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(Dis)Connectivity in the Travel Context: Setting an Agenda for Research
This document summarizes a research presentation on (dis)connectivity in travel contexts. It identifies several key themes for further research: 1) ICTs have blurred boundaries between life domains, integrating work, travel and personal life. This raises questions about work-life balance and expectations around availability. 2) Connectivity behaviors are contextual based on travel type, mode, and party. However, work obligations and social expectations often make complete disconnection difficult. 3) Remaining constantly connected may impact health and wellbeing, but perceptions around availability expectations are often unclear. 4) Individual personality and lifestyle play a role in decisions around (dis)connecting, but generational and gender differences also exist. Further research
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(Dis)Connectivity in the Travel Context: Setting an Agenda for Research
- 1. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 1 (Dis)Connectivity in the Travel Context: Setting an Agenda for Research Barbara Neuhofera & Adele Ladkinb aSalzburg University of Applied Sciences, Austria bBournemouth University, UK [email protected] [email protected] www.fh-salzburg.ac.at I www.bournemouth.ac.uk
- 2. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 2 What (or who) keeps you from disconnecting when on holiday?
- 3. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 3
- 4. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 4 Introduction Travel is travel is technology- mediated. Smartphones enable tourists to connect on an unprecedented scale, connecting to anyone, any information, anywhere and anytime (Neuhofer et al., 2014a; Wang et al., 2014a). ICTs have era of ‘constant- connectivity’ and an ‘always-on culture’ (Schlachter, McDowall & Cropley, 2015)
- 5. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 5 Introduction • Connectivity has however not only changed travel, but also the wider work and life domains • People can now carry out work, leisure, family and travel activities at the same time (Chamakiotis et al., 2014). • Potential downsides to being connected 24/7. • Being ‘switched-on’ can compromise travel in that it creates pressures, whether real or perceived, and can make it difficult to re-charge batteries, reduce stress and leave work behind (Schlachter et al., 2015).
- 6. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 6 Research Aim & Rationale Investigate the ‘flipside of digital technology’ to develop a better understanding of why and how people connect and disconnect from ICTs Identify key areas of research for an agenda around (dis)connectivity of travel experiences
- 7. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 7 7CONNECTED
- 8. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 8 Era of ‘Connectedness’ • Mobile lifestyles and mobile smartphone devices have transformed tourist experiences in numerous ways (Gretzel & Jamal, 2009; Neuhofer et al., 2012; 2014; Wang et al., 2014a, 2014b) • Extended ecosystem as individuals in which tourists connect and co-create experiences offline and online at the same time (Neuhofer et al., 2012; 2015; Wang et al. 2012; Wang et al., 2014)
- 9. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 9© Neuhofer, 2015
- 10. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 10 Theoretical Background Most studies in the tourism field – Impact of ICTs on experiences – Technology-mediated and enhanced experiences (Tussyadiah and Fesenmaier, 2009; Neuhofer, Ladkin and Buhalis, 2012; Wang et al. 2014) Only a dearth of recent work on challenges around (dis)connecting in the tourism domain • Disconnected tourist experiences and digital dead zones (Pearce and Gretzel, 2012) • Technology-induced tensions in ‘unplugged’ experiences (Paris et al., 2015) • Enablers and barriers that make or break connected tourist experiences (Neuhofer, Buhalis & Ladkin, 2015) • Drivers of connectivity and the consequences of being (dis)connected (Tanti and Buhalis, 2016) • Mobile technologies and tourists’ desire for disconnection at campsites (Dickinson et al., 2016)
- 11. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 11 Need for discussing (dis)connectivity? • Traditionally, travel motivation grounded in travel as a means of escapism and reversal of everyday (Cohen, 1979) • Ubiquitous technology creates life interdomain integration, leading to blurred boundaries between life, work, travel (Matthews et al., 2014) • Growing recognition of the need for ‘unplugged’ and ‘digital-detox’ experiences (Pearce and Gretzel, 2012; Neuhofer, 2016) • Increasing discussion of issues around being ‘switched-on’ and consequences in occupational health, psychology disciplines(Schlachter et al., 2015)
- 12. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 12 (Dis)Connectivity in Travel, Home and Work Domains • ICTs impact on the work-life balance and create an always-on culture, which can be positive or negative. • Work, home travel spheres are no longer distinct • Permeability between work and life (Chamakiotis et al., 2014) • Unhealthy work-life balance (Xanthopoulou et al., 2009) • Calls for a revival of the work-life balance debate to re-define what work-life separation and balance means in the digital age.
- 13. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 13 Problem Definition • Traditionally, Leisure travel is for rest, relaxation, escape from the mundane and to re-charge.... BUT • Now easy for travellers to be connected anywhere anytime to family, friends, other travelllers ...and work!
