SMART TOURISM: SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE TOURIST DESTINATION THROUGH SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS

Smart initiatives are gradually gaining acceptance from the development of smart homes and smart community projects to the appearance of smart destinations all around the world that could progress out of existing infrastructures. Smart tourism refers to the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance the overall tourism experience and promote sustainable practices. The main objective of this study will be to investigate how smart tourism will influence the sustainable destination development process. This study will also explore the opportunities and challenges of smart tourism. This study's findings will help discover the new arena of smart tourism and sustainable destination development. Furthermore, the results will demonstrate that smart destinations need to prioritize sustainability more and that sustainability is not the only avenue to pursue when creating environmental solutions. It will help to address sustainable tourism-related issues like social, economic, and environmental sustainability, and how it will be minimized by smart tourism. The findings will guide policymakers and stakeholders in making informed decisions regarding sustainable tourism practices in the age of smart tourism.

This paper aims to conduct a scientometric and systematic literature analysis on smart tourism, destination, and hospitality, focusing on the utilization of ICT to enhance tourism experiences, improve the quality of life for residents and tourists, and promote sustainable tourism development. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, relevant articles from the Scopus database (2013-November 2023) were selected and analyzed. A total of 321 articles and review articles were included, highlighting the collaborative efforts in enhancing tourism experiences, well-being, and sustainable practices. The analysis revealed China as the most productive country with 88 documents, while the USA emerged as the most influential with 1970 citations. Kyung Hee University in South Korea was identified as the most productive and influential institution, contributing 15 documents and 1328 citations. Frequent authors' keywords included "smart tourism," "smart cities," "smart tourism destination(s)," "tourism," and "smart destination(s)." The integration of smart tourism, IoT, and social media was found to significantly influence consumer behavior, shaping travel experiences and decision-making processes. The study provides valuable insights for future research, emphasizing the need for further exploration in areas such as ecosystem hospitality and smart traveling. Enhanced collaboration among researchers is expected to deepen the understanding and expand the scope of smart tourism research, ultimately leading to more publications and advancements in this field.

ABSTRACT‘Smart tourism’ and ‘smart destinations’ have been gaining attention as new frameworks within which to understand the impact the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs) have on the relationship between businesses, destinations and tourists. However, there is a crucial element of the smart tourism ecosystem that has been rather neglected in research hitherto: the tourists themselves. By acknowledging a shift in tourists’ behaviour due to the advent of disruptive factors, this paper conceptualises the recently emerged notion of ‘the smart tourist’. This new type of tourist is profiled through a description of their attitudes and behaviours, and their role within the smart destination scenario is depicted. By taking a consumer-centric perspective and framing the conceptualisation within the relevant theories, this paper contributes to the current body of knowledge on tourism in a highly technological context and facilitates bridging smart tourism theoretical foundations with empirical research. The observed transformation in tourists’ behaviour and its encapsulation in the smart tourist conceptualisation reveal critical managerial implications for both destination management organisations and businesses in the rapidly changing smart tourism ecosystem.

A combination of factors, including the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on tourism and the need to enhance innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability, have given rise to the need to search for new avenues for the planning and management of destinations. These may include smart destinations (SDs), undoubtedly related to the increase in smart city projects and the buzzword ‘smart tourism’. The objective of this paper is to analyse the extent to which the SD truly constitutes a new approach, based on a systematic and integrative review of the scientific production that associates SDs with the planning and management of destinations, particularly those studies analysing the development of initiatives applied to SDs. The study concludes that this is an emerging approach with differential attributes. However, its consolidation and future orientation depend on the closing of certain research and application gaps.

