Do Location Based Services in Tourism Really get Assessed? - A Critical Analysis of Adopted Evaluation Methods and Techniques in Research Projects

Abstract
Mobile technology becomes an increasingly important issue for tourists as well as tour operators. A proof for the importance of location based services and mobile applications in tourism are a recognisable number of studies which were conducted during the past years and funded by the European Union. Interestingly enough, there was no breakthrough of location based mobile applications in tourism from a user perspective up to date. This paper raises the question if evaluation procedures and methods of location based mobile devices fit the user perspective in tourism. An analysis of past projects is used to find the gaps in evaluation methods and results in learning for future projects of this kind.