Data ecosystem of tourism mobility: challenges and opportunities

The development of smart tourism destinations increasingly relies on integrated tourism mobility services that combine digitalization and ecosystem collaboration. The article explores the concept and structure of the tourism mobility data ecosystem to enhance sustainable and personalized tourism experiences. We address the challenges of cross-sectoral collaboration between the tourism and transport sectors and the fragmentation of data and governance, and propose pathways for ecosystemic coordination and data standardization to realize advanced tourism mobility services.

The empirical material consists of ecosystem interviews conducted during the case project, as well as participatory observations carried out throughout its duration. Our research is grounded in the understanding of tourism mobility and its ecosystemic formation developed during the project. In the context of our study, tourism mobility is understood as the broad spectrum of movement that facilitates and constitutes tourism. This includes travel to and from the destination, as well as intra-destination mobility. The overall structure of tourism mobility emerges at the intersection of the tourism industry and mobility services. Despite appearing as an integrated whole, these sectors remain markedly siloed, both functionally and, more notably, administratively.

The insights derived from the data are reflected against our conceptual understanding of cross-sectoral ecosystems within the tourism mobility context. We concretize the results of our analysis through a case example, the Digital Travel Assistant, to construct a data categorisation needed in the development of digital tourism mobility services. Finally, we discuss how the tourism mobility ecosystem could be advanced through cross-sectoral and public-private collaboration.