A Futuristic Look at Tourism in the Era of the Internet Ecosystem

Abstract

This futuristic look at tourism aims to inform a tourism research agenda directed at the health and well-being of the tourism sector and at our earth’s natural and social ecosystems. The nexus between natural ecosystem changes and social ecosystem responses will demand tourism sector responses. This chapter is not designed to create an explicit tourism research agenda. Instead, it is suggestive and provocative, to promote researcher reflection around the forces within IT and forces from the outside, which will impact tourist destinations and attractions. It is time for tourism researchers to look beyond academia for research topics. While there is always scope for incremental advances in knowledge and practice in the traditional areas of IT and Tourism, it is also time for bold research initiatives. The tourism sector is facing a troika of disruptive forces. Climate change is reshaping destinations and attractions. Demographics, in terms of age distributions and a tsunami of climate change refugees, will impact both demand and supply capacity. Lastly, income and wealth concentration and societal responses will impact tourism and the roles played by IT. Applying IT, AI, and VR within the context of these forces will have a huge impact on how tourism develops. The central question for the tourism research agenda is: Given the forces at play, what research avenues are central to the future of tourism, its place within the Internet ecosystem, and the role of tourism in our social and natural ecosystems?.