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The conceptualization of smart emerged by technological advancements penetrated the tourism industry with the pace of globalization transformed the destinations providing digitalized products. Even though smart tourism destinations are initiated by advanced technologies, the notion evolved in embracing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) project economic, social, and environmental proliferation. A tourism destination is counted as “smart” which provides advanced technologies to improve the quality of tourists' experiences and enhance the residents' quality of life. The structure of a smart tourism destination is established on four basic pillars that cover technology, innovation, accessibility, and sustainability issues. Designating the notion of smart into tourism destinations is extremely vital since the shifting paradigm of tourists’ demands concern sustainability. The development of smart in a tourism destination is a crucial concern for destination management organizations (DMOs) integrating key destination components with the dimensions of a smart city to enhance the tourists' satisfaction and competitiveness of the destination. Therefore, one aim of this chapter is to elucidate the association between key destination components with the dimensions of a smart city to reveal the related smart tourism destination applications. Moreover, cultural heritage in smart tourism destinations forms an important part of tourism both with its tangible and intangible resources which have been involved in the emergent era of digitalization inevitably with all parties and processes. Hence, another aim of this chapter is to examine the dimensional shift in cultural heritage tourism within the framework of digitalization. Sharing cases of digitization of cultural heritage from different parts of the world, this chapter also reflects that it is inevitable to benefit from digitization and ICTs in order to reach the SDGs on the scale of smart tourism destinations. Analysis of academic publications and the national and international reports of the related authorities sums the methodology used to conclude the study with suggestions of future research paths to develop the field.

Globalization, along with its technological developments, has brought important changes and developments in all sectors and led to innovation and modernization. In the tourism industry, the concept of smart destination, derived from the concept of smart city, has become widespread to meet the changing needs of tourists. In this context, smart technologies have started to be used in destinations, but more than technology in destinations is needed in terms of sustainability. To ensure sustainability in tourism, these smart technologies must also be eco-friendly. Smart destinations and eco-friendly practices are important for the sustainable development of the tourism industry. The use of technology in destinations can increase sustainability and efficiency, while using eco-friendly practices can protect and preserve the natural environment. In this study, first of all, smart destinations and the characteristics of smart destinations are discussed. Then, smart tourism and related eco-friendly practices are argued. Following this, information about the future of smart destinations is given, and assumptions are mentioned. Afterward, problems and solutions are discussed. Finally, the study has been completed with the conclusion part. The findings of the study revealed that the concept of green especially comes to the fore in smart destinations, that there are studies to prevent all kinds of pollution (air, noise, etc.), and applications such as smart parking systems, smart lighting systems, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) are given importance.

Tourist guides, one of the important service providers of tourism, have effected greatly by smart tourism technology during the COVID-19 period. It is thought that this trend will continue to increase in the future. Also, there are some challenges of smart tourism post pandemic on tour guides. In this context, the study aims to examine the levels of utilization of smart tourism applications by tourist guides, their activities in the COVID-19 period, and the transformation that tour guiding will undergo in the future. Within the scope of the study, existing smart tourism applications used in tours were examined with opportunities and challenges sides. In addition, the reflection of the guided cultural tours in the future was evaluated.

This chapter explores the concept of branding in a contemporary competitive arena of places. The multi-dimensional interpretations of places offer a variety of possibilities to better understand the true essence of destination branding. One of the common interpretations of places is through the study of their images, as destination branding requires a thorough understanding of destination image. The important foundation and relation of destination image are specified and explained. The notion of destination branding has evolved from the fields of marketing and urban studies and has become a cross-disciplinary research area. Thus, the researchers explain that destination branding as well as ‘place branding’ are dynamic concepts that are being continuously being explored in academia for the benefit of practitioners in travel and tourism. This chapter suggests that the use of brand equity is also one of the frontier areas of study in ‘place branding’ as it emphasises the need to thematise destinations (e.g. for their historical heritage, cultural value, natural attractions, etc.) and places for residence (e.g. as green cities, creative cities, smart cities, etc.).

Although the concept of destination is often described as an economic term that describes places of interest for tourists and visitors, currently, there is still little awareness in the extant literature about regional, city, village, resort, or even standalone tourist destinations. This chapter aims to clarify the meaning of destinations. It distinguishes the differences between common locations and tourist destinations. It uses case studies to describe places, placemaking, and the experiencescapes of various destinations. This contribution implies that tourist attractions differentiate themselves from other places, as they offer accessible attractions with amenities.

Purpose: The current chapter presents the Bulgarian town of Elena as a tourist destination and the local food festival that provides an image of the researched place. In the course of the report, some literature sources are screened and the main ideas concerning authors’ viewpoints about events and food festivals are presented. Some of them reveal theory statements on events as a whole but the author’s search concerns those revealing characteristics of local food festivals.

Methodology: The authors prepared and conducted a purposeful survey; cross-analysed the appropriate questions from the survey; carried out a mode analysis of the value frequencies and empirical research.

Findings: The analysis reveals the need for contemporary digital approaches that could lead to more precise targeting the visitors of the festival, to increasing levels of quality of this specific tourist product as well as to raising the tourist satisfaction.

This chapter focusses on the importance of using technology in tourism. This chapter also comprehensively highlights technologies that are impacting the tourism industry as well as the constraints the industry is facing. Many research studies have been conducted which outline the contributions and importance of technology in tourism in general. In recent years, various research studies, ranging from tourism management to geography, have increasingly explored the opportunities to use cutting-edge information and communication technologies (ICTs), implemented at different scales, in order to improve tourists’ experiences. Among several technology-driven solutions, augmented reality (AR) is usually regarded as a useful tool for tourism. AR has become an area of significant interest and investment in recent times. The present study focusses on case studies where AR-based smart tourism applications have been developed. In tourist destinations, visitors exhibit a great interest in learning while travelling. Curiosity plays a significant role for visitors buying trips for their families and they are willing to pay slightly more for a unique experience. The findings offer several contributions to the literature by providing new theoretical insights into the intersection of AR and tourism in Italian heritage sites, especially in Sicily.

Application of technology and meeting accessibility requirements of guests are two essential areas to consider and improve in order to facilitate, ameliorate and accelerate the management of hospitality services furnished by hotels. These two trends carry great importance for competitivity of hotels' services and sustainability of tourism industry. They are two distinguishing characteristics that build a positive perception of hotels' image among its rivals.

This chapter aims to reflect the current level of conformance of the hotels' services to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for tourism, specifically, SDG 11 related to accessibility and SDGs 9, 12 and 13 related to technology. A qualitative research is conducted to find out the commitment and awareness levels of the hotel staff at managerial positions to the accessibility and technology requirements in line with the mentioned SDGs. The representatives of city centre hotels of İzmir, Turkey with three, four and five stars and boutique hotels categories are chosen as the target population. The results obtained via content analysis signal that the extent of conformity of hotels to technology and accessibility requirements in line with the adoption of the related SDGs depend on the creation of practical solutions on the educational, legal and managerial perspectives. The chapter contributes to academic literature in tourism management and brings suggestions for tourism practitioners to adapt and improve their services to meet the standards and requirements of SDGs related to accessibility and adoption of technology in hospitality services.