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of scholarly investigations into tourist behaviour within smart tourism, destinations and hospitality. However, a notable research gap remains, as no prior studies have analysed all three terms – "smart tourism", "smart destination" and "smart hospitality" – concurrently. This study aims to address this gap by conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol and employing the VOSviewer software, a comprehensive examination of relevant documents from the Scopus database spanning 2008-2024 was conducted. The analysis encompassed a total of 1,367 documents, which revealed a discernible increase in publications over the years. China emerged as the leading country in terms of publication output, contributing 352 publications that received 4,235 citations. Influential authors were identified, including Chung, N., Koo, C., Gretzel, U. and Buhalis, D. Highly cited articles and keywords associated with smart tourism, destinations and hospitality were also identified, including "smart tourism", "smart tourism destination", "smart city", "tourism industry" and "smart hospitality". Sustainability emerged as the most prolific journal, with a total of 88 documents and 2,316 citations. This bibliometric analysis illuminates the contemporary landscape of smart tourism, smart destinations, and smart hospitality research, offering valuable insights and directions for future studies.

Smart tourism has become one of the most researched topics in recent years. There has been an increase in studies examining the main trends, bibliometric structures and networks, and social, intellectual, and conceptual frameworks of the concept of smart tourism within different parameters. The aim of this study is to evaluate bibliometric analysis studies on smart tourism indexed in WoS and Scopus databases by content analysis. In this context, 48 documents were found in the WoS and Scopus databases under the subject headings of "smart tourism" and "bibliometric analysis". This is the first study using content analysis to analyze bibliometric articles on smart tourism in WoS and Scopus databases. These analyses mainly focus on authors' analysis, articles' distribution according to publication years, country collaboration network, co-citation networks of authors and journals, frequency of keywords, and co-occurrence map analysis. Bibliometric analysis studies on smart tourism have gained momentum, especially after 2019, when most studies were conducted in the field. When the keywords of the studies in WoS are analyzed, it is determined that the most frequently repeated keyword is "bibliometrics" in 14 studies, followed by "smart destination" and "smart tourism destination" in 7 studies each, and "smart tourism" in 3 studies. These results show that most of the bibliometric studies in WoS focus on smart destinations.

The article discusses smart tourism as one of the areas of smart specialization. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, the “Smart Specialization” program has been developed, which is the basis for strengthening the innovative potential of the regions. When implementing this component, it becomes possible to identify the strengths of a particular region and their targeted development. As a result of active cooperation with the relevant structures of the European Union, Imereti was chosen as a pilot region. The article mentions the role of smart tourism in the context of smart specialization of Imereti, first of all, it can be smart tourism, artificial intelligence in tourism, smart destination, the use of various communication and IT technologies. The article discusses the importance of smart cities, smart destinations, artificial intelligence, and the 5G network in the development of smart tourism. “Smart” tourism determines the prospects for the development of the industry. However, the study of this complex phenomenon is currently in its infancy. It should be noted that a comparative and comprehensive study of the experience of smart tourism will undoubtedly become one of the main directions of this research in the world. Keywords: Smart Tourism, Smart Specialization, Smart Destination.

This chapter provides an insight into the topic of smart destinations. By adopting smart technologies, tourism destinations, as well as cities, gain more opportunities to offer better quality of life for residents and visitors. Smart cities aim to improve resource management, sustainability, and living conditions in urban environments by utilizing ICTs. The concept of smart tourism destination, deriving from smart city, refers to the use of technology in tourism destinations to increase the service quality and tourist satisfaction by focusing on tourists' expectations. In other words, smart tourism destinations aim to integrate technology into the destination for these purposes. This chapter presents the concepts of smart city, smart tourism, and smart destination. The emergence of smart city and smart destination concepts and the issues and challenges they might face are discussed. In addition to some future research directions, a brief discussion on potential controversies is presented.

