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Featured Publications
Digital Wellbeing
I am interested in investigating the dark side of technology, and propose a more balanced lifestyle with digital technology. I have published several studies exploring digital detox in the tourism context. In the past few years, I also spoke on media to advocate the benefit of digital detox. I am also conducting several projects exploring the long-lasting impacts of digital detox.
Featured Publications
Usai, R., Cai, W., & Wassler, P. (2020). A queer perspective on heteronormativity for LGBT travelers. Journal of Travel Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520967763
Gebbels, M., Gao, X., & Cai, W. (2020). Let’s not just “talk” about it: reflections on women’s career development in hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-05-2020-0385
Cai, W., Southall, C. (2021) Managing Sexuality for gay and lesbian parents in Heterosexual Family Holiday Spaces: Setting an agenda for research. In: Vorobjovas-Pinta, Oskaras, (ed.) Gay Tourism: New Perspectives. Channel View. (In Press)
Social Inclusion
I am a firm believer in equality and inclusion. I believe it is our duties to engage with continuous debates in these issues and transform the societal norms and organisational practices. My current studies mainly focus on women's opportunities in the hospitality workplace and LGBT travellers through a sociological and critical lens.
Featured Publications
Cai, W., McKenna, B., Wassler, P., & Williams, N. (2020). Rethinking knowledge creation in Information Technology and Tourism. Journal of Travel Research.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520946100
Cai, W., & McKenna, B. (2020). Knowledge creation in information technology and tourism research. Journal of Travel Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520903142
McKenna, B., & Cai, W. (2019). Where Is ‘Tourism and Technology’Research in the Information Systems Discipline?. Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings, 2019(1), 31. https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/cts-proceedings/vol2019/iss1/31
Knowledge Creation in IT&Tourism
We critique knowledge creation in IT&Tourism. In these studies, we suggest broadening the field of IT&Tourism studies by pushing paradigmatic boundaries and go beyond the applied studies. To flourish as a field, IT & Tourism research must engage more with theoretical and methodological advancements, alongside knowledge dissemination practices.
Featured Publications
Cai, W., Richter, S., McKenna, B. (2019) Progress on Technology Use in Tourism, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 10(4), 651-672. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-07-2018-0068
McKenna, B., Cai, W., Tuunanen, T. (2018) Technology Enabled Information Services Use in Tourism: An Ethnographic Study of Chinese Backpackers. Pacific Asia Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(4), 37-64.
Lamb, Y., Cai, W., & McKenna, B. (2020). Exploring the complexity of the individualistic culture through social exchange in online reviews. International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102198
Waizenegger, L., McKenna, B., Cai, W., & Bendz, T. (2020). An affordance perspective of team collaboration and enforced working from home during COVID-19. European Journal of Information Systems, 29(4), 429-442. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2020.1800417
Technology use
I am interested in exploring how people use technologies in the context of tourism and beyond. In these studies, I focus on the perspectives of cultural influences and features of material affordances. Through these lenses, these studies provide explanatory insights into the complex factors that influence and enable technology use.
Featured Publications
Cai, W., Cohen, S. A, Tribe, J. (2019) Harmony rules in Chinese Backpacker Groups, Annals of Tourism Research, 75, 120-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2018.12.010
Cai, W. (2018) Donkey friends in Europe: A mobile ethnographic study in group orientation of Chinese outbound backpackers. In Asian Youth Travellers (pp. 79-95). Springer, Singapore.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8539-0_5
Cai, W. (2017). Revisiting the theory and practice of the three-layer system of culture: An exploration of Chinese backpackers' travel experiences in Europe. University of Surrey (PhD Thesis).
Tourist Behaviour
I am interested in researching tourist behaviour. My PhD thesis explores Chinese outbound backpackers in Europe. In my PhD, I conducted mobile ethnography by travelling with three groups of Chinese backpackers to investigate their unique characteristics and experiences, which is strongly influenced by Chinese Confucious culture, western backpacker culture and current Chinese tourists' practices.
Featured Publications
Cai, W., McKenna, B., & Waizenegger, L. (2020). Turning it off: Emotions in digital-free travel. Journal of Travel Research, 59(5), 909-927.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519868314
Floros, C., Cai, W., McKenna, B., & Ajeeb, D. (2019) Imagine being off-the-grid: Millennials' Perceptions of Digital-Free Travel, Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2019.1675676
McKenna, B., Waizenegger, L., & Cai, W. (2020). The influence of personal and professional commitments on digitally disconnected experiences. In IFIP International Conference on Human Choice and Computers (pp. 305-314). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62803-1_24
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