Real-Time Data Analysis (RTDA) and Proposed Innovative Business Models: A Conceptual Study of the Tourism Industry

The paper discusses the importance of Real-Time Data Analysis (RTDA) with innovative fluid business models for the tourism industry. The study uses a conceptual approach to identify innovative fluid tourism business models and their relationships with RTDA based on the problematisation of the crucial need for a holistic, macro understanding of the tourism ecosystem approach rather than framing the issue from a micro point of view. The paper highlights that the current digital era makes it no longer possible for the tourism ecosystem stakeholders to use static models that collect, store, analyse data and make decisions accordingly. Innovative business models should be fluid structural models that use instant data and provide continuous, multiple, and variable decisions with RTDA. The real-time analysis of macro (e.g., countries), meso (e.g., destinations), and micro (e.g., tourists) data obtained from the tourism ecosystem is vital for innovative business models which facilitate the offerings of individualised services and provide increased cooperation between stakeholders using open innovation opportunities in the ecosystem. To date, the tourism industry has not adequately grasped the outcomes and benefits of big data analytics (BDA). While a growing body of literature on big data has focused extensively on technical aspects (e.g., infrastructure, intelligence, and analytical tools), the issue of how and under what conditions BDA can generate value and impacts for various stakeholders involved in the tourism ecosystem remains largely underexplored. Thus, this paper fills this void by being among the first attempts to conceptually explain and propose unique, innovative fluid business models and RTDA in three specific areas in the tourism and hospitality context. @CIKD Publishing