Enabling Tourism 5.0 How a new digital era can transform tourism information systems

Resumo

Objectives | Given the rise of Industry 5.0, the concept of Tourism 4.0 is currently evolving into Tourism 5.0, starting to reveal unseen possibilities and perspectives in the field of tourism management and services (Gomes, Lopes, & Ferreira, 2023). The scope of Tourism 5.0 is connected to technological impacts with social sustainability (Gretzel, Sigala, Xiang, & Koo, 2015; Neuhofer, Buhalis, & Ladkin, 2012). Essentially, technological drivers are redefining the travel industry's boundaries by improving consumer experiences, and service quality and transforming current technologies, such as tourism information systems (Bulchand-Gidumal, 2022). Studying how technology in tourism interacts with society to promote social sustainability is the main purpose of the 5.0 tourism paradigm. Concerning social aspects, technology may be used to improve accessibility conditions, therefore accessible tourism and Tourism 5.0 go hand in hand (Teixeira, Teixeira, Eusébio, Silva, & Teixeira, 2021). However, studies on the Tourism 5.0 paradigm are still few in the literature, despite the trend of innovation across tourism (Madsen & Slåtten, 2023; Mukherjee et al., 2023). Moreover, the literature about the relationship between Tourism 5.0 and accessible tourism is very scarce. Therefore, this paper intends to increase knowledge in this field examining how Tourism 5.0 may contribute to the development of a more accessible and sustainable tourism industry. In particular, this study’s objective is to analyze the transformation of tourism information systems, and understand how technological drivers can improve existing solutions, thus enabling Tourism 5.0.

Methodology | To achieve this goal, a case study analysis is performed. This case study involves understanding how an innovative accessible tourism information system (access@tour by action) can benefit from incorporating technological advancements related to Industry 5.0 in terms of accessibility and sustainability. The access@tour by action is a mobile app developed for the accessible tourism market, supporting information management in the context of accessibility (Teixeira, Teixeira, & Eusébio, 2022). The relationship between technological drivers and their integration into the access@tour by action app offers a comprehensive view of how technological advancements can bolster accessible tourism. Essentially a literature research was used to identify the technological drivers of Industry 5.0 with the potential to improve the accessibility of information systems. Then, it is presented a proposal for integrating these drivers with the access@tour by action, taking into account the potential of each driver and the needs of accessible tourism.

Main results and contributions | The in-depth exploration of integrating technological drivers with accessible tourism, specifically with a case study on access@tour by action, revealed the significant potential of technology in establishing more accessibility. The technological drivers, such as 3D Printing, Cyber-physical systems, Cloud technologies, the Internet of Things, Big Data Analysis Tools, Cognitive Computing, Virtual reality, Radiofrequency identifiers, Augmented reality, and Artificial intelligence, provide unique improvements that can revamp the app's usability, adaptability, and information/communication spread. These connections have the power to improve and tailor user experiences, guaranteeing high levels of customization and real-time adaptation to meet the diverse demands of people with special needs, and also having the capability to allow for more sustainable tourism.

Limitations | There are some limitations to the study that need to be addressed. This study provided only a particular view of how a specific platform can evolve to promote more accessibility and sustainability. To better estimate the technological impacts of Tourism 5.0 on tourism platforms, it may be necessary to analyze platforms with other types of functionalities (e.g. wayfinding).

Conclusions | The incorporation of emerging technologies in accessible tourism apps like access@tour by action has the potential to transform the experience for travelers in terms of accessibility and sustainability. However, the journey does not end with integration; it demands continuous refinement and research to overcome limitations and evolve with the dynamic technological landscape. By embracing technological advancements and integrating them thoughtfully, we can make strides toward more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable tourism.