computer Prices: The Role of Durability and Changing Software," NBER Chapters, in: Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pages 129-160, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Mohammad Rashed Hasan Polas & Ratul Kumar Saha & Mosab I. Tabash, 2022. "How does tourist perception lead to tourist hesitation? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3659-3686, March.
    5. Jeon, Heesang, 2015. "Knowledge and Contemporary Capitalism in Light of Marx's Value Theory," Thesis Commons g5njk, Center for Open Science.
    6. Will Chancellor, 2023. "Exploring the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and productivity: Evidence from Australian farms," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(2), pages 285-302, April.
    7. Winai Nadee & Laddawan Kaewkitipong & Peter Ractham & Suwanna Sayruamyat, 2024. "An Investigation of the Intention to Visit Smart Tourism Destinations: Domestic Travelers vs. International Travelers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-18, November.
    8. Pasquale Del Vecchio & Gioconda Mele & Valentina Ndou & Giustina Secundo, 2018. "Open Innovation and Social Big Data for Sustainability: Evidence from the Tourism Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Young Lee & Jeong Hun Oh & Hwan-Joo Seo, 2002. "Digital Divide and Growth Gap: A Cumulative Relationship," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-88, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Sheresheva, Marina Y. & Polukhina, Anna N. & Oborin, Matvey S., 2020. "Marketing issues of sustainable tourism development in Russian regions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 33-38.
    11. Monika Widz & Renata Krukowska & Bartłomiej Walas & Zygmunt Kruczek, 2022. "Course of Values of Key Performance Indicators in City Hotels during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Poland Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Anca-Gabriela Turtureanu & Rodica Pripoaie & Carmen-Mihaela Cretu & Carmen-Gabriela Sirbu & Emanuel Ştefan Marinescu & Laurentiu-Gabriel Talaghir & Florentina Chițu, 2022. "A Projection Approach of Tourist Circulation under Conditions of Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-21, February.
    13. Larissa Batrancea, 2021. "The Nexus between Financial Performance and Equilibrium: Empirical Evidence on Publicly Traded Companies from the Global Financial Crisis Up to the COVID-19 Pandemic," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-12, May.
    14. Stenberg, Peter L., 2014. "The Farm Bill and Rural Economies: Broadband Investment Over the last Decade," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 173277, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Tsung-Hung Lee & Fen-Hauh Jan, 2022. "Development and Validation of the Smart Tourism Experience Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Fernando Almeida-García & Apollònia Monserrat-Febrer & Rafael Cortés-Macías & Miquel Àngel Coll-Ramis, 2025. "Touristification and Expansion of Short-Term Rentals in Mediterranean Destinations: The Case of Rural Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-27, April.
    17. Yan-Feng He & Chie-Peng Chen & Rung-Jiun Chou, 2019. "The Key Factors Influencing Safety Analysis for Traditional Settlement Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-23, June.
    18. Wang, Xia & Li, Xiang (Robert) & Zhen, Feng & Zhang, JinHe, 2016. "How smart is your tourist attraction?: Measuring tourist preferences of smart tourism attractions via a FCEM-AHP and IPA approach," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 309-320.
    19. Beatriz Palacios-Florencio & Luna Santos-Roldán & Juan Manuel Berbel-Pineda & Ana María Castillo-Canalejo, 2021. "Sustainable Tourism as a Driving force of the Tourism Industry in a Post-Covid-19 Scenario," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 991-1011, December.
    20. Parzych Krzysztof, 2025. "Analysis of the labour market in the tourism sector in Poland in statistical terms before, during and after the Covid 19 pandemic," Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 35-47.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:19:p:11002-:d:649695. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.