smart tourism research

Smart Tourism Destinations Research Trend: A Systematic Literature Review

Ieee account.

• Change Username/Password
• Update Address

Purchase Details

• Payment Options
• Order History
• View Purchased Documents

Profile Information

• Communications Preferences
• Profession and Education
• Technical Interests
• US & Canada: +1 800 678 4333
• Worldwide: +1 732 981 0060
• Contact & Support
• About IEEE Xplore
• Accessibility
• Terms of Use
• Nondiscrimination Policy
• Privacy & Opting Out of Cookies

A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. © Copyright 2024 IEEE - All rights reserved. Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions.

What is smart tourism and why is it so BIG?

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

Smart tourism is big business in the travel and tourism industry, but why is it so big and what does smart tourism actually do? Read on to learn more…

What is smart tourism?

A definition of smart tourism, types of smart tourism, smart tourism accessibility options, smart tourism sustainability initiatives, smart tourism information sharing, smart tourism research and management tools, smart tourist experiences, smart tourism: conclusion.

Smart tourism is defined according to the technological capabilities of a particular destination, attraction or the tourist themselves. Many destinations are now modernising to include increased use of smart technology in their operations ranging from payment methods to interactive activities.

The ultimate aim of smart tourism is to improve the efficiency of resource management, maximise competitiveness and to enhance sustainability through the use of technological innovations and practices. It is often associated with e-tourism as this will involve the use of technology.

One destination that is leading the way with their smart tourism industry is China, whereby tourists can use their phones to do simple tasks such as pay for taxis, order meals, check queue times and read information on the destination or attraction that they are visiting through a supplied QR code.

‘Smart’ has become somewhat of a buzzword in recent years.

In essence, for something to be ‘smart’ it needs to have complex technological capabilities in order to allow for the exploitation of a range of information that is then used to inform product development and operation. Whilst the average tourist may not be aware of what goes on behind the scenes, there is likely a lot of work that goes on to ensure maximum productivity and competitiveness.

Whilst the concept of ‘smart’ isn’t directly correlated with technology, in today’s world they are inevitably intertwined. In order to be ‘smart’, destinations, attractions and other tourism industry stakeholders will utilise a variety of technological innovations and practices (these are outlined shortly). As such, the use of technology is at the heart of the concept of smart tourism.

There hasn’t been a great deal of research into smart tourism to date. Most studies in the area focus instead on ‘smart cities’ or ‘smart destinations’.

Gretzel et al (2015) advocate that the notion of smart tourism is, in fact, a complex one, and that succinctly defining the term smart tourism is a difficult endeavour.

The The European Capital of Smart Tourism , define a smart destination as:

‘A destination facilitating access to tourism and hospitality products, services, spaces and experiences through ICT-based tools. It is a healthy social and cultural environment, which can be found through a focus on the city´s social and human capital. It also implements innovative, intelligent solutions and fosters the development of entrepreneurial businesses and their interconnectedness.’

To further elaborate, Buhalis and Amaranggana explain that:

‘Smart Tourism Destinations take advantage of: (1) Technology embedded environments; (2) Responsive processes at micro and macro levels (3) End-user devices in multiple touch-points; and (4) Engaged stakeholders that use the platform dynamically as a neural system.’

Taking into account the available literature at the time of writing, I have provided my own definition of smart tourism below.

‘Smart tourism is the act of tourism agents utilising innovative technologies and practices to enhance resource management and sustainability, whilst increasing the businesses overall competitiveness’.

resource management, maximise competitiveness and to enhance sustainability through the use of technological innovations and practices.

At the heart of smart tourism is technology, that much is clear. But the key is how this technology is used to make the tourism agent (destination management organisation , tourist attraction, hotel, restaurant etc) operate more effectively.

Below you will find five of the most common methods of implementing smart tourism.

Ways to implement smart tourism

Smart tourism can be implemented in any number of different ways, providing it achieves the outcomes of enhanced resource management, sustainability and competitiveness. There are five main ways to do this, although this list is, of course, not exhaustive. These five methods include; smart accessibility options, smart sustainability initiatives, smart information sharing, smart research and management tools and smart tourist experiences.

In order to a tourism agent to identify as smart tourism initiative, they must demonstrate that they are accessible to all, both in a physical and a digital sense. This means that everyone has access to the tourism provider, regardless of age, gender, religion, race, sexuality or disability.

