MAPPING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION IN FESTIVALS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS, BENEFITS, AND BARRIERS

Abstract

This integrative review synthesises research on technology adoption in festival contexts by examining technology applications, stakeholder benefits, and implementation barriers, while identifying key research gaps and future directions. Despite the increasing integration of digital technologies in festivals, existing studies remain fragmented across contexts, technologies, and outcomes, limiting a comprehensive understanding of how technology contributes to festival performance and stakeholder value creation. Literature published between 2017 and 2025 was identified primarily through Google Scholar and expanded using backward and forward snowballing, resulting in a dataset of 59 articles. A thematic synthesis approach was applied to organise findings into three core dimensions: technology types, stakeholder benefits, and adoption barriers. The findings reveal that technology adoption spans eleven categories, ranging from immersive tools such as augmented reality and metaverse applications to operational and strategic systems including artificial intelligence, data analytics, and platform-based technologies. While prior studies often emphasise experiential technologies, the review highlights the critical role of less visible technologies in supporting coordination, decision-making, and operational efficiency. Technology adoption generates benefits across multiple stakeholders, including enhanced visitor experience, expanded reach, improved marketing effectiveness, and increased organisational resilience. However, these benefits are context-dependent and influenced by stakeholder roles, capability, and festival characteristics. Adoption is further constrained by interrelated challenges, including capability limitations, resource constraints, governance concerns, and experience-design issues in hybrid and virtual environments. Overall, this study provides a structured and analytical synthesis to support more strategic, context-aware, and responsible technology adoption in festival management.