Neurotourism: Futuristic perspective or today’s reality?

Purpose. The aim of this work is to focus on the role neuroscience is playing inside the so-cial science field, specifically in relation to management, marketing and tourism. Turning our attention to neurotourism, the question is: Is neurotourism a futuristic perspective or a reality able to “personalize” the tourism offers and create a unique competitive advantage? Methodology. The adopted methodology is descriptive research. According to Burns and Grove (2003: 201), descriptive research “is designed to provide a picture of a situation as it naturally happens”. It may be used to justify current practice, to make judgments and also to develop theories. For the purpose of this study, descriptive research was used to understand the developments regarding nanotechnologies and, as a result, the miniaturization of several devices in the neuroscience field, that offer the possibility to have the specific and clear knowledge of the desires of consumers and tourists in real time. Findings. The study highlights the increasing adoption of neuroscience tools due to the rapid development of nanotechnologies that miniaturize several devices relevant for the per-ception of emotions. Practical implications. Implications in the social science and specifically in the tourism field are enormous and unpredictable: the possibility of having the specific and clear knowledge of the desires of consumers and tourists in real time is susceptible to the creation of applications that can create a strong competitive advantage. Originality/value. The value is connected with the analysis of a field of study in a way that is not widely taken into consideration.