4. e-leisure: Be your own tour operator!

Introduction

Have you ever thought about how technology influenced the way you spend your free time or enjoy your hobbies? If you think that in no way, you may be mistaken. If you use a smartphone, you probably chat with your friends and family on WhatsApp (Viber or Telegram), you may enrich your social life through your Facebook or Instagram account, and maybe sometimes you switch off from your daily chores duties by playing a game on your phone or maybe you practise your drawing skills on your tablet. There is no doubt that technologies have infiltrated all areas of our lives, including leisure time.

In this unit, we will define what the term e-leisure encompasses, as well as the main areas of leisure. Our main focus will be on one of the leisure sectors: tourism. In particular, we will talk about the benefits and risks of booking online, as well as some important platforms for booking and organising your trips online.

We will also dedicate a part of the module to online accessibility, introducing you to this concept and providing you with some useful tools.

Learning outcomes:

  • Detect the main points of online browsing and how to reach the most useful results.
  • Detect sponsored and non-sponsored contents, safe and unsafe websites, suspicious emails and scams.
  • List the main phases to safely book online (website safety check, account registration, verification of the accepted digital gateways, online reviews, terms and conditions presented, etc.).
  • Detect the main online platforms where to book tickets.
  • Detect the main elements of accessibility.
  • Perform the main actions to be done to avoid main scams.
  • Be able to choose and compare products/tickets on the main existing platforms.
  • Compare the main functions of platforms and choose the most suitable ones.
  • Set up add-ons on browsers to improve website accessibility.
  • To appreciate the elements of an active life and enjoy going to concerts or book a flight with the closest acquaintances and friends.
  • To value the capacity of detecting frauds and scams independently.

Duration: 3,5 hours

Key words: online booking, OTA, online scam, malware, VPN, cyber security, booking platform, aggregator, search filter, web accessibility, browser extension.

References

Rimantas Mikalauskas (2016). Holistic approach about leisure activities

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311670264_Holistic_approach_about_leisure_industry

Telefonica blog (2022). Digital Leisure as a Tool to Improve Health

https://www.telefonica.com/en/communication-room/blog/digital-leisure-as-a-tool-to-improve-health/

Shalini Talwar,  Amandeep Dhir,  Puneet Kaur,  Matti Mäntymäki (2020) Barriers toward purchasing from online travel agencies. International Journal of Hospitality Management (vol. 89)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431920301456

Carl Unger (2021) The 12 Best Flight Search Sites for Booking Cheap Airfare

https://www.smartertravel.com/the-best-flight-booking-sites/

Candice Walsh (2021) 17 Best Hotel Booking Sites of 2022

https://travelfreak.com/hotel-booking-websites/

Introduction to Web Accesibility https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/