CFP: P&M Award & Tourism Management Sponsored Track

Call for Papers: 

2023 Global Marketing Conference (GMC) Track on Envisioning the Digital Future of Tourism and Hospitality 

Sponsored by Tourism Management (2-year IF: 12.879, ABDC: A*) and Psychology & Marketing (2-year IF: 5.507, ABDC: A) 

Track Chairs: Hongbo Liu, University of Surrey Lu Lu, Temple University Kevin Kam Fung So, Oklahoma State University Xiang (Robert) Li, Temple University Sameer Hosany, Royal Holloway, University of London


The 2023 Global Marketing Conference (GMC) (https://2023gmc.imweb.me/) will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on July 20th – 23rd, 2023. The theme of this year’s conference is “Marketing & Management Transformation in the Challenging Digital Environment.” We warmly welcome submissions for consideration for the “Envisioning the Digital Future of Tourism and Hospitality” track of the 2023 GMC, sponsored by Tourism Management (2-year IF: 12.879, ABDC: A*) and Psychology & Marketing (2-year IF: 5.507, ABDC: A).

The tourism and hospitality sector has long been at the forefront of embracing digital technology (Busulwa et al., 2022; Gretzel, 2022; Lam & Law, 2019). For instance, the industry’s pioneer of digitalising booking services such as online travel agencies can be dated back to the late 1990s (UNWTO, n.d.). Recent innovations including homesharing platforms such as Airbnb also characterize a transformative business model for the accommodation sector owing to platform technologies (Kavadias et al., 2016; Wirtz et al., 2019). In recent years, digital transformation has penetrated every aspect of the tourism and hospitality sector, such as operation, marketing and sales, finance, new product development, and business models (Alrawadieh et al., 2021; Busulwa et al., 2022; Gretzel, 2022; Kavadias et al., 2016). The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the digital transformation of tourism and hospitality businesses, which has caused products and experiences to be largely technology-mediated (Zhu et al., 2021). Such digital transformation has fundamentally changed the way consumer experience is produced, managed, and delivered. For example, robots have been used for service delivery and guest interactions (Chi et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2022; Lu et al., 2019), as well as operational functions such as disinfection and sterilization in airports and hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Zeng et al., 2020). Building on various virtual reality techniques, metaverse has the potential to change how consumers experience tourism and hospitality services and how the industry operates and interacts with customers (Gursoy et al., 2022).

Despite the significant benefits and challenges presented to tourism and hospitality academics and practitioners, the existing research on digital transformation has been fragmented and predominately focused on the digitalization stage of digital transformation, with more efforts in narrow empiricism rather than theorization of the fundamental differences from previous models as a result of digital intervention. Further, the impact of digital transformation on the traditional tourism and hospitality businesses, including the unintended negative consequences of digital transformation, has not been fully understood. While the proliferation of research on technological advancements (e.g., AI, smart technologies, IoT, virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality, and metaverse) is globally recognized as transformative driving force for the industry, how digital transformation is trending to inspire new theories and frameworks (see Li et al. [2021]’s four models of AI technology-based service encounters as an example), as well as the distinctive roles of these technologies in achieving digital transformation remain inadequate.

In this conference track, we welcome submissions that can enrich existing scholarship with innovative and engaging dialogues for the evolving hospitality and tourism industry. Working with contributing authors, we aim to empower stakeholders to collectively reconfigure the digital future of tourism and hospitality with the latest scholarly intelligence. Therefore, this conference track focuses on resolving the following areas of tension:

• How digital transformation reboots, challenge/reshape conventional conceptual and frameworks

• How digital transformation creates/facilitates new business models.

• How digital transformation incubates typologies for technology-enabled encounters

• How digital transformation innovates and/or disrupts existing theories and/or current business practices

• How digital transformation requires reassessment/rethinking/revaluation of existing paradigms, constructs, and measurements

We welcome papers on this topic using different research methods (quantitative, qualitative, conceptual, and mix-methods) that are original, innovative, rigorous, and relevant to the tourism and hospitality contexts. Potential topics include the following but are not limited to:

• New trends, theories, and constructs in digital transformation

• Digital transformation and customer behaviors

• Digital transformation and service marketing

• Digital transformation and service production and operation

• Digital transformation and new business models

• Digital transformation and management, including finance, human resource management, and leadership

• The dark side of digital transformation and remedial strategies

Types of Papers:

1. Empirical papers that advance theory and practice.

2. Conceptual, systematic literature review, and methodological papers are welcome if presenting novel theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions.

3. Interdisciplinary research is welcome and should prioritize its contribution to the domain of tourism and hospitality.

This conference track is sponsored by two prestigious journals: Tourism Management and Psychology & Marketing. Selected papers from the track will be recommended for publication consideration by Tourism Management. A Best Paper Award will be awarded to the selected best paper in this track, and the author(s) will be invited to submit their full paper to Psychology & Marketing. All submissions from this track will still go through the regular review process of the sponsoring journals.

Submission information

All manuscripts submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or be currently under consideration elsewhere.

1. Extended Submission Deadline of Extended Abstracts: January 31, 2023

Authors should submit their extended abstracts to the Co-Chairs of the track of Envisioning the Digital Future of Tourism and Hospitality of the 2023 GMC at Seoul.

Track Chairs:

- Hongbo Liu (University of Surrey): hongbo.liu@surrey.ac.uk

- Lu Lu (Temple University): lu.lu0001@temple.edu

- Kevin Kam Fung So (Oklahoma State University): kevin.so@okstate.edu

- Xiang (Robert) Li (Temple University): robertli@temple.edu

- Sameer Hosany (Royal Holloway, University of London): sameer.hosany@rhul.ac.uk

2023 GMC at Seoul Homepage including the Submission Guidelines for the extended abstract: https://2023gmc.imweb.me/.

2. Full paper submission deadline: Oct. 15, 2023

Authors with selected papers should submit their full papers to the Tourism Management and Psychology & Marketing through their submission system.

These manuscripts will undergo regular double-blinded peer review.


For more Information:

Tourism Management: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/tourism-management

Psychology & Marketing: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15206793

2023 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul: https://2023gmc.imweb.me/