Guided by data: A logistical approach to tourism in the platform economy

Logistics is a relatively hidden subject in tourism studies. This theoretical article advances a logistical approach to the study of tourism in the platform economy. It is argued that the platform economy rests on logistical accumulation, which means that human practices are not just predicted but ultimately steered in order to generate profitable digital data streams. At the same time, “smart”, mobile media platforms provide unprecedented logistical affordances to people to navigate and manage various flows. Tourism is thus taken as a logistical intersection, where the steering mechanisms of the platform economy entangle with the needs and capacities for orientation, coordination and orchestration among travellers. The social expansion of logistical accumulation raises questions of human agency, especially in relation to tourism, as well as a need to study how the basic tension between “steering” and “being steered” unfolds in different sociocultural settings. The article provides a critical account of the logistical frictions, conflicts and inequalities characterizing digital tourism geographies. It also actualizes the need for further exchanges between media studies, tourism studies, and critical geographical research on logistics.