Abstract
The digitisation of the tourism and leisure industries is closely linked to the introduction of digital technologies, e.g. booking apps, online advertising or workplace management. However, a sole consideration of digitalisation in terms of material technologies does not allow for a comprehensive understanding of the overall impact of the digitalisation of the tourism and leisure industries. Ultimately, this also makes a sound assessment of the digital transformation more difficult. This is crucial when it comes to assessing, for example, whether digitalisation promotes or hinders the supply of sustainable and environmentally friendly products. In order to analyse digital transformation more holistically, I introduce a theory approach of social digitalisation. It focuses on the transformation of activities through the implementation of a digital logic. In this way, activities and processes are reorganised into both discrete units and non-contingent programmes. Even before the ‘digital age’, non-technical digital processing has profitably streamlined social spheres (production, economy, labour, etc.). The tourism and leisure industries are no exception, even though their products must be consumed predominantly in copresence, with an emphasis on bodily experiences and in specific locations. The tourism and leisure industries therefore do not seem as suitable for the digitalisation of production as other industries, e.g. the clothing industry. However, using the example of the hospitality industry, I show that digital organisation was established long before the advent of digital technology. Understanding the impact of this transformation helps to critically evaluate the tourism and leisure industries.
Presenters
Kornelia HahnProfessor for General Sociology and Sociological Theory, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Salzburg, Austria
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Tourism and Leisure Industries
KEYWORDS
Digitalisation, Theory, Assessment, Hospitality, Transformation