The purpose of the study is to synthesize the principles of smart tourism destination and justify their application for the purpose of development of tourist innovations in urban tourism. The purpose of this article is also to explore the relationship in the development of "smart destination" and "smart city" as information systems. Such studies are important in the context of the sustainable development of urban tourism. Methods. This study used a comparative analysis of modern electronic and literary sources on the topic of smart cities and smart destinations. An analogy method was used to identify similarities and differences in the development of information systems. The classification method was applied to study the main features of development of smart destination. Results. Thanks to smart destination technology, tourists become a resource for development of tourism. This technology also enhances engagement and integration with target audiences. The implementation of the concepts of smart city and smart destination requires consideration of several important factors that will create favourable preconditions for their implementation. Smart tourism is the dominant trend in the world now. With smart tourism, locals and tourists alike can interact with a convenient, safe, informative environment. Smart destinations open up previously unattainable opportunities for businesses to improve their products and services. The main feature and advantage of a smart tourist destination is its customer orientation. Scientific novelty. The article analyses the main trends of smart tourism destinations in the world. The components and main directions of the development of smart destinations are determined. The analysis of modern global tendencies of smart destinations development is carried out. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in planning the further development of smart tourism destination in Ukraine and the corresponding adjustment of the policy of tourist innovations.

Destinations around the world are rolling out smart tourism initiatives to increase their competitiveness and to support their sustainability goals. However, whether smart tourism development can also help them build resilience is a question that currently lacks an answer. This article links the two concepts of smart destinations and destination resilience at the conceptual level and presents a five-pillar framework of smart destination resilience. Specifically, it suggests smart tourism infrastructure and governance equip smart destinations with sensing, opening, sharing, governing, and innovating capacities that can enhance destination resilience by supporting six specific resilience conditions. As such, the article provides the necessary theoretical building blocks to support empirical research at the intersection of smart tourism and destination resilience. It further provides practical insights on how to ensure that smart destination development leads to greater resilience but also warns of the need to scope out potential vulnerabilities inherent in smart destination design.

Purpose This study aims to present a systematic review of smart tourism articles using a meta-synthesis method. Effective systematic reviews are essential for assisting stakeholders in implementing smart destinations. A systematic comprehension of studies on smart tourism is needed regarding the various components of smart tourism destinations, the metrics to map these components and their expected results. This study creates a framework for understanding how smart tourism destinations are theorized and developed. Design/methodology/approach Based on the meta-synthesis approach, this study collects, analyzes and synthesizes relevant research in smart tourism published in online databases by following a predetermined review protocol. Findings This study contributes to the discourse on smart tourism destinations by increasing the knowledge on the subject of smart destinations in regard to different categories. The selected articles were analyzed according to the proposed research questions and classified into three main categories: components, measurement and outputs. This study presents a new archetype for developing smart destinations and addresses efforts to bridge the gap in this research field. Practical implications This paper is noteworthy for stakeholders because it provides a comprehensive vision into the components that influence the growth of smart destinations. The advantage of the proposed methodology is that it creates a framework for understanding how smart destinations are theorized. Furthermore, it is helpful to use qualitative methodologies that efficiently allow the analysis of related literature and that also offer conceptual insights. Originality/value The findings provide information that can be used to help shape a fully conceptualized understanding of the smart destinations concept and can also prove important in providing a guide for policymakers and stakeholders in the tourism industry who seek to intelligently develop tourism destinations.

As tourism embraces digital transformation, Smart Destinations (SDs) have emerged as a pioneering concept, promising enhanced visitor experiences and improved destination management. However, despite increasing research, gaps remain in understanding the real-world effectiveness of these innovations. This study explores whether smart tourism strategies and technological advancements truly deliver on their promises of improving destination marketing, management, and tourist engagement. Focusing on Galle City, a historic destination adopting smart tourism, the research examines the tangible impact of these initiatives. Are they genuinely revolutionizing destination management and enriching visitor experiences? To address this, the study employs a qualitative approach, including document and secondary data analysis, in-depth discussions with Destination Management Organization (DMO) representatives and key stakeholders, and insightful interviews with tourists. This multi-faceted methodology ensures a comprehensive and reliable evaluation of smart tourism’s influence in Galle. Findings indicate that Galle’s smart tourism initiatives have positively impacted both destination management and marketing, affirming their effectiveness. The study highlights the necessity of a visitor-centered approach, ensuring that technological integration aligns with tourist needs and expectations. These insights provide valuable guidance for policymakers and industry stakeholders in developing sustainable and effective smart destination strategies. Beyond practical implications, this research contributes to the broader discourse on smart tourism, emphasizing the importance of seamlessly merging technological advancements with destination management. By bridging theoretical understanding with real-world applications, the study underscores the potential of smart destinations to redefine tourism landscapes, ensuring that innovation translates into meaningful and sustainable benefits for both visitors and tourism professionals.

