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AbstractSmart tourism destinations are growing, with the use and implementation of technology to make travel more enjoyable. Still, the tourist's information privacy concerns generated by the big data available to the destination and service providers is a significant problem for smart tourism, which can affect the sustainability and economic benefit of the smart tourism destination. This study investigates privacy concern, perceived risk, control of information, service provider trust in a smart tourism destination, and the resulting behavioural intentions. The results were obtained using an online survey of 384 respondents that have visited the smart tourism destination Dubai. The results indicated that use context as an environmental factor helps mitigate the tourists' negative privacy concerns and perceived risk towards trust in a smart tourism destination. Furthermore, previous privacy violation experience as a personal factor was negatively related to trust in the smart tourism destination and the service providers. The study provides meaningful contributions on smart tourism to destination management organizations (DMO's) and service providers on what influences and mitigates the privacy concern of the tourists using mobile application location-based services available in a smart tourism destination, building on the social cognitive theory.

Purpose: There is growing interest in innovative online problem-solving models such as crowdsourcing to serve individuals, firms and the society as a whole. Crowdsourcing is the combination of efforts from various sets of individuals who are either volunteering or working part-time for socioeconomic production, basically in the cyber world. This hybrid work model is already in use by businesses and entrepreneurs; some of the platforms include Amazon mechanical Turk, 99designs, Hit RECORD and Design Crowd. Design/methodology/approach: Much has been parleyed and published, and this is primarily because of the efficient socioeconomic potentials crowdsourcing offers. Findings: This paper addressed the following three questions to help have a better understanding of crowdsourcing: who can perform crowdsourcing? why it is relevant to crowdsource in this present proliferated internet age and if there are going to be some changes in the future and the last but not the least what can be done to promote it in the society? Originality/value: This paper discusses the three W’s and concludes with challenges facing the crowdsourcing work model.

The Internet offers a rich atmosphere for prospective travelers to gain familiarity, and harvest and retrieve travel-related information and resources. An increasing number of tourism and hospitality firms have turned their attention to new business opportunities on the Web. Travel 2.0 has emerged as a new tool for competitive advantage. This study draws on social cognitive theory and the DeLone and McLean Information Systems (D&M IS) success model to diagnose the impact of websites design quality on booking/reservation intentions from a travelers’ perspective. This research model was tested with 700 valid data collected from travelers using Travel 2.0 websites through online survey using SPSS v18 for the analysis. The results of the data analysis provided support for the hypothesized relationships of e-service and system quality with booking/reservation/purchase behavioral intention implying that an e-travel site’s quality is an essential success factor for tourism enterprises. However, information quality of an e-travel site is negatively related to booking/reservation intention. Cross-sectional design and self-report measures are the shortcomings of the study. Little research has been done on the relation between websites design (e-service, information, and system) quality, and booking/reservation intention. This article presents new insights into how these variables may influence potential tourist.

This article investigates the impact of eWOM on intention to revisit and destination trust, and the moderating role of gender in medical tourism industry. Result from structural equation modeling (n = 240) suggests the following: (1) that eWOM influences intention to revisit and destination trust; (2) that destination trust influences intention to revisit; (3) that the impact of eWOM on intention to revisit is about 1.3 times higher in men; (4) that the impact of eWOM on destination trust is about 1.2 times higher in men; and (5) the impact of destination trust on the intention to revisit is about 2.3 times higher in women. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

A research model was developed to investigate the relationships between intention to visit and tourists’ satisfaction as a source of mediation for travelers through information search and e-word of mouth. A judgmental sampling technique and a sample questionnaire survey of 350 respondents were involved in the research measurement. The finding of the analytical results indicates that the dimensions of tourists’ satisfaction as a mediator affect the overall tourists’ intention to visit. Simple websites no longer have an impact on destination marketing because of the advance in technology. Websites should provide different tools and marketing channels to facilitate the surfing and information needs of tourists. The research used the instruments of online word of mouth and information search by modifying the theory of planned behavior to consider the context of intention to visit. Valuable information for managers and researchers interested in the internet and online destination marketing is essential.

Electronic word-of-mouth (WOM), also known as eWOM, is one of the most influential sources of information on the web. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of online WOM on destination trust and intention to travel in the medical tourism sector. In addition, the paper examines the moderating effect of income on the researched variables. Structural equation modeling is applied to examine the interplay between the proposed variables, using a sample of 216 respondents. The empirical results suggest that: online WOM positively influences destination trust and intention to travel; destination trust positively influences intention to travel; rising income strengthens the relationship between online WOM and intention to travel; and rising income weakens the relationship between destination trust and intention to travel. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Other names of online education are e-learning, cyber schools or distance learning, which are distinct from face to face traditional education because students do not need to visit an actual classroom and listen to an instructor talking to them. Online education is a classroom on the internet that engages and assists students to study in their own free time. It is self-directed learning. The internet has become a major educational technological advancement tool in society and the universities in Ghana, such as the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Cape Coast University, took advantage of it by offering courses online to target the working class in Ghana. However, the rate of online education in these universities is still very low according to the questionnaire results of the study. Most of the students still prefer face to face classroom teaching to the cyber schools. They have a negative perception about online education, but the use of the internet frequently can lead to changes in views. Online education has a big advantage that the students do not need to resign from their jobs to take courses in the university; they do not need to look for babysitters to look after their children so they can go for classes. Online education has brought easy ways to study and to get a degree to the doorsteps of the working classes and students alike in Ghana through the higher educational institution.

Online education, known as distance learning or e-learning is different from traditional education because students are not required to visit an actual classroom and listen to an instructor face to face. Universities have used the internet as a tool for teaching .Online education program in the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) is still in it‟s infancy and working gradually to catch up with other Universities in Turkey. Using questionnaires as the data source, this paper will examine the importance of online courses and gauge people's opinion about online courses in universities in Northern Cyprus with the Eastern Mediterranean University as a “case study”