Smart Tourism Research Articles

The swift advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the past four decades has fundamentally reshaped tourism, transforming business models, consumer behavior, and value creation. Adopting a sociotechnical perspective, this paper analyzes the historical trajectory and socio-economic implications of technological shifts in tourism across three phases: technological penetration, data reciprocity, and algorithmic dominance. By conceptualizing technology as a socially constructed phenomenon, it highlights the interplay between consumers, businesses, and technology (C-B-T). The findings reveal a shift from technology-driven control to algorithmic governance, redefining supply–demand relationships and operational strategies while raising ethical concerns. To address these challenges, the study proposes a dynamic power equilibrium framework underpinned by governance mechanisms such as consumer transparency, algorithmic accountability, and business auditing. This framework aims to balance value creation, power distribution, and responsibility allocation, offering strategic insights for sustainable smart tourism development.

Digital twins are emerging as promising yet underexplored tools for addressing overtourism, sustainability, and governance challenges in tourism. This study assessed their acceptance using a mixed-methods design that combined a large-scale survey of tourists (N = 1286) with semi-structured stakeholder interviews across four Spanish destinations (Barcelona, Málaga, Valencia, and Benidorm). Factor analyses validated a six-dimensional acceptance model comprising trust, usefulness, ease of use, perceived risks, sustainability attitudes, and awareness. The quantitative results demonstrated that trust, usefulness, and ease of use strongly predicted adoption intentions, while risk perceptions negatively influenced acceptance. Sustainability orientations and digital familiarity further enhanced support. Qualitative insights revealed that governance capacity, equity concerns, and readiness critically shaped stakeholder evaluations, highlighting that adoption is mediated not only by individual perceptions but also by local infrastructural and institutional contexts. The study advances technology acceptance theory by integrating sustainability and awareness as domain-specific constructs and by showing how governance dynamics condition adoption across destinations. Practically, it underscores the need for institutional trust, transparent risk management, equitable participation, and alignment with sustainability agendas. While limited to Spanish destinations, the findings offer broader lessons for European cities seeking to embed digital twins in tourism governance.

The main aim of this research is to reveal innovative clusters of tourists based on their use of smart technologies when they are planning and/or visiting a destination. A latent class analysis was conducted that considered the information sources used by tourists and their use of smart technologies at a destination. The study included 526 usable responses from tourists who visited or had visited urban destinations in Europe and 525 valid responses from tourists who visited or had visited urban destinations in the United States, resulting in a total sample size of 1,051 respondents. The findings from segmenting tourists in both European and American contexts reveal four primary groups: “Receivers”, “Technophobes”, “Co-creators of experiences” and “Smart tourists”. The body of literature on smart tourism is expanding, reflecting its increasing relevance in academic and practical discussions. Within this broader field, this paper aims to contribute by shedding light on a specific aspect: the segmentation of tourists based on their use of smart technologies. In this context, this study proposes a pioneering model of the tourism literature that aims to assist comprehension of the diverse impacts of smart technologies on tourists, ultimately facilitating the creation of customized services by the business sector that cater to real consumer needs. By exploring this dimension, the study seeks to enhance understanding of how different types of tourists engage with smart technologies and the implications for tourism management and marketing.

This study constructs a comprehensive measurement system for urban vitality in tourism hotels based on multi-source data. By integrating hotel operation data, POI data, social media data, and others, urban vitality is assessed from four dimensions: economic, spatial, social, and innovation. The study uses panel data from 15 key tourist cities in China between 2018 and 2022, employing fixed-effect models and moderation effect analysis to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution patterns and driving mechanisms of urban vitality. The empirical results show that leading cities such as Chengdu and Hangzhou exhibit a “Matthew effect” due to digital infrastructure and cultural-tourism integration strategies, hotel operation efficiency has a threshold effect on urban vitality, smart tourism technologies play a moderating role through a triple mechanism of “infrastructure—business synergy—government support.” The research provides a theoretical basis for differentiated tourism policy formulation, and future work should focus on expanding data sources and optimizing algorithms.

