In the context of the fourth industrial revolution, this study examines the digital transformation of the luxury industry through a bibliometric analysis of 236 articles (1991–2022) and a bibliographic coupling of research from 2022 to 2024. The analysis identifies key trends, including the use of digital tools to enhance customer engagement, the growing role of review-based feedback in the tourism sector, value creation through innovative products and promotional strategies, and the advances in sustainability via digitalization. Despite these hot trends, many firms in the luxury sector have not yet involved in a real digital transformation, as they have only digitalized specific aspects of their operations. The findings suggest that while luxury firms are embracing digital tools to meet the expectations of digitally native consumers, they face the challenge of balancing innovation with the preservation of their core values. The study concludes that digital transformation is not merely an operational shift but a strategic imperative for the future competitiveness and profitability of the luxury sector.

Measuring host communities' perceptions and attitudes towards tourism development has been increasingly common since the mid-1970s. The greater the growth of the tourism industry worldwide, the more relevant it has become to assess the impact of tourism activity on the local residents. In this paper we present the results of a study carried out in two EU countries highly dependent on tourism act though at a different stage of development. Our findings are based on qualitative and quantitative data obtained via a questionnaire survey designed in pre-covid 19 times to analyze the perceptions and attitudes of tourism college students from Croatia and Spain, today’s tourism employers and employees, towards tourism development in sun and sea desti-nations. Our aim is to contrast the hypothesis that the nationality of our sample is a significant variable when evaluating the socioeconomic and environmental impact of the development of the tourism industry. Croatia’s workforce, the most highly dependent on the EU travel and tourism industry show to be much more aware of the negative impacts of tourism development than their Spaniards counterparts; showing a tourism workforce more reluctant to further tourism development.