Neurotourism, privacy, and personalization of tourist experiences
Keywords:
neurotourism, neurodata, cognitive privacy, neurorights, tourism personalizationAbstract
Introduction: This study examines how the integration of neurotechnologies uch as EEG, eye-tracking, GSR, and neurocomputational models is transforming the personalization of tourism experiences through the capture of emotions, attention, and implicit preferences. In a context of increasing digitalization of the tourism sector, these tools make it possible to optimize experience design and predict traveler behavior, yet they also generate ethical tensions related to cognitive privacy, decisional autonomy, and mental sovereignty due to the highly sensitive and difficult-to-anonymize nature of neurodata. Method: An integrative review of thirty Scopus-indexed articles (2018–2024) was conducted, focusing on neurotourism, tourism-oriented neuromarketing, psychophysiological analysis, neurorights, and neurodata protection. The review employed thematic coding, theoretical triangulation, and constant comparison to synthesize findings from experimental studies using neurophysiological techniques and normative works addressing mental privacy. Results: The analyses indicate that neurophysiological measurements can identify emotional patterns that increase the accuracy of predicting tourism preferences by 18–35 %, thereby enhancing service personalization. However, 60–75 % of users express concern regarding the commercial use of their neurodata. Risks of affective manipulation, extreme micro-segmentation, and reductions in cognitive autonomy emerge when platforms infer interests without explicit consent. Conclusions: Neurotourism offers strong potential for designing more immersive and emotionally meaningful experiences, but its implementation requires frameworks grounded in neurorights, dynamic consent, and strict protection of cognitive privacy.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Yolanda Lorena Paredes Andrade, Karla Elizabeth Morales Jacome, Carlos Aníbal Manosalvas Vaca (Author)
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