From Industry 4.0 to Tourism 4.0

The fourth Industrial revolution has affected all disciplines, economies and industries. Technology, the key enabler for Industry 4.0, also has a tremendous influence on tourism. The purpose of the study is to explore how the concept of Industry 4.0 has been embraced by tourism. Even though academics have paid an increased attention to the concept of Industry 4.0 in the last few years, the scholarly research on Tourism 4.0 remains at a preliminary stage. This is an exploratory type of paper with a descriptive presentation of results. Data were collected from secondary sources and processed by using the method of content analysis. Findings reveal, firstly, different use of the term Tourism 4.0 among governments, tourism policy makers, practitioners and scholars; secondly, tourism stakeholders have already widely implemented the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution that are suitable for designing tourism services. The study supports the Tourism 4.0 to become a global paradigm and contributes to the body of literature on technological changes in tourism.