Since the launch of the Jharkhand Mining Tourism Circuit under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) and Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), mining tourism has recently become a forefront aspect of destination development in Jharkhand. The initiative’s long-term success depends on integrating digital and smart-tourism capabilities that improve accessibility, safety, and tourist engagement, even as it aims to turn industrial heritage into an educational and experiential asset. This study explores the impact of smart-tourism methods in advancing Jharkhand’s mining tourism strategy using secondary data collected from government reports, media coverage, academic research, and international standards of excellence. According to the findings, digital pathways may significantly boost the circuit’s appeal. This includes online booking, mobile applications, GIS mapping, virtual tours, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and digital safety briefings. Mining heritage sites’ evidence shows immersive technology may improve educational outreach while providing an efficient alternative to risky or restricted areas. According to an analysis of recent publications, Jharkhand has a strong institutional base thanks to the JTDC–CCL partnership. Still, it lacks an adequate digital transformation strategy, sufficient financing sources, and local capacity to adopt modern technologies. According to the report, digital tool integration into the mining circuit is a structural necessity for sustainability, safety, and inclusivity rather than just an advertising strategy. With a focus on collaborations with Indian virtual heritage companies, safety-first procedures, and community engagement in digital storytelling, it concludes with a proposed framework for progressive digital integration. Such initiatives could establish Jharkhand as India’s competent industrial heritage tourism leader.

Purpose This study conducted a detailed systematic review of experiential tourism literature, specifically focusing on smart tourism technologies. It explores how these technologies not only transform the overall tourist experience but also contribute to tourism development. In this study, we aimed to identify evolving research areas and past trends, and propose new topics for future investigation. Design/methodology/approach A mixed approach is used in this study. It employs a systematic literature review, utilizing bibliometric (quantitative) and content analysis (qualitative) methods to examine the existing literature on experiential tourism with a focus on smart tourism technologies. This review synthesizes the findings related to the integration of technology in tourism and its implications. Findings This study reveals that smart tourism technologies significantly enhance experiential tourism by aligning with customer relationship management practices and fostering sustainable tourism development. These findings underscore the importance of technology in creating personalized and meaningful tourist experiences. As technology continues to advance, its impact on travel and tourist behavior is expected to grow significantly in the future. Therefore, tourism stakeholders must be proactive in adopting new technologies and focusing on developing human-centric innovations to ensure positive outcomes. Originality/value This study fills a critical gap in the literature by systematically exploring the intersection of smart tourism technologies and experiential tourism. Based on the findings of the cluster analysis, we also propose a conceptual framework for tourism stakeholders to understand the integration of technology-enabled tourism products and services to enhance the tourist experience. The noteworthy finding of our study reveals that the relationship between smart technologies and the tourist experience is twofold. On the one hand, the integration of technology into tourism, with features such as accessibility, interactivity, informativeness, personalization, and security, has been shown to create unique and memorable experiences for travelers. Smart tourism technology, which enhances the overall tourist experience, has emerged as a significant driver of tourism development, contributing to destination competitiveness.

The research refers to the analysis of the municipality of Ponta Grossa (PR, Brazil) in the context of the Brazilian Smart Tourist Destinations (DTI) methodology. The municipality demonstrates potential for ecotourism given the presence of key environmental conservation areas, including the Campos Gerais National Park and the Vila Velha State Park. The research is limited to the evaluation of 59 requirements in the chapter “destination operation,” related to the nine methodological axes of the proposal: governance, sustainability, accessibility, creativity, mobility and transportation, safety, innovation, promotion and marketing, and technology. The data were collected between June and July 2023 and analyzed based on a compliance scale from 1 to 5, with 3 being the minimum score for compliance with the requirement. The results showed that there were no requirements with a score of 1 and that 40.67% obtained a score of 4. The highest average score was in the technology axis, driven by the use of digital platforms and telecommunications infrastructure. On the other hand, the innovation and safety axes had the lowest performance, with a lack of formal documents and defined internal processes. The conclusion points out that Ponta Grossa is currently a Smart Tourist Destination in Transformation, but with a need to improve the requirements that are not yet compliant in order to achieve definitive certification. The study contributes to the understanding of the applicability of the DTI methodology in Brazil and points to ways to qualify tourism management in line with the principles of innovation, inclusion, and sustainability.

