This study aims to deconstruct the complex behavioral drivers dictating how tourists interact with digital financial technologies in the post-pandemic landscape, addressing the fragmented understanding of adoption and resistance within tourism contexts.
Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic literature review was conducted on 35 empirical articles published between 2020 and 2026. The thematic synthesis was theoretically guided by an input–moderator–output logic.
The review reveals a theoretical maturation from basic utilitarian adoption models to frameworks that address active cognitive resistance. Tourist behavior is characterized by a “tug-of-war”: adoption is driven by post-pandemic hygiene, seamless mobility and hedonic motivations, but is actively resisted due to habit inertia, cybersecurity paradoxes and cross-border infrastructural friction. This friction often leads to a “discontinuance” phenomenon, in which digitally fluent travelers revert to cash abroad.
Restricted to articles (2020–2025), this review may exclude non-mainstream literature, and its findings may be geographically skewed towards Asia. Theoretically, it enriches the discourse by integrating Innovation Resistance and Coping theories, challenging the dominance of static adoption models. Practically, the proposed framework offers actionable insights for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and fintech providers: strategies must shift from highlighting mere utility to managing active resistance and ensuring cross-border interoperability. Addressing these “push” factors is crucial to preventing behavioral discontinuance and to maximizing tourist spending. Future research should empirically validate the framework in underrepresented Western and African contexts.
The findings provide actionable intelligence for DMOs and fintech developers. Destination competitiveness relies heavily on cross-border payment interoperability, which requires collaborative regulatory frameworks and localized support to mitigate travelers’ anxiety about incompatibility.
The rapid digitalization of tourist finance fosters a new social norm of hygiene-conscious consumption but risks exacerbating the “digital divide.” Older travelers facing habit inertia may suffer social exclusion in cashless-only destinations, creating a tiered experience based on technological readiness. Conversely, for younger generations, payment apps have evolved into social lifestyle enablers, gamifying consumption. The shift also alters traditional social interactions, potentially eroding cultural practices embedded in cash-based transactions, such as tipping or bargaining. Policymakers must balance digital efficiency with social inclusivity to ensure equitable access to tourism experiences across all demographic strata.
This paper proposes the holistic “Tourist Digital Financial Journey” conceptual framework that maps the cyclical interplay among pull–push antecedents, contextual moderators (e.g. cryptocurrency vs. Central Bank Digital Currencies, demographics) and post-purchase behavioral outcomes.
