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The purpose of this study is to analyse Benidorm, San Sebastián, Gijón, Málaga, Tenerife Island and Santander smart tourist destinations (STDs) as a touristic model and example to follow by other destinations in Spain and all over the world.

To fulfil the stated objective, this study follows several phases that introduce and classify a set of measures implemented by the six Spanish smart destinations to be designed as a STD.

Findings suggest that being a STD requires a high cost, and this is only accessible to big destinations with enough resources. Of the 50 Spanish provinces, eight are STDs, and these are localised in coastal areas. Obviously, this challenge is not within the reach of any Spanish city. Moreover, findings of the current study prove that the six Spanish smart destinations have a good air accessibility through their six airports, but the accessibility in a STD is not just physical; this must provide digital accessibility to tourists through destination marketing organisation’s website and app that will supply them with information on a wide range of services, including accommodations, tourist attractions, restaurants, public transport, museums and monuments’ locations, amongst many others.

From a resident point of view, a STD cannot be only focused on a technological and tourism context; a STD also requires knowing and meeting the needs of local residents and having a voice in decision-making processes. Hence, this study shows a new perspective on STDs that will benefit the literature on STDs.

This paper aims to give meaning to the smart tourism destination (STD) certification, highlighting its main advantages and limitations. The case of Medellín (Colombia) presents characteristics worth studying. The city has suffered from stigmatization and has recently started the steps to become an STD with the Spanish company Segittur (December 2020). Thus, this study aims to focus on the implications of the STD process, especially in an area that has been impacted by tourist activity.

This paper is a qualitative and exploratory case study about Medellín in Colombia and its tourism development in an STD framework. After a theoretical exploration of the STD from an urban perspective, the paper will present a multiple data corpus to analyze the city’s certification process to turn into an STD. This methodology explores stakeholders on the destination, including an observation, and allows us to obtain an overview of the implications of the STD certification for Medellín.

During the past decade, Medellín passed from a dangerous destination to a trendy destination. Findings reveal interesting results, considering the need to consider all aspects of territory as a central issue for the STD settlement and look beyond a technological approach.

This paper lets to understand better the STD process established by the institution. Moreover, it highlights the gap between the coveted certification to become the first STD in Colombia and the realities of a Latin American territory.

Este articulo pretende dar un significado a la certificación de destino turístico inteligente (DTI), destacando sus principales ventajas y limitaciones. El caso de Medellín (Colombia) presenta características relevantes de estudio. La ciudad ha sido ampliamente estigmatizada y recientemente ha iniciado el proceso de certificación para convertirse en destino turístico inteligente con la entidad española Segittur (dic. 2020). Dicho esto, queremos enfocarnos en las implicaciones de este proceso, especialmente en un área que ha sido impactada por la actividad turística.

Este artículo comprende un estudio cualitativo y exploratorio sobre Medellín en Colombia y su desarrollo turístico en un marco de DTI. Luego de una exploración teórica del destino turístico inteligente desde una perspectiva urbana, el artículo presentará un corpus de múltiples datos para analizar el proceso de certificación de la ciudad en su conversión en una DTI. Nuestra metodología explora a los stakeholders sobre el destino, incluyendo una observación, y nos permite obtener una visión general de las implicaciones de la certificación DTI para Medellín.

Durante la última década, Medellín pasó de ser un destino denominado de alto riesgo a un destino altamente recomendado. Los hallazgos revelan resultados interesantes, mostrando la necesidad de considerar todos los aspectos del territorio como un tema central para el asentamiento del DTI y mirar más allá de un enfoque tecnológico.

Este trabajo permite tener una mejor comprensión del proceso de DTI establecido por la entidad Segittur. Además, resalta la brecha existente entre la deseada certificación y las realidades de un territorio latinoamericano.

This paper aims to contrast the expectations placed on the smart destination as a theoretical management approach with the reality of emergent tech-savvy tourism demand by examining the response of this segment to three critical dimensions of technology use in the context of smart destinations. Tech-savvy tourists are here represented by highly educated Spanish millennial tourists.