ABSTRACTThis paper reviews the literature on tourism destination competitiveness from different aspects, focusing on comparative and competitive advantages. Also, the paper highlights the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tourism destinations and their increasing impact on the achievement of destination competitiveness. Thanks to the wider application of ICTs in tourism, tourists nowadays are well informed and have access to global market which creates a new dynamic environment by creating a smart demand. Since smartness emphasizes on ICT-based tools, including smartness integration for value co-creation, it can increase and enhance destination competitiveness. In this regard, special emphasis is placed on exploring the core components of smartness and smart tourism destination.

Diseño/metodología/enfoque (límite 100 palabras) Revisando la literatura sobre el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en turismo, este artículo desarrolla un caso de la implantación del Turismo Inteligente en la mejora de la competitividad de las Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (PYMES). Objetivo (límite 100 palabras) Al destacar el importante papel de las TIC en el reequilibrio competitivo entre las PYMES turísticas y las grandes empresas, este artículo sirve de llamada a la acción a los gobiernos, las organizaciones regionales de turismo y otras partes interesadas a nivel político para facilitar una difusión más ágil del turismo inteligente, contribuyendo a apoyar la agenda turística 2030 y los múltiples Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de la ONU. Resultados (límite 100 palabras) Sin un enfoque colaborativo, es improbable que las PYMES turísticas utilicen eficazmente las tecnologías emergentes para competir con sus homólogas más grandes y las plataformas en línea. Si se adopta un enfoque de turismo inteligente, los efectos de red entre las partes interesadas pueden ganar terreno, lo que permite a las PYMES competir con mayor eficacia y a los destinos promover la inclusividad y el crecimiento económico sostenible. Originalidad/valor (límite 100 palabras) Al destacar el papel fundamental que pueden desempeñar las TIC en general y el turismo inteligente en particular a la hora de abordar el desequilibrio competitivo entre las PYME y las grandes empresas, este trabajo sirve de llamamiento a la acción para que los gobiernos, las organizaciones regionales de turismo y otras partes interesadas a nivel político aceleren la adopción de los principios del turismo inteligente como medio de apoyar la Agenda de Turismo 2030 y promover los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de las Naciones Unidas.

This study investigates the impact of smart tourism on improving business performance, highlighting the increasing role of digital transformation in reshaping the tourism industry. As advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT), big data, and social media accelerate, tourism businesses and destinations are adopting smart tourism strategies to enhance operational efficiency, visitor satisfaction, and competitiveness. Smart tourism integrates data-driven technologies—such as sensor networks, real-time analytics, and interactive platforms—into destination planning and service delivery. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the predominant methodologies and conceptual frameworks within the domain of smart tourism. Special emphasis was placed on the role of smart destination strategy and the influence of digital tools on tourist experiences and post-visit behaviors. Findings reveal that smart tourism technologies contribute significantly to the creation of efficient, personalized, and engaging tourism services, ultimately strengthening both visitor loyalty and business performance. The study concludes that adopting smart tourism is a strategic imperative for destinations and tourism enterprises seeking sustainable growth in an increasingly connected environment. These insights offer valuable implications for tourism stakeholders aiming to utilize smart technologies and digital platforms to enhance performance and meet evolving tourist expectations.