Mobiles and social media are changing the travel experience in several ways: 1. People frequently use their smartphones and social media to plan vacations, find local resources like restaurants, and capture memories through photos and videos. 2. Communication with absent others is also common, though some prefer to unplug from technology during trips. Attitudes towards smartphone use during vacations are mixed. 3. While smartphones can enhance vacations through entertainment and connectivity, there is no substitute for physically visiting a place. Immersive virtual reality for travel also has limited enthusiasm. 4. Overall, social media is viewed as having both benefits and drawbacks for society. Mobiles are integral to travel but managing connectivity

1. How mobiles and social media are
changing the
travel experience
James E. Katz, Ph.D.
with Elizabeth Crocker, Daniel Halpern, Qiankun Zhong, and
Blake Wertz
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Managing perpetual contact

2. ENTER, 2017 forbearers
• Marinella Rocca Longo
• phenomenology of travel
• Ambiguity of non-routine
• Representation and dynamism between multiple
realities (present & away)
• Loss of anchoring, search for novelty, making meaning, managing social
connectivity and emotions
Lorenzo Cantoni, Lidija Lalicic, Ulrike Gretzel, Katharina Lobinger

3. Enter
•Nearly 20 years ago, Innsbruck

8. How do we understand this?

9. How do we understand this?
•Multi-national study

10. Surveyed first-year BU college students;
N=334; Nov 2016
•

11. US quota sample; N=1116; Jan 2017

12. Chile quota sample; N=575, Jan 2017

13. Only a few spotlights today
•Not comprehensive

14. Getting ready:
1/4 say vacationdecisions influenced by others’ socialmedia photos
21
27
24 23
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
BU students;
% of 334 Rs
“Other people’s photos on social media
influence my vacation decisions”

15. Finding vacation resources: E.g., Restaurants
Chileans: 2/3 found vacation restaurants via mobiles
12
30
15
32
11
8
12 13
45
22
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
BU students
Chilean Data
“I found most of the restaurants I ate at using my mobile phone”

16. Capturing memories:
Mobiles replace cameras
2 3 2
24
69
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
“Most of the photos I take are with my mobile
device”
BU students;
% of 334 Rs

17. 9
19
31
34
8
19
16
12
25
30
17
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
BU students
Chileans
US national
“My smartphone enhanced my vacation”
Smartphones enhance vacations?

18. Smartphones: to unplug or not?
12
26
36
21
5
17
19
33
22
10
12
22
30
19
16
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
BU students
National
Chileans
Pro-unplugged: negatively correlates w smartphone use attitude (r=-0.360, p=0.00)
Compared to BU students, national sample of Chileans shows
that they are more interested in a trip without being connected
“A vacation should mean unplugging from technology”

19. “I frequently used my smartphone for entertainment while on my trip”
Smartphones for entertainment
6
16
18
36
13
23 22
26
21 20
18
26
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree
BU students
Chilean Data
US national

20. Self presentation while away: The selfie

21. 24 billion selfies uploaded last year on
Google alone

24. Selfie promoting-kiosk in Lima, Peru airport

26. Vacation selfies: Behavior of others irritating? A cultural
perspective
14
19
27 26
14
10
26
42
14
8
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
US Population
Chilean population
“It is annoying when other
people are taking selfies in
places I am visiting”
Asian/Eurps vs.
Black/Latin

27. Vacation selfies: Half frequently exchange & share
17
20
16
37
11
13
25
20
36
6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
“I always share selfies
with a select audience”
BU students;
% of 334 Rs
“I frequently exchanged
selfies with someone
else while on vacation”

28. Selfies
•Democratizes an aristocratic tradition

29. Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691-1765)

31. Pannini, Canaletto and Bellotto sought to meet the needs of
visitors for painted "postcards" depicting the Italian environs, with
selfies of the patrons

32. Selfies update a long-standing tradition

33. What about other kinds of
mobile device communications?

34. What programs were people using the most?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90 US Population
Chilean Population
Includes “constantly using”
and “frequently using”

35. People should limit their phone/tablet
usage in public settings. If I am spending
time with someone person to person it
really makes me mad if they spend more
time on their device than they do paying
attention to me.
Also when around people I don't know when they are
always looking down at their devices it makes me
realize how disconnected we have become from
personal interaction. . .
47 year old woman
“
“
Her self-reporting about her last vacation:
• Was with a romantic partner
• She was constantly or almost constantly texting, emailing, and on Facebook
• Sent daily or almost daily photos & texts and frequently videochatted
• In contact so frequently with someone not on the trip that she felt like they were there with her
Howdidpeoplefeelaboutit?