A smart tourism attraction or destination should have a well development transport infrastructure that enables all types of people to travel (i.e. there is wheelchair access and lifts for parents with prams etc). This should also include reasonably priced transport options, which will usually be public transport.

At the attraction or destination itself, there should be opportunities for everybody to access all areas. This may include lifts and ramps for disabled people.

Smart tourism accessibility also includes language communications. This is something that I have personally grappled with a lot since moving to China . Many Chinese attractions do not provide information for non-Chinese speaking tourists. Others provide translation for only some selected information (this works both ways too- I have translated museum scripts to find that the English version provides comprehensive details, but the Chinese version omits certain facts or remarks).

There are some great examples of smart tourism accessibility implemented around the world. I personally like the wheelchair accessibility that is promoted in Malaga and the personal city helpers scheme in Helsinki .

Sustainable tourism is at the forefront of many tourism agent’s plans and operations nowadays, and for good reason. As I explained in my post ‘ Sustainable tourism explained ‘, such practices not only help to provide a good image for the organisation, but also help to combat the negative social , environmental and economic impacts of tourism.

An important arm of smart tourism is the sustainability sector. Tourism agents which operate successful smart tourism initiatives should have a considerable focus on sustainability; reducing their carbon footprint, adopting environmentally friendly approaches and taking into account the host communities and their needs.

There are many ways that organisations can use mart technology to improve their sustainability practices.

Helsinki demonstrated their commitment to sustainable tourism during their Sustainable Flow Festival and Estonia have their Green Key initiative. At a more local level, there are many eco hotels and resorts around the world as well as socially beneficial tourism forms such as volunteer tourism .

Of course, having sustainable practices alone doesn’t qualify a tourism agent as a smart tourism provider. These practices need to be underpinned by technologies, such as the use of solar panel lighting for example, that enable said practices to be achieved.

One of the key advancements enabling smart tourism to occur in recent years is the growth of information sharing platforms. The digitalisation of modern day society has opened up a wealth of opportunities for tourism providers to share information to a wide range of tourist types .

The growth of social media, QR codes and mini-programmes has provided tourism agents with opportunities that were not previously available.

Tourism organisations can now use these new opportunities to provide information prior, during and after the tourists’ visit. They can also utilise more efficient promotional methods and marketing on these online platforms.

Complex algorithms, cookies and other digital monitoring methods can help organisations to be more and more in tune with their consumers or potential consumers. This allows them to develop more suitable and targeted products.

Organisations have been capitalising on the new possibilities of smart tourism information sharing by adopting electronic means of sharing information, for example in a museum or exhibit, encouraging the use of particular social media hashtags and geotagging and developing custom made apps.

Whilst many organisations around the world have turned to smart tourism information sharing practices, China is leading the way in this domain. Chinese tourism attractions are abundant with QR codes and their social media sharing platform, WeChat, enables tourism providers to develop their own mini-programmes- kind of like apps, but less extensive and without the need to download anything.

Nowadays there are many methods of obtaining and monitoring information. Organisations now have a wealth of data at their fingertips.

Adopting smart tourism research and management tools, such as designing a custom-made tourism flow monitor or developing a tailor-made CRM programme, can dramatically improve business outcomes.

A good example of a destination that has implemented smart tourism research and management tools in this way is Malaga, where they have introduced a parking app to help travellers park more effectively and reduce congestion.

Perhaps the most obvious type of smart tourism (for the tourist at least), is the smart tourist experience.

Destinations, attractions and other tourism providers are now adopting innovative technological approaches to develop and enhance the tourism experience that they offer. This ranges from augmented reality applications to gaming and virtual reality. This article on the top 20 augmented reality travel apps show a few examples of how this works in practice.

In the UK, The Hub Hotel from Premier Inn has made augmented reality compatible with the wall maps in the hotel rooms. When these maps are viewed through a smart device the wall maps present additional information about some of the local places of interest.

On my recent trip to Qiandao Lake in China, I saw a virtual reality hot air ballon. Here tourists would wear a mask which would make them feel like they would be lifted to a height inside the hot air ballon, where they could appreciate the lake view around them. In reality, their feet would never leave the ground!

Is smart tourism the future of tourism? I would say so, yes. There are some brilliant examples of smart tourism initiatives around the world and countries like China are leading the way. Despite the evident growth in smart tourism, however, there is a dearth of information on the subject, most notably in the academic field.

Personally, I am excited to see the developments in the tourism industry in this regard over the coming years! What do you think?

