Centre for Digital Transformation in the Visitor Economy

We are dedicated to researching, endorsing, and advocating the power of information technology and digital media in the visitor economy.

Research aims

In collaboration with leading academic, business, public, and third sector partners across a broad spectrum of disciplines, we provide rigorous and critical scientific foundation to deliver value to the visitor economy of tomorrow.

We focus on three core themes:

The digital transformation in tourism, hospitality, and events; including new media and consumer behaviour, new business models and disruptive innovation, transformation in business operations and performance
Smart systems in tourism, hospitality, and events; including artificial intelligence and robotics, sensors and internet-of-things
Data science and innovative methodologies in tourism, hospitality, and events; including biometric research, data analytics and pattern recognition in big data.

Research projects

COVID-19 research topics

Current projects

Project team

David Frohlich
Caroline Scarles
Sporea, R.
Revill, G.
Bober, M.
Yuan, H.

Project funding: £203k.

Funder: EPSRC

Overview

We are involved in augmented reality projects in arts and heritage attractions with partners such as Hampton Court Palace, Visit Surrey and Watts Gallery. The group also involved in multi-institutional projects that include investigating popular culture and retailing, a project with the Swedish Institute for Innovative Retailing, and a project on social media usage in the Scandinavian mountain regions funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Our work also looks at marketing and consumer behaviour. We are co-founders of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre.

Investigators

Principal investigator: Professor David Frohlich
Co-investigator: Prof Caroline Scarles.

Additional team members

The project team is comprised of members from the University of Surrey and the Open University. Non-academic partners include:

Funding

Amount: £953,078 (grant number: EP/P02579X/1)
Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Synopsis

The next generation paper project is a response to a call on content creation and consumption in the digital economy. The project will develop a new form of interactive paper with hyperlinks to the web, making it easier for customers to move between sources in the reading process. It will assist in travel and tourism technology where people already read a combination of printed and digital information, by using travel brochures, guide books and leaflets alongside smartphone apps, e-books and TV programmes.

Start date: 1 October 2018
End date: 30 September 2021

Investigators

Principal investigator: Dr Iis Tussyadiah
Co-investigators: Professor Graham Miller and Professor Annabelle Gawer.

Additional team members

The project involves a consortium of three universities: University of Kent (lead), University of Surrey, and University of Warwick. Project partners include:

Funding

Amount: £1,135,799 (grant numbers: EP/R033749/1, EP/R033196/1, EP/R033609/1)
Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Synopsis

The PriVELT project is a response to a call on trust, identity, privacy, and security in the digital economy 2.0, led by Prof Shujun Li from the University of Kent.

The aim of PriVELT is to formulate a holistic socio-technical framework of travellers' privacy-related behaviour, in order to develop an innovative user-centric and privacy-aware digital platform for personal data management that will benefit both travellers and other stakeholders (e.g. travel service providers, government, and relevant industries) in delivering seamless, personalised end-to-end travel experiences.

Publications

Chen, F., Naylor, M., Li, Y., Dai, S., & Ju, P. (2021). Festival or Sport? Chinese Motivations to a Modern Urban Hiking Event. SAGE Open, 11(1), 2158244020986155.

Chen, Y., Tussyadiah, I. (2021). Service Failure in Peer-to-Peer Accommodation. Annals of Tourism Research.

Tuomi, A., Tussyadiah, I., Hanna, P. (2021). Spicing Up Hospitality Service Encounters: The Case of Pepper™. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Benítez-Aurioles, B., Tussyadiah, I. (2020). What Airbnb does to the housing market. Annals of Tourism Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103108

Ioannou, A., Tussyadiah, I., Miller, G. (2020). That's private! Understanding travelers' privacy concerns and online data disclosure. Journal of Travel Research. DOI: 10.1177/0047287520951642

Ioannou, A., Tussyadiah, I., Lu, Y. (2020). Privacy concerns and disclosure of biometric and behavioral data for travel. International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102122

Li, H., Liu, H., Zhang, Z. (2020). Online persuasion of review emotional intensity: A text mining analysis of restaurant reviews. International Journal of Hospitality Management (Accepted).

Loureiro, S., Guerreiro, J., Tussyadiah, I. (2020). Artificial Intelligence in Business: State of the Art and Future Research Agenda. Journal of Business Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.001

Park, S., & Stangl, B. (2020). Augmented reality experiences and sensation seeking. Tourism Management, 77, 104023.

