Technology adoption among Indigenous tourism stakeholders: scale development and validation

ABSTRACT

Technology adoption among indigenous tourism stakeholders is nascent and has not gained momentum due to inherent and exogenous constraints. As the role of information technology (IT) for development is well evidenced in the tourism sector, encouraging its adoption among all stakeholders is mandated. Developing a reliable and valid scale with appropriate psychometric properties to measure factors affecting technology adoption among Indigenous tourism stakeholders amidst constraints thus assumes significance. The study employed an exploratory sequential method. The result shows four latent constructs, i.e. cognitive, facilitation, institutional, and customer-centric, consisting of 22 variables explaining factors affecting technology adoption among Indigenous tourism stakeholders. The study contributes to the need for a reliable scale to measure factors affecting technology adoption among Indigenous tourism stakeholders, offering insights crucial for policy-making and strategy development, fostering grassroots-level economic development through IT-enabled initiatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous tourism
• technology adoption
• exploratory sequential method
• individual stakeholders

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A. Vinodan

A. Vinodan is an Associate Professor at the Central University of Tamil Nadu School of Commerce and Business Management. He was the founder Nodal Officer (Campus Head) of the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India) South Campus, Nellore. He holds a Ph.D. from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala. He has 16 years of teaching and research experience in Commerce, Management, and Tourism, particularly research in Human Resources Management, Marketing, Tourism, and Sustainability. He has undertaken various research and consultancy services for the Ministry of Tourism (GOI) and State Governments and published articles in refereed international journals and Policy papers/ Case studies, including UNEP and MOEF of the Government of India.

S. Meera

S. Meera is presently working as an Assistant Professor and Chairperson of the MBA (Tourism) program at the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India) South Campus, Nellore. She was the former Nodal Officer of the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India) South Campus, Nellore. A behavioral economist by research, she started her research at IIT Madras and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nādu, India. She has 16 years of teaching and research experience in Economics, Management, and Tourism, particularly research in service business, supply chain and logistics, tourism, sustainability, and consumer behavior. She is actively engaged in research and consultancy. She has published articles in refereed international journals and policy papers/ case studies.