Emerging dimensions of blockchain application in tourism and hospitality sector: a systematic literature review

Owing to its unparalleled transparency and disintermediation characteristics, blockchain technology has a huge potential to transform the tourism and hospitality industry. Airlines and hotel companies are now turning to blockchain for its multifaceted applications, yet its holistic value realization in the sector is far from reality. The existing literature in terms of theoretical and methodological underpinnings concerning blockchain technology integrated Smart Tourism 4.0 remains limited and fragmented across its lifecycle. With a structured, systematic literature review approach, the study aims to conduct an in-depth review of 56 selected papers obtained from a specific search criterion employed across widespread repositories of Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost databases, capturing the period from Jan 2012 to May 2022. The study identifies critical research gaps in technology awareness, particularly around the maturity index for a BCT-integrated digitized business model. The emerging themes based on the primary focus areas are summarized and extended further to provide future research directions on the basis of theory, context, and method (TCM) framework. To advance the readers' understanding to the next level, a few case examples of linked theory, context and methodology are also provided.