This Factors affecting tourists' decision to use smart travel applications in Khanh Hoa
PDF (Vietnamese)

Keywords

chấp nhận và sử dụng công nghệ
du lịch thông minh
khách du lịch
quyết định sử dụng
ứng dụng du lịch thông minh technology acceptance and use
smart tourism
domestic tourists
usage decision
smart tourism applications

Abstract

This study was conducted in Khanh Hoa to identify and measure factors affecting tourists' decisions to use smart tourism applications (UDDLTM). Data were collected from 210 survey questionnaires and analyzed through the PLS-SEM model. Five factors were included in the research model: (1) performance expectancy, (2) effort expectancy, (3) social influence, (4) information technology infrastructure, and (5) trust in technology. The results showed that all factors had a positive impact on the usage behavior, in which social influence was the factor with the strongest impact. At the same time, the study also confirmed the close relationship between intention to use and actual usage behavior. These findings contribute to the theoretical basis of technology acceptance behavior in the field of smart tourism and provide practical evidence for product design, marketing strategy planning, and destination management. The research results are not only meaningful in Khanh Hoa but can also be applied in digital transformation strategies and smart tourism ecosystem development in other localities.

https://doi.org/10.26459/hueunijed.v134i5C.7998
PDF (Vietnamese)

References

  1. VietnamPlus (2024), Ngành du lịch đóng góp 11.000 tỷ USD cho GDP toàn cầu năm 2024, [Trực tuyến] truy cập tại: <https://www.vietnamplus.vn/nganh-du-lich-dong-gop-11000-ty-usd-cho-gdp-toan-cau-nam-2024-post979588.vnp> [ngày 18/03/2025].
  2. Adjust (2023), Travel App Trends 2023 and Key Strategies, [Online] Available at:
  3. <https://www.adjust.com/blog/travel-apps-2023/> [Accessed 18/03/2025].
  4. The Business Research Company (2025), Electronic (E) Tourism Global Market Report 2025, [Online] Available at: <https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/electronic-e-tourism-global-market-report> [Accessed 18/03/2025].
  5. Mahajan, K. (2025), Travel and Tourism Apps Market Reflects Growth at 3,552.7 Bn. Market.us Scoop, [Online] Available at: <https://scoop.market.us/travel-and-tourism-apps-market-news/> [Accessed 18/03/2025].
  6. Statista (2025), Online travel agent market size worldwide, [Online] Available at:
  7. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/1179020/online-travel-agent-market-size-worldwide/> [Accessed 18/03/2025].
  8. Im, I., Hong, S., & Kang, M. S. (2011), An international comparison of technology adoption: Testing the UTAUT model, Information & Management, 48(1), 1–8.
  9. Nguyễn Ngọc Duy Phương và Huỳnh Vĩnh Trường (2021), Ứng dụng mô hình chấp nhận và sử dụng công nghệ hợp nhất UTAUT: Trường hợp sử dụng phần mềm quản lý văn bản của viên chức trường Đại học quốc tế, Tạp chí Khoa học, 17(2), 19–37.
  10. Nguyễn Thị Thùy Vinh, Nguyễn Hồng Anh và Nguyễn Thanh Hiền Lương (2021), Nghiên cứu hành vi sử dụng dịch vụ thanh toán di động ở Việt Nam: Sử dụng mô hình meta-UTAUT, Tạp chí Kinh tế và Phát triển, (292), 46–56.
  11. Cheung, C. M., & Thadani, D. R. (2012), The impact of electronic word-of-mouth communication: A literature analysis and integrative model, Decision Support Systems, 54(1), 461–470.
  12. Alalwan, A.A., Baabdullah, A.M., Rana, N.P., Tamilmani, K. and Dwivedi, Y.K. (2018), Examining adoption of mobile internet in Saudi Arabia: Extending TAM with perceived enjoyment, innovativeness and trust, Technology in Society, 55, 100–110.
  13. UNWTO (2017), Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals – Journey to 2030, UNWTO, Madrid.
  14. UNWTO (2024), International tourism recovers pre-pandemic levels in 2024, [Online] Available at:<https://www.unwto.org/news/international-tourism-recovers-pre-pandemic-levels-in-2024/> [Accessed 18/03/2025].
  15. Buhalis, D., & Amaranggana, A. (2014), Smart tourism destinations enhancing tourism experience through personalisation of services. In Information and communication technologies in tourism 2015: Proceedings of the international conference in Lugano, Switzerland, Cham: Springer International Publishing, February 3-6, 2015, 377–389.
  16. Gretzel, U., Sigala, M., Xiang, Z., & Koo, C. (2015), Smart tourism: foundations and developments, Electronic markets, 25(3), 179–188.
  17. Shafiee, S., Rajabzadeh Ghatari, A., Hasanzadeh, A., & Jahanyan, S. (2021), Smart tourism destinations: a systematic review, Tourism Review, 76(3), 505–528.
  18. Ajzen, I. (1991), The theory of planned behavior, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211.
  19. Liang, X., Chuah, S. H. W., & Tung, L. (2025), Factors influencing consumers’ intention to purchase hotel products on Douyin (TikTok): a comparison of business and leisure travelers, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 8(6), 2253–2276.
