Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2019 - Proceedings of the International Conference in Nicosia, Cyprus, January 30-February 1, 2019

This book provides an extensive, up-to-date overview of the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used to develop tourism and hospitality. The coverage encompasses a wide variety of topics within the field, including virtual reality, sharing economy and peer-to-peer accommodation, social media use, hotel technology, big data, robotics, and recommendation systems, to name but a few. The content is based on the 2019 ENTER eTourism conference, organized in Nicosia, Cyprus by the International Federation for Information Technologies and Travel & Tourism (IFITT) - the leading independent global community for the discussion, exchange, and development of knowledge on the use and impact of new ICTs in the travel and tourism industry. The book offers a global perspective and rich source of information on important innovations and novel ideas. Though it will prove especially valuable for academics working in the eTourism field, it will also be of considerable interest to practitioners and students.

Juho Pesonen is the head of e-tourism research at the University of Eastern Finland, Centre for Tourism Studies. He received his doctorate from the University of Eastern Finland Business School in 2013, with a focus on online tourism marketing. He has been involved in tourism research since 2009 and has managed and worked in several national and international tourism research and development projects and networks. His main research interests are in digital tourism marketing, destination marketing and development, sustainable tourism, and rural and nature-based tourism. 

Julia Neidhardt holds a Master's degree in Mathematics from the University of Vienna and a PhD in Computer Science from the TU Wien. In 2010, she joined the TU Wien's Research Division of E-Commerce. Her research focuses on modeling and predicting complex human behavior, user preferences, and social relations, as well as their dynamics in digital-enabled environments. Of particular interest in this regard are picture-based travel recommender systems, and since 2016 she has been one of the organizers of the Workshop on Recommenders in Tourism (RecTour) at the ACM RecSys Conference.