{"title":"Going digital with multisided-platforms: Assessing the innovation adoption process from the perspectives of travel agents","authors":"Suhaib Aamir, N. Atsan, Mohammad Saud Khan","doi":"10.1177/14673584231186535","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Travel agents’ adoption of digital technologies to digitally transform their businesses has seen a rapid surge in recent years in the tourism industry. Multisided Platforms (MSPs) have been one of those digital technologies that digitally transformed brick-and-mortar travel agents to have access to online tools and modules for searching, comparing, and booking travel content. This study examines the factors that are taken into consideration by travel agents in the three phases of the adoption process, namely, pre-adoption, during-adoption, and post-adoption phases. A qualitative study was taken up for this purpose and seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with international travel agents. The findings of this study were twofold. First, the findings of the study adhered to the existing factors of the diffusion of innovation (DOI) model such as relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability, as crucial factors for adopting MSPs. Second, the findings of the study extended the DOI model by proposing two other factors, supportability, and integrability, which were deemed crucial by travel agents when adopting MSPs. The study shows that as part and parcel of the DOI model, travel agents by adopting MSPs get access to global content from multiple-channels and multiple-providers easily and securely. The study discusses practical and theoretical implications.","PeriodicalId":47333,"journal":{"name":"Tourism and Hospitality Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tourism and Hospitality Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14673584231186535","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Travel agents’ adoption of digital technologies to digitally transform their businesses has seen a rapid surge in recent years in the tourism industry. Multisided Platforms (MSPs) have been one of those digital technologies that digitally transformed brick-and-mortar travel agents to have access to online tools and modules for searching, comparing, and booking travel content. This study examines the factors that are taken into consideration by travel agents in the three phases of the adoption process, namely, pre-adoption, during-adoption, and post-adoption phases. A qualitative study was taken up for this purpose and seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with international travel agents. The findings of this study were twofold. First, the findings of the study adhered to the existing factors of the diffusion of innovation (DOI) model such as relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability, as crucial factors for adopting MSPs. Second, the findings of the study extended the DOI model by proposing two other factors, supportability, and integrability, which were deemed crucial by travel agents when adopting MSPs. The study shows that as part and parcel of the DOI model, travel agents by adopting MSPs get access to global content from multiple-channels and multiple-providers easily and securely. The study discusses practical and theoretical implications.
期刊介绍:
Tourism and Hospitality Research is firmly established as a leading and authoritative, peer-reviewed journal for tourism and hospitality researchers and professionals. Tourism and Hospitality Research covers: • Hospitality and tourism operations • Marketing and consumer behaviour • HR management • Social Media and Marketing • Technology • Planning and development • Policy • Performance and financial management • Strategic implications • Environmental aspects • Forecasting and prediction • Revenue management • Impact assessment and mitigation • Globalisation • Research methodologies • Leisure and culture • Risk Management • Change Management