Abstract:

Digital tourism is the digital support of the tourism experience. This support offers travelers different types of experiences throughout their tourist journey from the moment the inspiration to travel is born, during the stay and upon returning to their origin, thus generating a relationship of loyalty after the trip.

The main objective of the research was to study the impact of the implementation of new technologies in companies oriented to provide tourism services in Spain. This implementation is called e-Tourism. Given the sector, the area to be studied and, the exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative methodology was chosen in which the research instrument was in-depth interviews with relevant companies in the tourism sector.

Through an in-depth review of the updated literature on the subject, we develop an explanatory model of the main antecedents and the most relevant consequences of the degree of adoption of electronic tourism.

For the last 5 years, Spain has been a pioneer country in virtual innovation, mainly through programs such as Smart Tourist Destinations, which depends on the Secretary of State for Tourism, which is in charge of being the locomotive for the promotion of the digital transformation of destinations and tourist areas in Spain. The evolution experienced by Spanish tourism is mainly due to the social and technological changes that have occurred in recent years. On the one hand, people have more free time and and on the other hand, can travel more economically.

The main findings suggest the existence of a positive relationship between the implementation of new technologies, specifically the adoption of e-Tourism by tourism companies in Spain, the degree of recommendation through eWOM (virtual word of mouth), and the profitability of these companies. This increase in profitability is the result of incorporating ICTs into their services, resulting in cost savings and higher revenues.

The research carried out suggests that in Spain the main problem in the tourism sector for the adoption of new technologies is the generational gap presented by older employees in the sector. In order to adapt to new competitive models, companies need to design high-level competitive strategies, since the change process is giving rise to significant innovation and adaptation of electronic resources, which has caused a great development of complex techniques and strategies of digital business management.

Keywords:

Digital tourism, E-tourism, New technologies.