Smart tourism is a promising model that provides remarkable resilience in Malaysian tourism, which has successfully leaped this industry from the challenges due to Covid-19 pandemic. The incorporation of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics in smart tourism has driven the exponential growth in tourism industry since it enhances the tourist experiences. Due to the rapid development, the reliance among the tourist on the technological infrastructure of smart tourism has grown significantly. There is a growing trend among Malaysia tourist subscribing to digital enablers such as platforms, apps, and service providers for tourism purpose. Despite of that, there is also a growing concern on smart tourism related to data privacy and cybersecurity. Therefore, it is essential to address the heightened vulnerabilities faced by the tourist. In this paper, an extended theoretical framework based on Protection Motivation Theory was developed by integrating psychological factors and trust in technology in predicting consumers’ motivation to protect themselves while engaging with smart tourism. To support the continuous growth of smart tourism in Malaysia, it is worthwhile to understand the psychological responses among Malaysian tourist to technology. The findings of this study would benefit the policymakers and industry stakeholders in developing safer digital environment for Malaysian tourist.