Mobile Apps and Travel Apps on the tourism journey

It is often stated that the world is a small village. This aphorism is strongly supported by many important facts. The modern world is a cradle of many changes that pervade all the aspects of our life. Among those uncountable scientific achievements and technological progressions it is possible to mention the outstanding evolution of the means of transportation (e.g. planes, aircrafts, boats, vans etc.) and the new wave of telecommunication that has joined hands with them to lessen distances and always keep people connected. These continuous changes have tapped into new markets including the travel industry or what it is so called tourism sector. It is widely recognized in the literature that all the steps of the tourism journey, from inspiration to post-travel phase, which are now being influenced by mobile technologies. The characteristics of mobile technology and its several Apps has thus revolutionized how tourists plan, experience and share feedback of their trips. Due to the fact that nowadays people are very comfortable with technology and devices, this research explores how Portuguese tourists use their mobile Apps before, during and after their trips.  Based on the use of a quantitative research and in view of the fact that it intended to analyze attitudes, intentions and behaviours the data was collected through a questionnaire. A convenience sample was used consisting of 607 Portuguese tourists.