Scarles, C., Treharne, H., Casey, M., & Zainal Abidin, H. (2020). Micro-mobilities in curated spaces: agency, autonomy and dwelling in visitor experiences of augmented reality in arts and heritage. Mobilities, 15(6), 776-791, DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2020.1816439

Stangl, B., Ukpabi, D. C., & Park, S. (2020). Augmented Reality Applications: The Impact of Usability and Emotional Perceptions on Tourists’ App Experiences. In Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2020 (pp. 181-191). Springer, Cham.

Stienmetz, J., Liu, A., Tussyadiah, I. (2020). Impact of perceived peer-to-peer accommodation development on community residents’ well-being. Current Issues in Tourism. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2020.1797644

Tuomi, A., Tussyadiah, I.P. (2020). Building the sociomateriality of food service. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 89, 102553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102553

Tuomi, A., Tussyadiah, I.P., Stienmetz, J. (2020). Applications and implications of service robots in hospitality. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1938965520923961

Tuomi, A., Tussyadiah, I., Ling, E.C., Miller, G., Lee, G. (2020). x=(tourism work) y=(sdg8) while y=true: automate(x). Annals of Tourism Research, 84, 102978. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.102978

Tussyadiah, I. (2020). A review of research into automation in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102883

Tussyadiah, I.P., Zach, F.J., Wang, J. (2020). Do travelers trust intelligent service robots? Annals of Tourism Research, 81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102886

Xu, S., Martinez, L. R., & Smith, N. (2020). The effects of attractiveness, gender and self-esteem in service jobs. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32, 249-266.

Xu, S., Stienmetz, J., & Ashton, M. (Accepted). How will robots redefine leadership in hotel management? A Delphi approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Featured in SurreyNews, ScienceDaily, Hospitality&CateringNews,Metro, Guildford Dragon, AzoRobotics, NewsWise, Gadget, News8Plus.

Wu, S., Li, Y., Wood, E., Senaux, B. & Dai, G. (2020) Liminality and festivals—Insights from the East. Annals of Tourism Research, 80, 102810.

Yu, Y., Xu, S., Li, G, & Kong, H. (Accepted). Systematic review of research on abusive supervision in hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Zou, S., Tan K. P. S., Liu, H. & Li, X. (2020). Mobile versus PC: Does device type affect online survey response quality in tourism research? Current Issues of Tourism(Accepted).

Abidin, H.Z., Scarles, C. & Lundberg, C. (2019). Digital Collaboration: A Solution for Destinations, e-Review of Tourism Research.

Corrigan-Kavanagh, E., Scarles, C., Frohlich, D., Revill, G., Beynon, M., Van Duppen, J. (2019). Explorations on the future of the book from the Next Generation Paper Project. Publishing History.

Corrigan-Kavanagh, E., Scarles, C., Revill, G. (2019). Augmenting Travel Guides for Enriching Travel Experiences. e-Review of Tourism Research. 17, 344-348, Texas A&M Agrilife.

Frohlich, D., Corrigan-Kavanagh, E., Bober, M., Yuan, H., Sporea, R., Le Borgne, D., Scarles, C., Revill, G., van Duppen, J., Brown, A.W. & Beynon, M. (2019). The Cornwall a-book: An Augmented Travel Guide Using Next Generation Paper, Journal of Electronic Publishing, Vol.22(1), online:http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0022.101.

Kastner, M., Stangl, B., & Schmidinger, G. (2019). Combining Data Sources and Capitalizing on Collaborations With Industry Partners to Investigate the Appropriateness of “Pay What You Want” for Heterogeneous Customer Groups. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Lund, F., Scarles, C. & Cohen, S. (2019). The brand value continuum: Countering co-destruction of destination branding in social media through storytelling. ,Journal of Travel Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0047287519887234.

Park, S., Tussyadiah, I. (2019). How guests develop trust in hosts: An investigation of trust formation in P2P accommodation. Journal of Travel Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519884654.

Siegel, L., Tussyadiah, I., Scarles, C. (2019). Does Social Media Help or Hurt Destinations? A Qualitative Case Study. e-Review of Tourism Research.

Stangl, B., Prayag, G., & Polster, L. (2019). Segmenting visitors’ motivation, price perceptions, willingness to pay and price sensitivity in a collaborative destination marketing effort. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-17.

Sun, H., Wu, S., Li, Y. & Dai, G. (2019). Tourist-to-tourist interaction at festivals: A grounded theory approach. Sustainability, 11(15), 4030. doi:10.3390/su11154030

Tussyadiah, I., Miller, G. (2019). Nudged by a robot: Responses to agency and feedback, Annals of Tourism Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.102752.