36. Mixed Attitudes & Norms
“If I'm on vacation, I want to see the
scenery with my eyes and live in the
moment. I don't want to see the scenery
through a camera lens and live through the
pictures.”
- 23 year old woman.
“Vacation is family time for me. No
computers or phones or scandalous
social media posts can replace that for
me. Ever.”
- 22 year old woman
“I think people on social media
generally enjoy seeing pictures
that people take on vacation of
far away places, I know I do if I
can't get there myself. Taking
selfies is a fun way to show
where you are and they can
be very entertaining.”
- 53 year old woman
“While we are on vacation I
love to keep memories of the
trip and everyone is in the
photos. So we take a lot of
photos”
- 51 year old woman
“Emily Post needs to come up with a
definitive cell phone and social media
etiquette book.”
- 44 year old woman

37. Communication with absent others
•Need to be in touch?
•No

38. US National: How frequently would you have wantedthe followingto
contact you while on vacation?
(Assumenoonewascontactingyouforemergencyreasons)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Work Family Friends Romantic
Partner
Never
Rarely
Occassionally
Frequently
(Almost) Constantly

39. Communication: Ignoring others
17
20
16
37
11
8
20 21
36
15
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
US Population Chilean Population
“I intentionally ignored some communication while on [most
recent] trip”

40. Immersive reality
•Being there without leaving
•Also has a long tradition

45. Immersive reality: Limited enthusiasm
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Agree Strongly
agree
25
17
21
9
30
15 16
10
“I would like to conduct
business through VR”
US National
survey
“I would pay for a
realistic VR vacation”

46. No substitute for going there in person
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
3 4
14
28
51
US national
survey
“There is no substitute for visiting a place physically”

47. Other future trends
•Managing companionship
•End of language barriers?
•Dematerialization of guides
• Access to local material
• Autonomous vehicles

49. Apps to meet others?:
Tepid,butstrongeramongLatinos&Blacksvs.Whites&Asian
ethnicities;USadults&Chileanssimilar
0
10
20
30
40
50
Not a good idea Not personally
interested
Somewhat
interested
Very interested
11
47
33
119
40 38
13
“Let me meet other tourists in the area who share my interests”
“Put me in contact with local people who share my interests”
WhatsApp & WeChat have
options for: ‘meet others/find
people near me’

51. Automatic foreign language translation
Not a good idea Not personally
interested
Somewhat interested Very interested
1
16
38
40
3
11
49
37
US population Chilean Population
“Automatically translate a foreign language so I could understand what is being said by local
people”

52. Autonomous vehicles in tourism?

53. Driverless cars: Broad public not ready
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
26
15
20
12
20
3 1
14
26
56
17 18
35
12
17
“More tests needed before
driverless cars should be
used in public”
US national
survey
“I would enjoy
using a driverless
car”
Laws needed to
prevent
development

55. Overall attitudes?

56. Social media: Good or bad for society?
47
41
12
34
45
21
Good Neither Bad
US Population Chilean Population
“Overall would you say social media is good or bad for society?”

57. Summing up: Social media & mobile phones
• Mobile’ are integral part of
people’s travel & vacation
experiences, including planning
• Even more important for young
when in quiet environments
• Managing contact/seperation
essential
• Differential opportunities for
technological substitution
• Individual and group variation
needs further study

58. Technology doesn’t substitute for vacations
Opens up new vistas for travel
• Gives confidence in choices d/t
recommendation
• Encourages people to find
cheap/suitable opportunities
• Evaluations force competition
over quality, to benefit of
travelers
• New ways to connect/isolate
continuously evolving
Yesterday’s social media travel app

59. Thank you! Grazie!

61. Thank you! Grazie!