Background: The convergence of tourism and communication has evolved substantially over the past 60 years, driven by the pervasive influence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). As these domains have increasingly intersected, tourism communication has emerged as a vital field of academic inquiry. Aim: This study advances the field of tourism communication by identifying key convergence points between tourism and communication scholarship and by outlining a structured research agenda for the future. Setting: The analysis focused on peer-reviewed journal articles in the social sciences indexed in the Scopus database, with specific emphasis on English-language publications addressing tourism and communication. Method: It employed bibliometrics to analyze 3597 publications using performance analysis and science mapping. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were used to visualise institutional and thematic networks within the field. Results: It revealed prominent publication trends, influential authors and institutions, and emerging thematic clusters, which encompass the role of ICT and social media in tourism management, social context mobile (SoCoMo) marketing strategies, user-generated content in tourism communication, smart tourism and destination marketing. Conclusion: It demonstrates that tourism communication has matured into a distinct and dynamic research area. The identification of key themes provides valuable direction for future studies. The practical implications include the integration of social media and ICT use into the tourism business, the adoption of resilient crisis management strategies, and the sustainable practices in the tourism sector. Contribution: This study offers a comprehensive overview of six decades of research in tourism communication and by establishing a robust foundation for future scholarly exploration in this interdisciplinary field.

This study explores how tourists’ knowledge acquisition, sharing, and application behaviours influence tourism satisfaction in smart tourism environments. Drawing on knowledge management theory and the information system success model, it introduces a dual mediation model involving perceived personalisation and tourist participation. Based on data from 315 valid questionnaires and structural equation modelling (SEM), results showed that knowledge behaviour positively impacted satisfaction both directly and indirectly through enhanced personalisation and participation. This research extends knowledge management theory to digital tourism, highlighting the importance of guiding user knowledge behaviours. It suggests that platforms should leverage intelligent recommendation and co-creation mechanisms to improve personalisation and engagement, offering theoretical insights and practical implications for designing knowledge-driven and value co-creation services in smart tourism.

In order to improve the competitiveness of smart tourist attractions in the tourism market, this paper selects a scenic spot in Shenyang and uses big data technology to predict the passenger flow of the scenic spot. Firstly, this paper introduces the big data-driven forecast model of scenic spot passenger flow. Based on the traditional autoregressive integral moving average model and artificial neural network model, it builds a big data analysis and forecast model. Through the analysis of data source, model building, scenic spot passenger flow accuracy, and modeling time comparison, it affirms the advantages of big data analysis in forecasting scenic spot passenger flow. Finally, it puts forward four commercial operation optimization strategies: adjusting the ticket pricing of scenic spots, upgrading the catering and accommodation services in scenic spots, planning and designing play projects, and formulating accurate scenic spot marketing strategies, in order to provide references for the optimization and upgrading of smart tourist attractions in the future.

In the era of big data, the rapid proliferation of user-generated content enriched with geolocations offers new perspectives and datasets for probing the spatiotemporal dynamics of tourist mobility. Mining large-scale geospatial traces has become central to tourism geography: it reveals preferences for attractions and routes to enable intelligent recommendation, enhance visitor experience, and advance smart tourism, while also informing spatial planning, crowd management, and sustainable destination development. Using Mount Huangshan—a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site—as a case study, we integrate GPS trajectories and geo-tagged photographs from 2017–2023. We apply a Density-Field Hotspot Detector (DF-HD), a Space–Time Cube (STC), and spatial gridding to analyze behavior from temporal, spatial, and fully spatiotemporal perspectives. Results show a characteristic “double-peak, double-trough” seasonal pattern in the number of GPS tracks, cumulative track length, and geo-tagged photos. Tourist behavior exhibits pronounced elevation dependence, with clear vertical differentiation. DF-HD efficiently delineates hierarchical hotspot areas and visitor interest zones, providing actionable evidence for demand-responsive crowd diversion. By integrating sequential time slices with geography in a 3D framework, the STC exposes dynamic spatiotemporal associations and evolutionary regularities in visitor flows, supporting real-time crowd diagnosis and optimized spatial resource allocation. Comparative findings further confirm that Huangshan’s seasonal intensity is significantly lower than previously reported, while the high agreement between trajectory density and gridded photos clarifies the multi-tier clustering of route popularity. These insights furnish a scientific basis for designing secondary tour loops, alleviating pressure on core areas, and charting an effective pathway toward internal structural optimization and sustainable development of the Mount Huangshan Scenic Area.

