Residents’ Perceptions of the Transition towards Digital Transformation in the Tourism Industry. The Case of the Chania Prefecture

Abstract

Crete is an archetypal summer tourism destination in the Mediterranean. It "suffers" from
strong seasonality during the summer months, while the tourist season shrinks on an annual
basis. As a strategy to address these problems, the literature suggests digital transformation
of the local tourism industry and a greater emphasis to be devoted on technology and the
opportunities it offers to entrepreneurs and local communities. This study explores the views
of the residents of the prefecture of Chania, Crete, on how they perceive concepts such as
technologically advanced tourism industry, digital transformation and transition factors
towards a technologically advanced tourism industry. Chania prefecture suffers tremendously
from increased tourism activity during the summer months and technology is perceived as a
solution to the resulting problems. The semi-structured interview technique was chosen to
collect information from the participants. The results of the survey revealed numerous and
diverse concerns of residents in different areas of the county. Therefore, it could be concluded
that the assumption that technological innovation is a panacea for tourism development does
not apply equally to everyone.