Technology as a Catalyst of Change: Enablers and Barriers of the Tourist Experience and Their Consequences Barbara Neuhofer, Dimitrios Buhalis, and Adele Ladkin Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have had a major impact on the way people experience travel. Tourism research and management have been increasingly interested in exploring the role of ICTs as a potential catalyst of change that enhances tourist experiences. While generic technology adoption barriers are known, there is little knowledge about the specific technolog- ical enablers and barriers that determine the potential enhancement of tourist experiences. This paper thus addresses a timely matter as it identifies the key enablers and barriers as well as their implied consequences that shape the enhance- ment of tourist experiences. Through an exploratory qualitative approach, this study contributes by developing a two-factor model of experience enablers and barriers. Theoretical implications are discussed and strategic implications for tourism man- agement and policy are provided on what actions need to be taken to convert existing ICTs insufficiencies into potential experience enablers. Keywords Tourist experience • ICTs • Enablers • Barriers • Experience management and policy 1 Introduction In recent years ICTs have caused a massive impact by changing not only consumer society and various industries, but also by transforming the nature of travel and tourist experiences. For businesses it has become a central endeavour to exploit the potential of technology and instrumentalise it for the creation of meaningful tourist experiences (McCabe et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2012). With the proliferation of ICTs, social platforms, mobile devices, the opportunities of supporting tourist activities, providing and exchanging information and solving need situations have become amplified. A large body of work has drawn attention to the impact, role and value of B. Neuhofer (*) • D. Buhalis • A. Ladkin BU eTourismLab, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK e-mail: bneuhofer@bournemouth.ac.uk; dbuhalis@bournemouth.ac.uk; aladkin@bournemouth.ac.uk © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 I. Tussyadiah, A. Inversini (eds.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_57 789