Tuomi, A., Tussyadiah, I.P., Stienmetz, J. (2019). Leveraging LEGO® Serious Play® to embrace AI and robots in tourism, Annals of Tourism Research, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.06.003.

Wong, I., Xu, S., Chan, G., & He, M. (2019). A cross-level investigation of the role of human resources practices: Does brand equity matter? Tourism Management, 75, 418-426.

Xu, S., & Cao, Z. (2019). Antecedents and outcomes of work-nonwork conflict in hospitality: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31, 3919-3942.

Xu, S. & Wang, J. (2019). Still waters stay put: Uncovering the effects of emotional variability using experience sampling methodology. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 19, 317-332.

Lundberg, C., Ziakas, V. (2018). Fantrepreneurs in the Sharing Economy: Co-Creating Neo-Tribal Events. Event Management, 22 (2), 287-301.

Lund, F., Cohen, S. & Scarles, C. (2018). The Power of Social Media Storytelling in Destination Branding, Destination Marketing and Management, Vol.8: 271-280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2017.05.003.

Sporea, R., Le Borgne, B.H., Yrjana, S., Nordman, S., Ritvonen, T., Seisto, A., Revill, G., Bober, M., Brown, A., Scarles, C. & Frohlich, D. (2018). Next Generation Paper: an augmented book platform, Proc. SPIE 10738, Organic and Hybrid Sensors and Bioelectronics XI, 1073811 (14 September 2018).

Tussyadiah, I.P., Park, S. (2018). When Guests Trust Hosts for Their Words: Host Description and Trust in Sharing Economy. Tourism Management, 67, 261-272. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.02.002.

Tussyadiah, I.P., Wang, D., Jung, T., tom Dieck, M.C. (2018). Virtual Reality, Presence and Attitude Change: Empirical Evidence from Tourism. Tourism Management, 66, 140-154. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.12.003.

Tussyadiah, I.P., Jung, T., tom Dieck, M.C. (2018). Embodiment of Wearable Augmented Reality Technology in Tourism Experiences. Journal of Travel Research, 57(5), 597–611. DOI: 10.1177/0047287517709090.

Gkritzali, A. (2017). Online sentiment recovery during a destination crisis. Annals of Tourism Research, 66, 183-185. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2017.05.012.

Gkritzali, A., Gkritzali, D., Stavrou, V. (2017). Is Xenios Zeus Still Alive? Destination Image of Athens in the Years of Recession. Journal of Travel Research, 57(4), 540-554. DOI: 10.1177/0047287517705225.

Li, S., Li, H., Song, H., Lundberg, C., Shen, S. (2017). The Economic Impact of On-Screen Tourism: The Case of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Tourism Management, 60, 77-187. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2016.11.023.

Lundberg, C., Ziakas, V., Morgan, N. (2017). Conceptualising on-screen tourism destination development. Tourist Studies, 18 (1).

Park, S., Tussyadiah, I.P. (2017). Multidimensional Facets of Perceived Risk in Mobile Travel Booking. Journal of Travel Research, 56(7), 854–867. DOI: 10.1177/0047287516675062.

Stangl. B., Prayag, G. (2017). Collaborative destination marketing and PWYW. Annals of Tourism Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2017.09.001.

Partners

We have extensive industry links across the hospitality, tourism and events sectors. Partners have included organisations specialising in digital media and technology, as well as a range of other prestigious organisations:

Recent events

The future of destinations online forum

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to have devastating impacts on destinations, governments and destinations have taken action to restore and invigorate the sector. This seminar drawing upon industry and academic insights aimed to consider what the impacts of the pandemic have been and how destinations are able to reposition visitor experiences during times of continued uncertainty whilst planning for the future.

Our panel of distinguished industry speakers included:

Susan Deer, Director of Industry Relations, ABTA
Richard Veal, MD, SimpleView
Will Wright, co-founder, Destination Core

Our panel of Surrey academic speakers included:

Facilities

Our research group is equipped with a world-class biometric research laboratory to facilitate various consumer behaviour studies using psycho-physiological measurements. The digital lab is outfitted with an integrated system of biometric sensor equipment including remote and mobile eye-tracking, facial expression, galvanic skin response (GSR), optical heart rate, etc.

Using various biometric sensors in addition to other methodologies such as interviews and surveys, researchers are able to combine and synchronise data to enhance our investigations. Our lab allows us to experiment with the latest technology applications in tourism, hospitality, and events, such as virtual reality and social robots.