Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the process of mediatization, in which images of destinations and narratives of travel experiences
can be accessed anywhere anytime, which can be extended to mobile devices (Jansson 2002).
Increased connectivity through mobile phones and the Internet has the potential to disrupt the
possibility for 'escape', blurring the distinctions between what it means to be away from home
(White and White 2007). Tourists are now always connected to people and work back home
through their devices, problematizing the meaning of being away (Gretzel 2010).
Gretzel argues that such technologies not only enable travel but fundamentally structure
tourism experiences (2010). Web-enabled mobile devices are beginning to re-direct the tourist
gaze, becoming the mediator between people and tourism destinations. The tourist can double-
check information about places through their phones, but also more crucially, these technologies
can help tourists rely less on tourist guidebooks and perhaps open up new spaces in which to
sightsee. Additionally, Gretzel argues that the typical direction of the tourist gaze was
predominantly social, shared events.Yet the smartphone allows for or perhaps encourages a more
individualized experience, as the mobile device becomes the main focal point through which
the tourist experience is mediated, the screen becomes the object of the gaze. This may leave
little scope to explore the unknown or to access serendipitous or unpredictable experiences that
often contribute to successful travel outcomes. Gretzel argues that the applications available for
tourists to experience places, are perhaps designed for fairly basic, surface level experiences of
culture and landscapes, thus limiting the opportunity for deeper engagement with tourism
destinations. This may dictate a more spurious and fl eeting level of experience, such that the
social fabric of travel is changed, to either heighten or discourage emotional engagement with
what is actually experienced
(Gretzel 2010).
Gretzel (2012) has gone on to argue that the academic discourse on technology development
and the implications for tourism have been coloured by a level of thinking that assumes all
progress is good. This has presented an unbalanced focus on greater effi ciencies, increased
accessibility and transparency of information, enhanced services, greater connectivity, positive
impacts on mobility, the levelling of playing fi elds and power shifts in favour of tourism
consumers. Thus, an incomplete picture emerges that negates the fact that tourism and technology
exist within broader environmental, political, economic and social contexts that will impact on
the type and direction of technological advances. Technological progress can also lead to issues
of dependency, an inability to cope without access to the Internet through mobile phones
(Gretzel 2010), power imbalances and opportunities for inequalities to be exacerbated and for
abuse of power (Gretzel 2012).
Although at an early stage of development, there are a range of studies emerging that have
sought to explore consumers' perspectives on the mediating role of mobile digital technology on
tourist experience. For example, Tussyadiah and Fesenmaier (2009) assessed the role played by
shared videos in mediating the touristic experience. Although the focus of this study was on the
broader online sphere, they recognized the increasing importance of mobile platforms for
capturing and sharing video online. Shared videos provided pleasure by stimulating daydreams
and by bringing foreign landscapes and cultures to life through narrative. Such videos enhanced
cognitive and emotional involvement in tourist destinations.
There are a wide range of software applications that have been designed for use on smartphone
operating systems. Wang, Park and Fesenmaier (2011) conducted a study based on reviews of
travel-related smartphone applications. First they identifi ed 12 categories of mobile apps, and
performed a content analysis on a large sample of detailed reviews to understand the possible
mediating roles. They found that smartphone apps allowed tourists to change their plans due to
the ease of access to the Internet, that they found them a source of useful information for
decision-making, and critically that tourists often felt more secure, confi dent and excited when
