An examination of tourists' technology usage levels within the scope of smart tourism technologies

Today, as a result of the information society, tourists' needs and behaviors are quite different from those of the pre-internet and social media era. Thanks to the access to information and communication technologies, tourists pay attention to the best price and time planning, flexibility, diversity, safety and personalization, taking into account the price and performance of products. These changes in tourists' needs and behaviors have brought various challenges to the tourism sector and required the development of smarter products. The use of smart tourism technologies by tourists in Turkey and their trends in this regard have not been sufficiently researched. In addition, data on the extent to which accommodation establishments use and adopt smart tourism technologies is also limited. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the tendency of tourists in Turkey to use smart tourism technologies with the Technology Acceptance Model and to determine the extent to which accommodation establishments use these technologies. In the study, mixed research method was used and concurrent transformational design was adopted. At this point, the research is both exploratory and descriptive. A qualitative research approach was adopted to determine the usage levels of smart tourism technologies in accommodation establishments. In this context, semi-structured interviews were held with ten (10) senior hotel managers in the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean regions. The data obtained was analyzed using the content analysis technique. In order to determine the behavior and tendencies of tourists in using smart tourism technologies, the survey technique, one of the quantitative research methods, was used and data was obtained from 510 participants. The data obtained were analyzed by structural equation modelling. According to the results obtained from the qualitative data of the research, it was determined that chain and city hotels attach more importance to smart tourism technologies, are more prepared for these technologies and use them more widely than resort hotels. Moreover, it has also been determined that the use of smart technology in accommodation businesses is in its infancy and that there is a great potential for development in the future. When the results obtained from quantitative data are analyzed, it is determined that subjective norms and self-efficacy dimensions in the research model have a significant relationship with perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use dimensions and affect them positively. A significant relationship and a positive effect were also found between the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and compatibility dimensions and the attitude towards use dimension. However, no significant relationship was found between the perceived security dimension and the attitude towards use dimension. Furthermore, it was concluded that attitude towards usage positively and significantly affects the intention to use. In contrast, no significant relationship was found between perceived behavioral control and intention to use.