Abstract

Recent developments of ICTs enable new ways to experience tourism and conducted to the concept of smart tourism. The adoption of cutting-edge technologies and its combination with innovative organizational models fosters cooperation, knowledge sharing, and open innovation among service providers in tourism destination. Moreover, it offers innovative services to visitors. In few words, they become smart tourism destinations. In this paper, we report first results of the SMARTCAL project aimed at conceiving a digital platform assisting Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in providing smart tourism services. A DMO is the organization charged with managing the tourism offer of a collaborative network, made up of service providers acting in a destination. In this paper, we adopted a multiple case studies approach to analyze five Italian DMOs. Our aims were to investigate (1) if, and how, successful DMOs were able to offer smart tourism services to visitors; (2) if the ICTs adoption level was related to the collaboration level among DMO partners. First results highlighted that use of smart technologies was still in an embryonic stage of development, and it did not depend from collaboration levels.

Highlights

  • The World Tourism Organization defined a Tourism Destination (TD) as “a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight

  • This paper reports main results of a multiple case studies research among five Italian successful Destination Management Organizations (DMO)

  • We investigate on the ability of a small sample of DMOs to exploit ICT potential in supporting the transformation of the respective managed destinations in real smart tourism destinations

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The World Tourism Organization defined a Tourism Destination (TD) as “a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight. It is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism. With the establishment of a collaborative network in a TD, local tourism operators and tourists can be engaged in social relations and actively participate in continuous experience-based learning processes. To foster sustainable development practices in a destination, DMOs need to work closely with government agencies, local authorities, businesses, the tourism industry, and other destination stakeholders, to be effective in their role [5]

Objectives
Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.