Tomorrow's tourist and the information society

With the internet expected to account for the vast majority of all holiday purchases by 2015 and with other technologies such as 3G and a digital society changing purchasing behaviour, we have seen as much change in technologies in the last 10 years as we have in the previous 150 years. All of this exponential change impacts upon information and Scottish tourism, but does this mean a cashless society/a paperless office/big brother or androids? Two scenarios have been constructed called The Free Information Society and The Real Information Society in order to discuss how information and consumer trends fold out in the future. These scenarios are not an answer to the future, but a means to discuss the future implications of an information society. The Free Information Society highlights that information is freely available and that we do not buy information any more, whereas the Real Information Society is about how technology supports personal information rather than replacing it. The paper identifies 16 trends that will shape the future of an information society including citizen brands, gaming cultures and technology convergence. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for Scotland's tourism industry.