Residents’ Involvement in Urban Tourism Planning: Opportunities from a Smart City Perspective

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.

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Overtourism in urban destinations: the myth of smart solutions

Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles ◽

10.21138/bage.2830 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

María García Hernández ◽

Josep Ivars Baidal ◽

Sofía Mendoza de Miguel

Keyword(s):

Local Governments ◽

Urban Tourism ◽

City Management ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Tourism Planning ◽

Tourist Destinations ◽

Operational Level ◽

San Sebastian ◽

Tourism Flows ◽

The City

The rapid increase in urban tourism flows generates problems of tourist overcrowding and gives rise to important challenges for city management. Within this context, urban tourism planning is experiencing a convergence of new paradigms related to the so-called Smart Tourist Destinations (SD). Smart tourism and its operational level open up new avenues for intervention in the city which can help to manage overtourism. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse the level of implementation of smart solutions in four Spanish destinations: Donostia-San Sebastián, Madrid, Málaga and Valencia. The methodology used combines the compilation of information on initiatives and measures found in public tourism planning documents with semi-structured interviews with those responsible for managing the Smart City strategy and the SD project. The results reveal that there is a gap between the SD approaches, the level of implementation of smart solutions and their operability in relation to the management of tourist overload. Almost no technological solutions have been developed to address this issue, which is barely perceived as a problem by local governments. However, the need to generate knowledge that is useful for managing tourist overload constitutes a challenge faced by a growing number of destinations.

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