Smartphone app design in tourism: Content analysis of Australian zoo and wildlife attraction apps

This paper examines the nexus between the functionalities of tourism smartphone application (app) design, as identified in theory, and adoption in practice. A framework for analysing tourism app design is proposed that suggests tourism mobile apps have four primary zones: a Visitor Information Zone, Visitor Interaction Zone, Visitor AmusementZone and Visitor Business Zone. The adoption of the Tourism Mobile App Zones in practice is explored through content analysis of mobile apps of six Australian zoo and wildlife attractions. The apps studied are mostly focused on information dissemination, interpretation, navigation, donations, ticketing and upselling. Gamification, augmented reality and social interaction functions in the app are under-developed, thus, opportunities for co-creationusing the apps investigated are absent. Gaps between tourism app design theory and practice are presented and implications for advancing app technology in tourism highlighted.