Reflections of the digital transformation process in the tourism sector: A research on the use of smart tourism technologies

Digital transformation in tourism enterprises is a process that involves the use of smart tourism technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, robots, 3D printers in business processes in tourism enterprises. Especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic, in tourism businesses, non-contact service period gained importance due to the care towards conservation of health of guests and employees. In this case, tourism enterprises have started to adapt smart tourism technologies faster in order to establish sustainability, present contactless services and gain competitive advantage. These researches aim to explore the usage level of smart tourism technologies and experiments by employees and managers, in tourism enterprises (accommodation enterprises, travel agencies, food and beverage enterprises and airlines). For this purpose; the intertwined multiple case design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the study. In the study, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 47 employees and managers with maximum diversity sampling method from; two accommodation establishments, two food and beverage establishments, two travel agencies and two airline establishments in Istanbul. As a result of the interviews, it was determined that cloud technologies, big data, QR code, mobile application, websites, online software and e-applications, QR code, mobile application, social media, website and digital software in food and beverage enterprises, virtual reality in travel agencies, digital software, social media, websites, big data, cloud technology and mobile applications and airlines, infrared communication, electronic flight technology, voice command system, global location detection systems, social media, big data, mobile application, cloud technology, digital cargo and digital self-service technologies were used in the accommodation enterprises selected as the situation. It has been determined that employees and managers in tourism enterprises agree to use these smart tourism technologies because of the perceived benefit, ease of use, security, welfare, performance of employees, richness of recipes, quality of digital software systems used in enterprises and providing some organizational support to employees. On the other hand, it has been determined that smart tourism technologies in tourism enterprises have various benefits such as fast service to employees, businesses and customers, time saving, competitive advantage, flexible work, sustainability, reduction of aircraft accidents, strengthening of brand image, operational efficiency increase, right order and the chance to reorder food and drinks added by customers to favourites of mobile applications. In addition to the benefits of smart tourism technologies, it has been determined that tourism enterprises such as data security problem, service disruption, standardization of food tastes, expensive service, cyber-loafing, burnout syndrome and loss of employment have various damages to their employees, customers and businesses. These results contribute to the existing knowledge about the use of smart tourism technologies in tourism enterprises and the benefits and harms of these technologies. In addition, it is thought that revealing the reasons why managers use smart tourism technologies in tourism enterprises, discovering the opinions of customers about smart tourism technologies will guide the practitioners in designing the products and services of tourism enterprises and conducting effective marketing studies. Keywords: Digital Transformation, Smart Tourism Technologies, Tourism Enterprises, Istanbul.