Ethical challenges in neurotourism
Keywords:
neurotourism, neurodata, cognitive privacy, smart tourism, digital ethicsAbstract
Introduction: Neurotourism integrates intelligent technologies to personalize experiences, but poses tensions between innovation and protection of cognitive privacy in high-flow destinations such as Galapagos. Methodology: A mixed descriptive-correlational and phenomenological approach was used. The quantitative sample was composed of 230 national and international tourists, surveyed using a validated Likert scale (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82). In addition, 2 tourism companies were interviewed, triangulating their speeches with the survey data and the theoretical framework. Results: 48 % of tourists agreed or strongly agreed with the use of neurodata, while only 28.3 % perceived adequate protection of cognitive privacy. Companies use digital tools and basic biometrics, but they do not use formal neurodata or have specific protocols. Discussion: The combination of high acceptance and low trust confirms a gap between the attractiveness of personalization and the absence of clear ethical guarantees, in line with studies on smart tourism and big data. Conclusions: Neurotourism has potential in consolidated destinations, but requires explicit policies of consent, anonymization and transparency, as well as regulatory guidelines on cognitive privacy that strengthen visitor trust.
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