Information and Communication Technologies in food and accommodation sector in EU countries: Sticker or challenge for tourism development?

The article discusses the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the food and accommodation sector in the context of tourism development in EU countries. The paper is of a review and research nature. The purpose is to define a measure of the level of ICTs use in food and accommodation enterprises in EU countries, to consider the relation between proposed measure and chosen macroeconomic indicators, and finally to identify the impact of ICTs use on the development of this sector. To attain the aim of this research, a critical analysis of literature as well as desktop research has been carried out, the latter drawing on the data of Eurostat referring to companies from accommodation and food service activities. For the analysis, data for 26 EU countries over two time periods 2012-2019 and 2012-2017 were used. To assess the diversification of the level of ICTs use in the analysed sector, Hellwig's linear ordering method was utilized. Then, a fixed effects panel data model was used in order to examine the impact of the level of ICTs use on sector development, where the financial situation of enterprises (gross operating surplus) was assumed as the measure of the sector's growth. The values of the constructed taxonomic measure of development indicate the different levels of ICTs use by food and accommodation enterprises between countries. The estimated two-way panel data model confirmed a significant positive impact of ICTs use on gross operating surplus with a time lag of two years.