Data were obtained through an online survey and analysed through descriptive techniques and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS. Literature review was critical for setting the foundations of the research in this novel context.

Results suggest the existence of a gap between the smart destination theoretical expectations and created hype and the real response of the examined demand in the three main scopes for this tourist-smart destination technology-based relationship, namely, mobile technology use, data sharing for personalised experiences and smart technologies for enhanced experiences.

Convenience sampling was used, and the results of the study cannot be generalised to all millennial tourists. The research is a first approximation to the interrelationship between tourists and smart destinations.

Tourists’ role and experiences mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs) are decisive in smart destinations. Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), through their policies and actions, ought to take into account the limited predisposition of tourists in using mobile devices, sharing data and using smart technologies for their experiences. Privacy concerns appear to have special relevance for tourists and, therefore, for the future of smart destinations.

The findings offer relevant insights for smart destinations from a neglected angle hitherto, as they introduce several interesting nuances which do not match entirely the fast track taken by institutions, media and academia. This is critical for better understanding tourists in the current panorama, for DMOs and for the theoretical foundations of smart tourism. Besides, the exploratory data analysis reveals potential dimensions of millennials’ behaviour, which can be useful for further investigations.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how smart tourism technologies and memorable tourism experiences affect tourist satisfaction and tourist destination loyalty.

A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, 360 were returned (60% response rate) and a covariance-based structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypotheses.

The results of this study explain that smart tourism technologies and memorable tourism experiences play essential roles in enhancing tourist satisfaction and tourist destination loyalty.

This study specifies that tourists have pleasant memories and are satisfied at a tourist destination; as a result, they are more likely to revisit and recommend a tourist destination to their friends, family and other tourists. If a tourist has a negative experience with smart city info-structure facilities, a tourist might reach an overall conclusion to not revisit or recommend the location to other tourists.

This study provides empirical evidence to support the importance of smart tourism technologies and memorable tourism experiences in enhancing tourist satisfaction and tourist destination loyalty.

本论文旨在研究智慧旅游科技和难忘的旅游体验如何影响游客满意度和游客对目的地的忠诚。

共600份问卷发放, 并收回360份数据（回应率为60%）, 本论文采样基于协方差的结构方程模型以测验假设。

研究结果表明智慧旅游科技和难忘的旅游体验对增强游客满意度和游客对目的地的忠诚度起到至关重要的作用。

本论文证实游客有着美好的旅游回忆与对旅游目的地满意, 因此, 他们更愿意重游以及向他们的朋友、家人、以及其他游客推荐这个目的地。如果游客对智慧城市信息基础建设有不好的体验, 那么他们则会决定不会重游或者推荐这个城市给其他游客。

本论文为证实智慧旅游科技和难忘的旅游体验对加强游客满意度和游客对目的地忠诚度的至关重要的作用方面, 提供了强有力的实践证实。

This study assesses the impact of smart destination implementations in Malaga. Thus, this study aims to guide the transformation of destinations into smart destinations as well as the introduction of smart destination concept in the literature.

Malaga was selected because it was one of the two winners of 2020 European Capital of Smart Tourism competition as well as the winner in the accessibility category of the 2019. The research population lives in Malaga and has been professionally involved in smart destination implementations. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview of 14 smart-tourism experts in different career fields. Content analysis was applied to the findings.

Malaga has become a successful smart destination while it has had a great success in improving its attractiveness and competitiveness due to the developments in the past 20 years. Now, its citizens and tourists are very satisfied and have a higher and more attractive quality of life. Moreover, Malaga has become a leading destination, especially in accessibility and mobility.

Although smart destination is becoming popular topic day by day, almost all the studies are created to introduce the approach with secondary data. There are still only limited research studies conducted by primary data on a real smart destination case. Furthermore, Malaga is a quite good example to understand the importance of smart destination approach since the city has achieved to become an attractive and popular destination for both tourists and local residents.

