Assessing the quality of smart tourism technology: development and validation of a measurement scale

Purpose Smart tourism is undergoing a trend of rapid development. The quality of service in smart tourism forms the basis of tourists’ evaluations, it needs to be investigated. However, as high-quality smart tourism technologies (STTs) can enhance the overall tourist experience and increase tourist satisfaction, and there is no standard service quality evaluation system for STTs. Therefore, this study aims to explore how the quality of STTs is evaluated from the tourist’s perspective. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors develop a measurement scale for smart tourism technology quality (STTQUAL) based on qualitative interviews, the Delphi method and a survey conducted in three cities that use smart tourism: Macau, Chengdu and Hangzhou. Findings The STTQUAL scale encompasses 37 measurement items in 7 dimensions: functionality, security, informativity, reliability, responsiveness, convenience and empathy. These dimensions encompass both technical and nontechnical aspects of service. Research limitations/implications This study enriches the smart tourism research literature, provides a reference for future research and helps relevant stakeholders understand tourists’ views on STTQUAL. Recommendations are provided to governments, the tourism industry and system developers for how to proceed in future development. Originality/value This is a mixed-methods study that fulfills established logical research criteria and proposes a scale for evaluating STTQUAL. The scale is validated through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.