Acceptance of digital technologies of tourists and the effect of their digital competences on the purchase intention

The current level of digitalization of society creates new communication interactions and relationships between producers and consumers, including in the field of tourism services. Digital technologies are defined as electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or produce data. This study aims to ensure the integration of smart and innovative systems, which emerged as a result of the rapid development of digital technologies, especially over the last twenty years, into the tourism sector in Turkey and at the same time, it aims to reveal the factors affecting the relationship between tourists' ability to use these innovative technologies and their purchase intention. In this context, tourist acceptance of digital technologies is discussed within the scope of "Technology Acceptance Model" in this study. In addition, it was also examined whether perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, which are the sub-dimensions of the technology acceptance model, have a mediating role in the relationship between tourists' digital competence and purchase intention. The quantitative research method, which is one of the scientific research approaches, is used in this study. The model of the study is designed in the scanning model, which is one of the quantitative research method designs. The sample of the research consists of tourists who visited the province of Rize between 2021-2022. Data were collected electronically using the questionnaire technique. As a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the digital competence of local tourists visiting Rize has an effect on the purchase intention, while the technology acceptance of the tourists has an indirect mediator role on the digital competence and purchase intention.