Knowledge Creation in Information Technology and Tourism: A Critical Reflection and an Outlook for the Future

This essay serves as a response to Cai and McKenna's Letter to the Editor (2020) recently published in theJournal of Travel Research, which sought to initiate a discussion regarding the nature and future of research related to information technology and tourism (ITT). The authors argued that ITT is a subfield of information systems (IS) and ITT research is narrowly defined, self-referential, and focused on application, rather than building theory. In this essay, we challenge the authors' basic assumptions as well as their supportive evidence. We argue that ITT, as an intersection between IT and tourism, is a well-developed, multidisciplinary field and has contributed substantially to tourism research and beyond. Furthermore, we offer a vision of future ITT research that aims to engage with much wider conversations about innovation, sustainability, well-being, quality of life, smart governance, and resilience, particularly in response to the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.