Emerging dimensions of blockchain application in tourism and hospitality sector: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT

Owing to its unparalleled transparency and disintermediation characteristics, blockchain technology has a huge potential to transform the tourism and hospitality industry. Airlines and hotel companies are now turning to blockchain for its multifaceted applications, yet its holistic value realization in the sector is far from reality. The existing literature in terms of theoretical and methodological underpinnings concerning blockchain technology integrated Smart Tourism 4.0 remains limited and fragmented across its lifecycle. With a structured, systematic literature review approach, the study aims to conduct an in-depth review of 56 selected papers obtained from a specific search criterion employed across widespread repositories of Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost databases, capturing the period from Jan 2012 to May 2022. The study identifies critical research gaps in technology awareness, particularly around the maturity index for a BCT-integrated digitized business model. The emerging themes based on the primary focus areas are summarized and extended further to provide future research directions on the basis of theory, context, and method (TCM) framework. To advance the readers’ understanding to the next level, a few case examples of linked theory, context and methodology are also provided.

由于其无与伦比的透明度和非中介化特征，区块链技术具有巨大的潜力来改变旅游业和酒店业. 航空公司和酒店公司现在正转向区块链, 以实现其多方面的应用, 但其在该领域的整体价值实现远未实现. 关于区块链技术集成智能旅游4.0的理论和方法基础方面的现有文献在其整个生命周期中仍然有限且支离破碎. 该研究采用结构化、系统的文献综述方法, 旨在对从Scopus、科学之网和EBSCO宿主数据库的广泛存储库中采用的特定搜索标准获得的56篇论文进行深入审查, 涵盖2012年1月至2022年5月这段时间. 该研究确定了技术意识方面的关键研究差距, 特别是围绕BCT集成数字化业务模型的成熟度指数. 基于主要关注领域的新兴主题被进一步总结和扩展, 以在理论、背景和方法(TCM)框架的基础上提供未来的研究方向. 为了将读者的理解提升到一个新的层次, 还提供了一些相关理论、背景和方法的案例.

 

KEYWORDS:

• Blockchain
• digital ledger
• distributed ledger
• cryptocurrency
• tourism
• hospitality

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to express sincere thanks to the Editor and reviewers for providing constructive suggestions to improve quality of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2023.2184440

Notes

1. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?view_op=top_venues&hl=en&vq=bus_tourismhospitality.

2. https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption.

3. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094362.