Liked this article? Click to share!

Transcending Borders in Tourism Through Innovation and Cultural Heritage pp 339–351 Cite as

Smart Tourism Technologies: How Effective Are They for Millennial Tourists?

• Aggeliki Mitala 3 ,
• Aggeliki Konstantoglou 4 ,
• Dimitris Folinas 5 &
• Thomas Fotiadis 6  
• Conference paper
• First Online: 28 April 2022

1043 Accesses

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

Millennials are the fastest-growing segment of the tourist market, which is expected to reach its peak in the next decade. It is likely to be a strong lever for the tourism sector, and therefore, a very lucrative target market for travel and tourism businesses. Smart tourism is a concept created by smart technologies: it enhances the interaction of people with objects, connects the digital world with the real world, and supports people’s holiday experiences with technological elements. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the facilities provided by smart tourism technologies in a destination affect the level of millenials’ satisfaction, their intention to visit a destination again in the future, and their intention to recommend a destination to their loved ones. First, the new market of millennial tourists is examined and their special characteristics, desires, and preferences are identified. The technological solutions and capabilities of smart tourism technologies are recorded. Then, the results of a survey conducted in the period September–August in Greece are presented and analyzed. From the analysis of the results, it was observed that the characteristics of smart tourism technologies (STT) that have a greater impact on visitors’ satisfaction are the convenience of information, interactivity, and personalization. Moreover, it was discovered that the STT feature with the greatest impact on the intention to revisit a destination in the future is the accessibility facilities, while the feature that has a great impact on the intention to recommend a destination to other people in one’s social network is the convenience of information sharing.

• Smart tourism technologies
• Millennial tourists

JEL Classification

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution .

Buying options

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Alt, R., & Klein, S. (2011). Twenty years of electronic markets research looking looking backwards towards the future. Electronic Markets the International Journal on Networked Business, 21 (1), 41–51.

Article   Google Scholar  

Buhalis D. & Wagner, R. (2013). E-destinations: Global best practice intourism technologies and application. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism , 119–130.

Google Scholar  

Buhalis, D., & Law, R. (2008). Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet. Tourism Management, 29 , 609–623.

CBI. (2020). The European market potential for Generation Y tourism .

Chen-Kuo, P., Liu, Y., Kang, S., & Dai, A. (2020). The role of perceived smart tourism technology experience for tourist satisfaction, happiness and revisit intention. Sustainability, 12 , 1–14.

Global Blue, S. A. (2018). 18–34 Millennials:The generation reshaping travel and shopping habits . Swiss: Global Blue.

Gretzel, U., Sigala, M., Xiang, Z., & Koo, C. (2015). Smart tourism: Foundations and developments. Electronic Markets, 25 , 179–188.

Gretzel, U. (2011). Intelligent systems in tourism: A social science perspective. Annals of Tourism Research, 38 (3), 757–779.

Neuhofer, B. Ladkin, A. & Buhalis, D. (2015). Smart technologies for personalized experiences: A case study in the hospitality domain. Electron Markets .

Sofronov, B. (2018). Millenials: A new trend for the tourism industry. Annals of Spiru Haret University. Economic Series, 18 (3), 109–122.

Veiga et al. (2017). Are millennials transforming global tourism? Challenges for destinations and companie. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 9 (1).

Wang, D., Park, S., & Fesenmaier, D. (2012). The role of smartphonesin mediating the touristic experience. Journal of TravelResearch, 51 (4), 371–387.

Yovcheva, Z., Buhalis, D., & Gatzidis, C. (2013). Engineering augmented tourism experiences. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism , 24–35.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Open Hellenic University, Patra, Greece

Aggeliki Mitala

Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece

Aggeliki Konstantoglou

International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece

Dimitris Folinas

Thomas Fotiadis

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

University of West Attica, Athens, Greece

Vicky Katsoni

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

Andreea Claudia Şerban

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Cite this paper.

Mitala, A., Konstantoglou, A., Folinas, D., Fotiadis, T. (2022). Smart Tourism Technologies: How Effective Are They for Millennial Tourists?. In: Katsoni, V., Şerban, A.C. (eds) Transcending Borders in Tourism Through Innovation and Cultural Heritage. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92491-1_21

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92491-1_21

Published : 28 April 2022

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-92490-4

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-92491-1

eBook Packages : Business and Management Business and Management (R0)

Share this paper

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research