Role of E-Business Enabled Smartphones in Creating Smart Travelers

Abstract

Mobile phones have evolved to be smartphones supporting a wide range of services that can be accessed anytime and from (almost) anywhere. With the increasing number of customers and greater intrusion into people’s life, smartphones have also significantly influenced the tourist experience. This study explores the role of various e-business avenues enabled through apps available on the play store of our smartphones that help in improving the overall tourist involvement with the destination. The study has used both primary and secondary data, the results reveal that smartphones can change tourists’ experience by tackling a wide variety of information needs; in particular, the instant information support of smartphones related to location-finding apps like Google Maps, Mapquest, Mappls, etc enables tourists to solve problems more effectively. The implications of this study will be important in that they suggest the huge potential for smartphones in changing many aspects of tourism involvement and experience.