IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/itse25/331302.html

Beyond the Screen: Comparing Travel Patterns Between Digital and Non-Digital Tourists in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Ruíz-Rúa, Aurora
  • Martínez de Ibarreta Zorita, Carlos
  • Gijón, Covadonga
  • Fernández-Bonilla, Fernando

Abstract

This paper explores the influence of home digitization and various sociodemographic factors on the adoption and intensive use of e-tourism among residents in Spain, with a particular focus on rural destinations and sustainable mobility practices. The utilization of nationally representative microdata from the Resident Tourism Survey (FAMILITUR) and the Survey on ICT Equipment and Use in Households (INE) for the period 2017–2023 has facilitated the estimation of logit and ordered logit models, which have been employed to characterize the digital behaviour of tourists. The findings indicate the presence of a second and third digital divide, with educational level, income, and digital competence significantly increasing the likelihood of independent trip planning and the adoption of more sustainable tourist behaviours. In contrast, older adults, rural tourists and individuals engaged in traditional leisure activities demonstrate a more limited utilization of digital instruments. The present paper emphasizes the way digital inequalities impede equitable access to tourism, thereby exerting a profound impact on rural development and the formulation of inclusive public policies. These findings contribute to the advancement of knowledge regarding the digitization needs of tourism, territorial cohesion, and sustainability in peripheral contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruíz-Rúa, Aurora & Martínez de Ibarreta Zorita, Carlos & Gijón, Covadonga & Fernández-Bonilla, Fernando, 2025. "Beyond the Screen: Comparing Travel Patterns Between Digital and Non-Digital Tourists in Spain," 33rd European Regional ITS Conference, Edinburgh, 2025: Digital innovation and transformation in uncertain times 331302, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:itse25:331302
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/331302/1/ITS-E-2025-57.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christiana Koliouska & Zacharoula Andreopoulou, 2023. "E-Tourism for Sustainable Development through Alternative Tourism Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Zacharoula Andreopoulou & Georgios Tsekouropoulos & Christiana Koliouska & Theodoros Koutroumanidis, 2014. "Internet marketing for sustainable development and rural tourism," International Journal of Business Information Systems, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 16(4), pages 446-461.
    3. Christian Maurer, 2015. "Digital Divide and Its Potential Impact on Cultural Tourism," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: Vicky Katsoni (ed.), Cultural Tourism in a Digital Era, edition 127, pages 231-241, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. , Aisdl, 2020. "Employing Value Chain Theory To Address COVID-19 Outbreak In Tourism Management: A Resilience and Stakeholder View," OSF Preprints tmzvf, Center for Open Science.
    2. Irene Paola Borrelli & Zacharoula S. Andreopoulou, 2015. "Knowledge, Food Systems and Well-being Sustainability," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 45-58.
    3. Jerzy Witold Wiśniewski & Ewelina Sokołowska & Jinghua Wu & Anna Dziadkiewicz, 2021. "Evolutionary Game Analysis of the Partners’ Behavior in the Rural E-Payment Market of China," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Gonzalo Díaz-Meneses & Miriam Estupinán-Ojeda, 2022. "The Outbreak of Digital Detox Motives and Their Public Health Implications for Holiday Destinations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-24, January.
    5. Biancone Paolo & Secinaro Silvana & Brescia Valerio & Calandra Davide, 2020. "Employing Value Chain Theory To Address COVID-19 Outbreak In Tourism Management: A Resilience and Stakeholder View," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 11(3), pages 39-64, December.
    6. Andreopoulou, Zacharoula & Koliouska, Christiana & Galariotis, Emilios & Zopounidis, Constantin, 2018. "Renewable energy sources: Using PROMETHEE II for ranking websites to support market opportunities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 31-37.
    7. Margarida Anjo, Ana & Sousa, Bruno & Santos, Vasco & Lopes Dias, Álvaro & Valeri, Marco, 2021. "Lisbon as a literary tourism site: Εssays of a digital map of Pessoa as a new trigger," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7, pages 58-67.
    8. Mark A. Williams & Xinyuan Wang & Melinda T. McHenry & Angus M. Robinson, 2024. "Australian Geotourism Discovery Platform: A Sustainable and User-Friendly Platform for Accessible Exploration of Geosites, Geotrails, Cultural, and Mining Heritage Sites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, June.
    9. Schuhbauer Sarah & Hausmann Andrea, 2023. "Qualifizierung im digitalen Kulturtourismusmarketing – Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit den Angeboten von Tourismusorganisationen für den ländlichen Raum," Zeitschrift für Tourismuswissenschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 193-227, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:itse25:331302. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.itseurope.org/ .

    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.