  20. Lương Thu Hà, Nguyễn Ngọc Phương Thảo, Đàm Đức Vũ Hiếu, Đào Yến Nhung (2021), Ứng dụng mô hình UTAUT mở rộng vào môi trường mua sắm trực tuyến: Vai trò của tính kích thích đến hành vi mua hàng ngẫu hứng và hành vi mua hàng liên tục của người tiêu dùng Việt Nam, Tạp chí kinh tế và phát triển, 291, 66–76.
  21. Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y., & Xu, X. (2012), Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 157–178.
  22. Omar, A., Tiwari, V., & Saad, M. (2025), Smart technology’s potential in smart destinations: a comprehensive UTAUT model with privacy and safety risk moderation, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 16(4), 817–835.
  23. Joa, C. Y., & Magsamen-Conrad, K. (2022), Social influence and UTAUT in predicting digital immigrants’ technology use, Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(8), 1620-1638.
  24. Novianti, S., Susanto, E., & Rafdinal, W. (2022), Predicting tourists’ behaviour towards smart tourism: the case in emerging smart destinations, Journal of Tourism Sustainability, 2(1), 19–30.
  25. Pinto, A. S., Abreu, A., Costa, E., & Paiva, J. (2022), Using UTAUT-3 to understand the adoption of Mobile Augmented Reality in Tourism (MART), Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems: Selected Papers from ICOTTS 2021, (2), 373–384.
  26. Vorm, E. S., & Combs, D. J. (2022), Integrating transparency, trust, and acceptance: The intelligent systems technology acceptance model (ISTAM), International Journal of Human- Computer Interaction, 38(18–20), 1828–1845.
  27. Jamal, S., & Habib, M. A. (2020), Smartphone and daily travel: How the use of smartphone applications affect travel decisions, Sustainable Cities and Society, 53, 101939.
  28. San Martín, H., & Herrero, Á. (2012), Influence of the user’s psychological factors on the online purchase intention in rural tourism: Integrating innovativeness to the UTAUT framework, Tourism management, 33(2), 341–350.
  29. Chen, C. C., & Tsai, J. L. (2019), Determinants of behavioral intention to use the Personalized Location-based Mobile Tourism Application: An empirical study by integrating TAM with ISSM, Future Generation Computer Systems, 96, 628–638.
  30. Gupta, A., Dogra, N., & George, B. (2018), What determines tourist adoption of smartphone apps? An analysis based on the UTAUT-2 framework, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 9(1), 50–64.
  31. Ho, R. C., Amin, M., Ryu, K., & Ali, F. (2021), Integrative model for the adoption of tour itineraries from smart travel apps, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 12(2), 372–388.
  32. Saprikis, V., Avlogiaris, G., & Katarachia, A. (2020), Determinants of the intention to adopt mobile augmented reality apps in shopping malls among university students, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(3), 491–512.
  33. Saumell, R., Forgas-Coll, S., Sánchez-García, J., & Robres, E. (2019), User acceptance of mobile apps for restaurants: An expanded and extended UTAUT-2, Sustainability, 11(4), 1210.
  34. Yawised, K., Apasrawirote, D., Chatrangsan, M., & Muneesawang, P. (2022), Factors affecting SMEs' intention to adopt a mobile travel application based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT-2), Emerging Science Journal, 4, 207–224.
  35. Lai, P. C. (2020), The literature review of technology adoption models and theories for the novelty technology, Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, 17.
  36. Sujood, Bano, N., & Siddiqui, S. (2024), Consumers' intention towards the use of smart technologies in tourism and hospitality (T&H) industry: a deeper insight into the integration of TAM, TPB and trust, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 7(3), 1412–1434.
  37. Tapanainen, T., Dao, T. K., Nguyen, T. H., & Nguyen, T. T. H. (2019), 4G adoption: A survey of Vietnam market, Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management, 26(1), 1–19.
  38. Wu, S., Ma, E., Wang, J., & Li, D. (2022), Experience with travel mobile apps and travel intentions—the case of university students in China, Sustainability, 14(19), 12603.
  39. Rahi, S., Othman Mansour, M. M., Alghizzawi, M., & Alnaser, F. M. (2019), Integration of UTAUT model in internet banking adoption context: The mediating role of performance expectancy and effort expectancy, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 13(3), 411–435.
  40. Sharma, N., Khatri, B., Khan, S. A., & Shamsi, M. S. (2023), Extending the UTAUT model to examine the influence of social media on tourists’ destination selection, Indian Journal of Marketing, 53(4), 47–64.
  41. Chang, M., Walimuni, A. C., Kim, M. C., & Lim, H. S. (2022), Acceptance of tourism blockchain based on UTAUT and connectivism theory, Technology in Society, 71, 102027.
  42. Abbad, M. M. (2021), Using the UTAUT model to understand students’ usage of e-learning systems in developing countries, Education and information technologies, 26(6), 7205-7224.