Spatial analysis of smart tourism contrasts A comparison between tourist attractions in Cairo and Dubai

Smart tourism has emerged as a strategic priority in both scholarship and practice, while consumer behavior has been reshaped profoundly by digital transformation. This study applies bibliometric analysis of 2018–2025 Scopus data to map intellectual structures, research trends, and thematic priorities in the field. The dataset was processed with Bibliometrix in R, Biblioshiny, and VOSviewer, generating visualizations including keyword co-occurrence networks, thematic maps, and three-fields plots. Findings confirm that research has shifted from early technological infrastructures, such as smartphones and ubiquitous computing, toward consumer-centered agendas emphasizing personalization, user experience, and artificial intelligence. At the same time, our analysis suggests a geographic reorientation, with China and India emerging as leading contributors alongside established European hubs. Thematic clusters highlight the integration of destination management, satisfaction, immersive technologies, and smart city perspectives, underscoring the hybrid nature of the field. Taken together, the study provides a comprehensive overview of smart tourism and consumer behavior research, clarifies existing gaps, and outlines pathways for integrating technological innovation with sustainable and human-centered development.

This systematic review examines the role of rural tourism in promoting sustainable development, focusing on its interaction with forest ecosystems and the essential ecosystem services they provide. A comprehensive literature search across Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar identified 142 peer-reviewed articles, analyzed through qualitative synthesis and bibliometric mapping. The review highlights four thematic clusters in rural tourism research: impacts on rural areas, destination management, resident perspectives and cultural sustainability, and emerging themes like place attachment. It emphasizes the reliance of rural tourism on ecosystem services, including provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting, especially those linked to forest ecosystems. Examples from Monteverde, Costa Rica, and Tuscany, Italy, illustrate the role of rural tourism in supporting biodiversity conservation, habitat restoration, and sustainable agriculture. However, uncontrolled tourism in forested regions can lead to deforestation and ecosystem degradation, as seen in the Lake District, Masai Mara, and Rajasthan. The review stresses the need for sustainable practices to mitigate the negative impacts of tourism, advocating for an integrated sustainability framework that balances economic, environmental, and governance aspects. Best practices include eco-friendly infrastructure, community participation, and environmental education. The potential of emerging technologies, such as eco-certification systems and smart tourism, is explored to reduce the environmental footprint of tourism. The review calls for stronger policy integration, equitable benefit-sharing, capacity building, and longitudinal research to ensure resilient rural tourism that harmonizes ecosystem conservation with socio-economic development. In conclusion, the integration of sustainable practices and community involvement is crucial for aligning rural tourism with forest ecosystem conservation.

Tourism information delivery in South Sulawesi remains constrained by the absence of a digital platform that provides comprehensive and personalized data. Previous studies generally present only basic information without recommendation features that align with user interests. This study develops a web-based application named Sering-Sering, designed to provide both tourism information and personalized recommendations according to user needs. The application was developed using the Waterfall model, a structured and sequential software engineering methodology, and its functionality was evaluated through white-box and black-box testing to ensure completeness and reliability. Results demonstrate that Sering-Sering was successfully implemented through systematic stages of planning, analysis, design, implementation, and testing. The final system is stable, user-friendly, and capable of delivering informative outputs. Black-box testing across 15 scenarios, including login, registration, destination search, profile management, and deletion of favorites and notifications, produced a 100 percent functional success rate. These findings indicate that the application effectively supports tourists in identifying suitable destinations quickly and conveniently while also contributing to regional tourism promotion. Future research is recommended to expand the system by integrating online ticket booking and artificial intelligence-based recommendation features, thereby strengthening its potential contribution to smart tourism development in South Sulawesi.

Purpose This systematic literature review examines how innovative information and communication technology (ICT) tools contribute to smart tourism and enhance traveler's experiences around the world. It attempts to assess factors such as information value and reliability (IVR), ease of access and interaction (EAI), cost-effectiveness (CE), virtual reality (VR) and mobile technology usage (MTU) to help policymakers, service providers, developers and scholars to formulate effective digital strategies. Design/methodology/approach Employing the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework, international academic and industry publications were systematically reviewed in this study. The approach combined diverse methodologies to pinpoint key themes in tourism's digital transformation, using thematic analysis to reveal how these factors interconnect and drive smart tourism development. Findings Analysis reveals that developed regions effectively integrate digital innovations while developing areas struggle with infrastructure, affordability and digital literacy. The results indicate that the key drivers have a significant impact on travelers’ decision-making processes. Research limitations/implications The review identifies a regional imbalance in research and an overemphasis on emerging technologies, underscoring the need for more inclusive, context-sensitive studies. Moreover, the scarcity of studies from emerging markets further constrains the generalizability of current findings. Originality/value By synthesizing global research, this review offers a novel framework for understanding digital pathways in traveler behavior. It bridges theoretical gaps and provides actionable insights into sustainable and balanced tourism strategies.

