Understanding Travelers’ Behavior for Sustainable Smart Tourism: A Technology Readiness Perspective

Smart tourism has contributed to making people’s travels easier and more enjoyable, but sometimes has a negative impact on their travel experience. The challenges travelers face while using smart devices have not been researched in detail and are relatively unknown. While most studies have considered the usefulness of smart devices in tourism, negative perceptions of smart tourism have rarely been discussed. Thus, this study investigates travelers’ risk perceptions of smart tourism from a technology readiness perspective. It examines the impact of optimism, innovativeness, insecurity, and discomfort on travelers’ usage intentions of smart devices through their perceived risks and benefits. To test the proposed model and corresponding hypotheses, a partial least squares analysis was performed on data collected from 250 survey respondents. The results showed that the perceived benefits of smart devices had a significant effect on usage intentions of smart devices while traveling. It was also confirmed that the influence of perceived risks depends on the characteristics of travelers. This study is significant as it is the first empirical study applying the TRI (Technology Readiness Index) model that examines the negative effects of smart devices on tourists during travel. The results of this study provide meaningful insights into smart tourism to companies and governments.