- 14. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 14 Methodological Approach Research Approach 1) Secondary research to identify status-quo of the literature, emerging discourses and current gaps in knowledge 1) Qualitative thematic analysis of a multi-disciplinary symposium, including tourism, geography, occupational health, psychology, wellbeing, human computer interaction, user experience design, and human resources Research question: ‘What are the emerging areas of research on (dis)connectivity in the travel context?’
- 15. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 15 Emerged themes
- 16. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 16 Connectivity & fluid life integration • ICTs lead to travel life integration • Blurring lines and ‘fluid boundaries’ across all life domains • Travel is extension of everyday life – interconnected (Wang et al., 2014a) • Convenience of being switched-on to manage all aspects of life from the smartphone
- 17. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 17 “Being wired has transformed my life. I am wired all the time. I hate being offline. I feel connected to people I know online and I know offline. The world I don’t see any distinctions between those things.”
- 18. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 18 Connectivity & fluid life integration • ‘Connectivity Dilemma’ – as people struggle between wanting to connect and disconnect at the same time (Dickinson et al. (2016) • Connectivity behaviour is contextual • Depending on travel types and travel modes and travel parties
- 19. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 19 Dis(connectivity) & work-based challenges • Work-related issues relating to (dis)connectivity in tourist experiences • Switching-off during leisure time / travel determined by work type (knowledge work, manual work) and work modes (flexible working, working from home, part time or full time) • Discussion of current practices of how individuals deal with work and leisure in an always-on culture
- 20. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 20 “I don’t see my work as a 9/5…I’m constantly juggling both, and it is not as simple as dividing a block of my day. I assume that my sacrifice is that by bringing in personal things into my working hours, this means that I overflow and my work happens in my life time, my off-time… it does run through evenings and weekends.”
- 21. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 21 • Occupational health, human resource and policy related questions • Few organisational guidelines available on how to cope with digital technology in/outside of work • Questions around ‘responsibility’ – who is responsible for a reasonable ICTs use • Shared responsibility organisations/employees • Unwritten rules and expectations about good practice / behaviour
- 22. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 22 “What can good organisations do? JP Morgan and Barclays have got a protected weekend policy. Atos, French IT company, they have banned internal email from 2011…Daimler have gone a little bit more technical to turn off emails out of office hours and automatically delete emails sent to staff during annual leave and holiday.”
- 23. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 23 Dis(connectivity) & health and wellbeing • Questions around whether ‘taking a break’ switching off is still a valid concept in 2017? • Emerging research linking ICTs, tourism literature to occupational health, psychology, wellbeing domains • How does remaining ‘switched on’ affect non-work time (quality) • How does not switching-off impact on actual and perceived health and wellbeing • Reasons for not switching-off (inability, unwillingness)
- 24. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 24 “Don’t work while on holiday. Holidays are a bit like mobile phones. If you consider charging your phone in the evening for half an hour, it might get you through the next work day, but not much longer. With holidays, it is a long period of time where you can actually fully recharge your batteries.”
- 25. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 25 Dis(connectivity) & social obligations and family roles • Reasons for not switching-off often related to ‘internal obligations’, ‘reachable for others’, especially family • Inability to switch-off because of the need to be online, monitor work emails, and ‘fear of missing out’ at work and at home • Misperceptions / miscommunication around availability expectations
- 26. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 26 “A key issue is about expectations around technology use. Do I have to be available or not? There are often a lot of misperceptions of what others expect of us. A lot of the time with expectations they are not communicated. So I just assume everyone thinks that I need to be available, but actually never ask anyone do they expect it or not.”
- 27. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 27 Dis(connectivity) & the self • (Dis)connectivity decisions are inherently subjective and individual • ‘One’s own choice’, ‘own personality’, ‘own perceived pressure’, and ‘own lifestyle’, and ‘generational’ ‘gender’ differences • (Dis)connectivity not only framed by institutional, organisational, infrastructural or social boundaries, but determined by the end-user
- 28. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 28 Disconnectivity & digital detox • Questions around switching-off completely, temporal disconnection (times of the day, weekends, week retreats) • Switching off for a change – digital age • Switching off for health and wellbeing reasons, trying out digital-detox retreats
- 29. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 29 Conclusions and Implications – Discussing the flipside of technology in the tourism experience and related multi-disciplinary literature – Developing an agenda for research – Basis for discussions of ‘paradox’ of connectivity and disconnectivity – Organisational implications to map out challenges and opportunities in travel-related connectivity and disconnectivity in the digital age
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- 31. ENTER 2017 ResearchTrack Slide Number 31 Adele Ladkin (Bournemouth University, UK) Barbara Neuhofer, PhD Senior Lecturer in Experience Design Head of Experience Design Innovation and Management in Tourism Salzburg University of Applied Sciences [email protected] www.barbaraneuhofer.com Connect: Facebook I Academia I LinkedIn THANK YOU
Editor's Notes
- #14 Studies show that 79% of studies remain connected