The digital traveller: implications for data ethics and data governance in tourism and hospitality

Abstract

Purpose Big data and analytics are being increasingly used by tourism and hospitality organisations (THOs) to provide insights and to inform critical business decisions. Particularly in times of crisis and uncertainty data analytics supports THOs to acquire the knowledge needed to ensure business continuity and the rebuild of tourism and hospitality sectors. Despite being recognised as an important source of value creation, big data and digital technologies raise ethical, privacy and security concerns. This paper aims to suggest a framework for ethical data management in tourism and hospitality designed to facilitate and promote effective data governance practices. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts an organisational and stakeholder perspective through a scoping review of the literature to provide an overview of an under-researched topic and to guide further research in data ethics and data governance. Findings The proposed framework integrates an ethical-based approach which expands beyond mere compliance with privacy and protection laws, to include other critical facets regarding privacy and ethics, an equitable exchange of travellers’ data and THOs ability to demonstrate a social license to operate by building trusting relationships with stakeholders. Originality/value This study represents one of the first studies to consider the development of an ethical data framework for THOs, as a platform for further refinements in future conceptual and empirical research of such data governance frameworks. It contributes to the advancement of the body of knowledge in data ethics and data governance in tourism and hospitality and other industries and it is also beneficial to practitioners, as organisations may use it as a guide in data governance practices.

A framework for managing ethics in data science projects

“…Ethics in data science is a topic that has received a lot of attention recently. 1,3,10,13,23,[27][28][29] It is uncertain if data science companies have the breadth and depth of expertise to easily deliver this training, but they have been advised to provide guidance and support, as well as interactive ethical exams to help staff examine ethical challenges. 5 If data science ethics goes unaddressed, it may introduce new business risks.…”

“…Within the fast-growing subject of data science, which is itself a subfield of research, data ethics is an incipient but rapidly growing subfield of study. [6][7][8][9][10] The algorithms that underlie automated systems in data science projects frequently produce unfair results. 11,12 This has the potential to have a devastating effect, even on products developed in data science projects with the best of intentions.…”

Digital exchange compromises: Teetering priorities of consumers and organizations at the iron triangle

“…Consumers expect free or low‐cost access (Dou, 2004), but the real price may be information divulgence. Concerns about surrendering information in exchange for access are a key criticism of vaccine passports, their protective public health purposes notwithstanding (Yallop et al, 2021). Even for paid services, consumers are often asked to create an account or share an email address and some may believe that their privacy is forsaken or that they have “nothing to hide” (Adorjan & Ricciardelli, 2019).…”

Personalizacija Usluga Kroz Nove Tehnologije

“…Danas je nezamislivo provoditi poslovne strategije bez informacijske tehnologije i podataka. Povijesno gledano, podaci su proizašli iz različitih naslijeđenih transakcija sustava te su se smatrali nusproizvodom poslovanja, odnosno imali su malu vrijednost (Yallop i sur., 2021). Takav stav prema podacima zadržao se sve do 1990. godine, nakon čega su se poslovne odluke i procesi sve više oslanjali na podacima i analizi podataka (Al-Ruithe, Benkhelifa i Hameed, 2019).…”

“…Korištenjem tehnologije svakodnevno se stvara obilje strukturiranih i nestrukturiranih podataka koje poduzeća koriste za održavanje i stjecanje konkurentske prednosti (Nunan i Domenico, 2013). Danas je nezamislivo voditi poslovanje bez pametnih tehnologija, a naročito u nestabilnim i neizvjesnim poslovnim okruženjima (trenutno u kontekstu COVID-19 pandemije), kako bi se smanjili rizici povezani s neizvjesnosti i podržale političke odluke u ublažavanju učinaka krize u turističkim destinacijama (Yallop i sur., 2021). U literaturi se pojam Big Data opisuje sa tri osnovne karakteristike: volumen (velika količina podataka), brzina (brzina nastajanja i obrada podataka) i raznovrsnost (heterogeni izvori i priroda podataka), a kasnije se proširuje na još dvije karakteristike: vjerodostojnost (kvaliteta podataka) i varijabilnost (nedosljednost podataka) (Álvarez-García i sur., 2020).…”