Tourists' perceptions of smart tourism services in a Chinese theme park: an ipa-based study of ningbo fangte oriental dawn
Type of paper: Research Article
Author
Hongfei Bao
Corresponding AuthorAffiliation: College of Science & Technology Ningbo University
Email: baohongfei@naver.com
How to Cite
Bao, H. (2026). Tourists' perceptions of smart tourism services in a Chinese theme park: an ipa-based study of ningbo fangte oriental dawn. CACTUS - Journal of Tourism Business, Management and Economics, 8 (1), 59-72.
© 2026 The Author(s);
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Abstract
Smart tourism has become an important means of enhancing the competitiveness and service quality of theme parks. However, limited research has explored how visitors perceive the importance and performance of specific smart service components in Chinese theme parks. This study assesses tourists' perceptions of smart tourism services at Ningbo Fangte Oriental Dawn using a case study approach, a questionnaire survey, and the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) framework. A total of 387 valid responses from actual park visitors were analyzed. The results indicate that contactless payments, electronic map updates, ticketing convenience, social media publicity, and intelligent parking were perceived as both important and satisfactory. In contrast, mobile tourism services, online ticket discounts, and visitor-flow diversion were placed in the "Concentrate Here" quadrant, highlighting areas that require managerial attention. The findings provide clear decision-making references for theme park managers to optimize operations and allocate resources effectively, offering valuable practical implications for aligning smart tourism service investments with tourists' perceived value
Keywords
JEL Classification
References
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