TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose As there is a growing demand of cutting-edge technology as part of the tourism experience from the digital native population and because little is known about this group as tourism consumers despite the fact they will be the core tourism spender of tomorrow, the purpose of this paper is to give children an opportunity to share their vision of the destination of the future.Design/methodology/approach From a methodological point of view, a qualitative approach is adopted. Children were asked to draw, communicate and display their view on their Winchester of the future. The data collected are used to formulate an innovative, smart-based future-fit management approach for products and services design.Findings To fully meet the needs and expectation of the coming generation of tourists, Winchester (city located in the South of England, and surrounded by some of the most visited UK destinations, namely London, Oxford and Cambridge) will have to adopt an ambidextrous management approach when developing products and services for customers of the future. This ambidextrous management approach will balance metaphorical thinking and objective thinking in product and service design.Originality/value There is a scarcity of studies on children in tourism research despite the fact the industry and academics recognise the value and impact of children, and more specifically, their role in purchase decisions. Equally important, this research is also going to contribute to the body of knowledge on smart management of destinations.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
SN  - 2056-5607
DO  - 10.1108/IJTC-12-2018-0097
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-12-2018-0097
AU  - Seraphin Hugues
AU  - Green Sarah
PY  - 2019
Y1  - 2019/01/01
TI  - The significance of the contribution of children to conceptualising the destination of the future
T2  - International Journal of Tourism Cities
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 544
EP  - 559
Y2  - 2024/04/19
ER  -