Purpose The current study probes the impact of digital itinerary through Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Smart Tourism System (STS) on travel experiences by adopting a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches. It discovers the elements influencing the acceptance and satisfaction, emphasizing on timeliness, price, destination selection, safety and hedonic values. The study attempts to offer actionable insights for the tourism industry to maximally provide digital travel solutions for better user experiences. Design/methodology/approach The study used a mixed-methods approach. Qualitative interviews were carried out with 16 participants and unraveled numerous perspectives and unique decision-making discourses pertaining to digital travel technologies. Later, a quantitative survey was administered with 1,129 respondents via online to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of STS. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to measure the mediating and moderating effects. Findings The findings of the study indicate that tourists who adopt technology-driven itineraries are influenced by timeliness, price, safety, destination selection and hedonic values. On one hand, destination brand equity dimensions mediated these effects and on the other hand, demographic features moderated user experience preferences. This study stresses the factors influencing the adoption of STS-based digital itineraries. Research limitations/implications The study relies on self-reported data derived from a digital community, which restricts the generalizability. Future studies can discover cross-cultural contexts and aim for longitudinal designs, pertaining to STS-based digital itineraries. Practical implications The study highlights a better user experience by focusing on timeliness, safety and destination through STS itinerary features. Customizing services considering on demographic choices can further enhance the adoption of STS. Social implications STS-driven digital itineraries can enhance the user experiences by limiting the level of insecurity and uncertainty and creating a sense of informed decision-making, resulting in improved travel experiences. Originality/value The study combines a qualitative and quantitative approach to probe the factors for the adoption of STS, which enhances user experience satisfaction by highlighting unique practical insights for creating smart tourism.

The purpose of this study was to explore the level of use and experiences of smart tourism technologies by employees and managers in tourism businesses. A nested multiple case design, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used for this purpose in the study. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 48 employees and managers from two accommodation establishments, two food and beverage establishments, two travel agencies and two airline establishments in Istanbul, which were determined as cases in the study, using the maximum diversity sampling method. The data obtained from the interviews were subjected to content analysis using the Maxquda 2020 qualitative data analysis program. Cloud technologies, big data, QR codes, mobile applications, virtual reality, infrared communication, electronic flight technology, global positioning systems, and digital self-service technologies are used in tourism businesses. It has been determined that employees and managers in tourism enterprises welcome the use of these smart tourism technologies because of their perceived benefits, ease of use, safety, welfare, improving employee performance, enriching recipes, the quality of digital software systems used in enterprises and various organizational support provided for employees. On one hand, it has been determined that smart tourism technologies have various benefits for employees, businesses and customers such as fast service, time saving, competitive advantage, flexible working, sustainability, reduction of airplane accidents, strengthened brand image, increased operational efficiency, correct ordering and the chance to re-order food and beverages while on the other some negativities such as data security problems, service disruption, standardization of food tastes, expensive service, cyber loafing, burnout syndrome and loss of employment have also been determined.

In recent years, tourists have increasingly used location-based social networks (LBSNs) to share their travel experiences with friends. Within the context of smart tourism, collaborative filtering (CF) is widely recognized as one of the most commonly used methods for point-of-interest (POI) recommendation systems. This approach analyzes user similarities using measures such Jaccard, or cosine similarity to predict the probabilities of choosing POIs to visit. However, traditional similarity measures fail to account for the physical distances between users and the locations of POIs. To address these limitations, we propose a novel similarity measure called IPUMC (integrating proximity of users in modified cosine similarity). This measure builds on the cosine similarity approach while incorporating geographic proximity between users into the calculation. Experimental results conducted on the Foursquare dataset reveal that IPUMC improves precision by 8.14%, mean average precision (MAP) by 18.01%, and normalized discounted cumulative gain (NDCG) by 16.99% compared to traditional similarity measures, specifically Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation, Euclidean distance, cosine similarity, adjusted cosine and Jaccard.

Metaverse tourism is an emerging technology that could change how people experience travel by using smart tourism systems with extended reality (XR) tools, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Interest in using Metaverse technologies in the travel industry has grown quickly, with more studies and businesses exploring this area. This review looks at existing research on how Metaverse tourism is adopted. Using the PRISMA method, 26 relevant studies were selected and analyzed based on specific criteria. Most of the research so far has used traditional models like the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to understand technology adoption. The review points out that there are gaps in current research and suggests future directions. These include combining different theoretical models, studying specific contexts, and developing new frameworks to better understand what influences the adoption of Metaverse tourism.