• Journal of Smart Tourism
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.21-32
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• 2022

This paper shows light on the concept of smart tourism destination as a future of tourism development, especially in the context of problems associated with developing countries. This study substantiates the case of smart tourism development in mountain destinations as an affordable and needed future of the contemporary era. This conceptual study is based on secondary literature on Smart Cities, Smart Tourism Destinations, and Tourism in Himachal Pradesh. The Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has been considered as a study area to acknowledge major tourism-related challenges, especially in mountain locations. Consequently, the dots are connected between existing challenges and solutions that smart tourism holds. It turns out that for the development of mountain tourism destinations such as Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Himalayas, investments in smart infrastructure are required. By developing smart infrastructure, a new USP can be made, a supportive environment for new local businesses, new employment opportunities, enhanced tourist experience and an overall raised standard of living for locals. Considering all factors, it leads to a highly competitive tourism destination. All tourism destinations located in the Himalayan mountains show somewhat the same tourism challenges as Himachal Pradesh, India. Therefore, this paper brightens the path of destination planners towards the development agenda of smart tourism destinations and shows how smart tourism infrastructure can be deployed for better management of tourism destinations.

• Journal of Smart Tourism
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.7-18
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• 2024

This study examines Natal in Brazil as a Smart Tourism Destination (STD) based on the perception of public and private managers who are members of the City Tourism Council. The research utilizes a systemic perspective of STD proposed by Ivars-Baidal et al. (2016), consisting of three interconnected levels: Strategic-Relational, Instrumental, and Applied. The findings reveal that Natal faces challenges in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, security, connectivity, and sensoring, which hinder its progress as STD. The study also identifies opportunities in the form of governance structures with smart destinations and the inclusion of smartness guidelines in the City Master Plan. The research aims to contribute to the theoretical understanding of STD and its application in destination development. It highlights the need for innovative planning and management in Natal, emphasizing that adopting the STD from a systemic perspective can enhance competitiveness and elevate the level of smartness in the destination.

• Journal of Smart Tourism
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.15-23
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• 2024

This study aims to present a framework involving smartness components and indicators of tourism destinations. This work had three phases. The first phase extracted the components and indicators of smartness evaluation in tourism destinations and validated them by experts' opinions. The second phase determined the effectiveness of each element of smartness using an online questionnaire tool, a survey of 320 tourism experts at the level of 12 selected urban tourism destinations, and a factor analysis method, in addition to measuring the level of their smartness. The third phase of the research analyzed the difference between the smartness of the selected urban tourism destinations using a One-Way Analysis of Variance and the Tukey Test. The results indicated six components and fifty-seven indicators. Also, a substantial difference between the smartness of urban tourism destinations was proved. This study substantially contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering the smartness indicators within a detailed package of six components with a systemic, holistic, and integrated perspective. The results help policymakers and decision-makers evaluate and improve the smartness of tourism destinations. As a result, it is possible to achieve the goals of smartness of urban tourism destinations, including equality, livability, sustainability, and effectiveness of resource management by using different technologies, especially with the emphasis on two aspects: (1) increasing the quality of the tourism experience, and (2) improving the residents' quality of life.