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.

This study aims to investigate tourists’ impressions of the smart destinations model from the socio-technical systems and the technology–organization–environment (TOE) perspectives. Specifically, it aims to explore how information source credibility and cloud infrastructure influence tourists’ use of intelligent technology.

This measurement development is based on prior literature; after being evaluated for face and content validity, the authors used random sampling to collect data and conducted a field survey of tourists through Taoyuan Airport and using the airport MRT between December 2022 and March 2023. After confirming that tourists knew the destination information and had experience using travel-related mobile applications to plan their itinerary, the authors further invited tourists to participate in the survey, and 512 valid questionnaires were analyzed by the structural equation modeling approach.

The finding pointed out that source credibility and intelligent technology were innovative technologies that benefitted tourists, as were mobile travel planning apps, which created a relational context based on interests and activities from the socio-technical and TOE perspectives.

Technological innovation is closely related to the development of smart cities; tourists who used travel itineraries successfully understood travel-related actions and significantly had more positive affective images of the city.

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.

Smart tourism (ST) needs the development of smart business. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the future of the smart component of tourism companies, what their perspectives are and what factors can help to accelerate it.

A survey of 133 managers of tourist companies is the basis of the empirical information. The study was a personal survey carried out during FITUR 2019 International Tourism Fair of Madrid. The main element of the study is the future development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and smart tourism (ST) in business.

The results indicate that there is little development at present of the smart business eco-system and that development will continue to be slow in the future. Moreover, this is not a critical issue in the agendas of companies. It was found that tourists pressure tourism through the extensive use of their smartphones, but only at the level of tourism resources. Furthermore, it will be the consolidation of the smart tourism destination that marks the medium and long-term design of smart business.

The limitations concern the problems of a sampling procedure. Firstly, it operates with a database of managers’ opinions; secondly, there are specificities of each company in particular.

The design of the smart tourism destination must incorporate the integration of tourism companies, both with a useful vision of ICTs towards the creation of experiences.

Research on smart business tourism is very scarce compared to smart destination and smart tourists. Also, the data are supported by managers of important tourism companies, as their companies are present at FITUR.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the perceptions of visitors in terms of multiple aspects of smart cities to allow wise decisions to be made about smart tourist destinations by municipal governments and tourism authorities.

This study takes a sample of inbound visitors (n=205) from Hong Kong as an empirical questionnaire-based survey on visitors’ perceptions of these smart city attributes, which are collected from literature, and framed in Cohen’s Smart City Wheel.

This paper identifies the distinctive factors for branding Hong Kong as a smart city. The results from the factor analysis identify four factors for determining what a smart city is from the perspective of visitors, namely, the quality of a smart society: energy consumption in an urban environment, smart city governance and smart city livelihood. The first two factors further become the determinants of a successful smart city brand considered by visitors, which contribute to their locational decisions and thus the strategies and policies of smart destination branding.

The results obtained can serve as insights for tourism policy makers and destination marketers when considering significant information and communication technology, or other smart and sustainable attributes for city branding (e.g. Buhalis and Amaranggana, 2014; Marine-Roig and Anton Clavé, 2015), as well as common investment and resource allocation for shared benefits in similar metropolises.

The smartness factors represent important dimensions of urban smartness as prioritized areas for further development, innovation and marketing of tourism industries and enterprises in Hong Kong, as a mature urban destination incorporating the branding of a proposed smart district as a strategy of urban development.

Smart urban development and tourism development have increasingly become inseparable, especially when visitors utilize cities as tourist destinations but share other urban resources and spaces with local citizens. Unlike the development of smart tourist attractions, smart tourist destinations should have a wider scope of smartness. A smart tourist destination may carry similar and overlapping characteristics of smart cities, which may be interpreted by visitors and may eventually affect their perceived image of a city.