Technology Use and Innovation Strategies in Event Tourism

Introduction

Technology is an emerging concept in event management (Park and Park, 2017). Thus, events should also be included in studies for a better understanding of the field and make developments for its effectiveness. Events generally have important processes like timing, information sharing, and communicating. Moreover, attendants may have particular characteristics and needs which make technological advancements important for managers to collect information required for their development strategies. This study, thus, aims to examine studies in the literature on how technology can improve the effectiveness of event management and what are the new technologies and developed methods. It also aims to find out how event organizers handle the processes, collaborate, communicate, and benefit by using the information technologies.

The technological aspect of events focuses on the knowledge and use of events considering them as a cultural phenomenon while the image aspect is related to the public opinion and popularity of events at a destination (Ziyadin et al., 2019). The technological aspect is related to digitalization and transformation of intangible assets into knowledge to manage events productively. Thus, knowledge of event tourism and its management became one of the most important concepts from a theoretical point of view. They can also be used to better develop innovations for both management and marketing. Boosting productivity and competition in the market requires an understanding of customer needs and make innovations coming into existence in online environments (Ungerman, Dedkova and Gurinova, 2018) and integrating them into the production or service processes. Hence, managers may use social media, Bluetooth, RFID, WI-FI, Mobile roaming, web search, online booking data to generate big data that provide particular information for the long‐term success of the firm (Li et al., 2018). Further, events are special memorable experiences that are affected by inter-activity, personalization, and informativeness. Many smart tourism technologies provide information to tourists about events within the destination and enable them to share their unique experiences (Jeong and Shin, 2020).

As e-tourism brings together the producer and the consumer in a virtual environment, it enables the destinations and products to be redesigned together (Buhalis and O’Connor, 2005). Considering the discussion, some important themes were pointed out which make technology more useful and efficient in events. The results provide important outcomes for the academicians and managers within the tourism industry.