  43. Cao, Q., & Niu, X. (2019), Integrating context-awareness and UTAUT to explain Alipay user adoption, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 69, 9–13.
  44. Rahi, S., & Abd. Ghani, M. (2019), Investigating the role of UTAUT and e-service quality in internet banking adoption setting, The TQM Journal, 31(3), 491–506.
  45. Okumus, B., Ali, F., Bilgihan, A., & Ozturk, A. B. (2018), Psychological factors influencing customers’ acceptance of smartphone diet apps when ordering food at restaurants, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 72, 67–77.
  46. Rakhmawati, H., Sutrisno, T., & Riisydi, M. K. (2020), Influence of TAM and UTAUT models of the use of e-filing on tax compliance, International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 9(1), 106-111.
  47. Zhou, T. (2011), Understanding mobile Internet continuance usage from the perspectives of UTAUT and flow, Information development, 27(3), 207–218.
  48. Ali, M. B., Tuhin, R., Alim, M. A., Rokonuzzaman, M., Rahman, S. M., & Nuruzzaman, M. (2024), Acceptance and use of ICT in tourism: the modified UTAUT model, Journal of Tourism Futures, 10(2), 334–349.
  49. Fernando, E., Ikhsan, R. B., & Parlindungan, D. R. (2023, August), Analysis Intention to Use of Smart Tourism Application with Model Extended UTAUT 2 Approach, International Conference on Information Management and Technology (ICIMTech), 36–41.
  50. Chawla, D., & Joshi, H. (2019), Consumer attitude and intention to adopt mobile wallet in India–An empirical study, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(7), 1590–1618.
  51. Patil, P., Tamilmani, K., Rana, N. P., & Raghavan, V. (2020), Understanding consumer adoption of mobile payment in India: Extending Meta-UTAUT model with personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal, International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102144.
  52. Baba, N., Hanafiah, M. H., Shahril, A.M., & Zulkifly, M.I. (2023), Investigating customer acceptance, usage, trust, and perceived safety risk of self-ordering kiosk technology in Malaysian quick-service restaurants during COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 14(3), 309–329.
  53. Gefen, D., Karahanna, E., & Straub, D. W. (2003), Trust and TAM in online shopping: An integrated model, MIS quarterly, 51-90.
  54. Grandhi, L.S., Grandhi, S. and Wibowo, S.,(2021), A security-UTAUT framework for evaluating key security determinants in smart city adoption by the Australian city councils, 21st ACIS international winter conference on software engineering, artificial intelligence, networking and parallel/distributed computing (SNPD-Winter), 17–22.
  55. Verkijika, S.F., (2018), Factors influencing the adoption of mobile commerce applications in Cameroon, Telematics and Informatics, 35(6), 1665–1674.
  56. Yoo, C., Kwon, S., Na, H., & Chang, B. (2017), Factors affecting the adoption of gamified smart tourism applications: An integrative approach, Sustainability, 9(12), 2162.
  57. Zafar, U., Lodhi, R. N., Rabbani, S., & Ahmad, A. (2020), Nexus between Customer Expectation and E-Purchase Intention: Exploring the Role of Perceived Justice, KASBIT Business Journal, 13(2), 136–155.
  58. Cheng, Y. M. (2012), Effects of quality antecedents on e‐learning acceptance, Internet Research, 22(3), 361–390.
  59. Wang, M. H. (2016), Factors influencing usage of e-learning systems in Taiwan's public sector: Applying the utaut model, Advances in Management and Applied Economics, 6(6), 63.
  60. Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., & Thiele, K. O. (2017), Mirror, mirror on the wall: a comparative evaluation of composite-based structural equation modeling methods, Journal of the academy of marketing science, 45, 616–632.
  61. Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981), Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error, Journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39–50.
  62. García-Milon, A., Juaneda-Ayensa, E., Olarte-Pascual, C., & Pelegrín-Borondo, J. (2020), Towards the smart tourism destination: Key factors in information source use on the tourist shopping journey, Tourism management perspectives, 36, 100730.
  63. Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J.Y. and Podsakoff, N.P., (2003), Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies, Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.
  64. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999), Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives, Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.
  65. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014), Exploratory factor analysis, Multivariate data analysis, 7, 100–00.
  66. Cohen J. (1988), Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, New York, NY: Routledge Academic.
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2025 Array