The concept of smart tourism in the context of tourism information services

Smart tourism has become increasingly popular in mainland China. Different types of events and activities have been classified as smart tourism, leading to the misuse of the term. What, then, is smart tourism? How to define it? Although researchers have defined the term, there has not been any consensus on a widely accepted interpretation. The definition provided by this study emphasizes smart tourism as an individual tourist support system within the context of information services and an all-encompassing technology. This paper compares the characteristics of both traditional tourist information services and those incorporated in smart tourism. Based on the concepts, recommendations are provided and future research/industrial directions are discussed. For the Chinese tourism market, smart tourism represents a new direction implying a significant influence on tourist destinations, enterprises, and also tourists themselves.     

旅游信息服务视阈下的智慧旅游慨念探讨

智慧旅游的丰富实践使研究者不断思考“什么是智慧旅游”的问题,而对这个基本问题虽有很多解答但仍然需要进行探索。文章试图通过对国内外有关智慧旅游的概念进行了梳理,建立起以旅游信息服务为基础的智慧旅游的基本概念,即把智慧旅游定义为旅游者个体在旅游活动过程中所接受的泛在化的旅游信息服务。该定义旨在强调智慧旅游以旅游者个体为核心、以信息服务为载体的支撑体系,以泛在化作为核心内涵,以旅游者行为方式、旅游业营销方式、管理方式和服务方式的根本性变化为主要外延,并据此对国内外智慧旅游概念进行了全面评价。文章的价值在于将智慧旅游的概念与旅游信息化（特别是旅游信息服务）有机结合,既承上启下又能开启智慧旅游发展的新思路。     

Analyzing travel mobility patterns in city destinations: Implications for destination design

Understanding the features of travel activities is important in elaborating travel behaviors and segmenting travelers based on the similarity of activity patterns. This research applying mobile big data analytics suggests a novel method to classify travelers by considering the sequences of travel activity with individuals' trajectories. The result revealed five distinct travel types visiting city destinations and demonstrated dynamic travel flow among different mobility types. Recognizing that different types of travel patterns present important information in understanding destinations’ roles (or functions), this study attempts to characterize the functionality dynamics of city destinations based on travel activity types. As a result, the findings of this research provide insights into the demand-driven construct (or flow-based) of destination planning, which is the foundation of smart destination design. In addition, important methodological and practical implications that could be useful for city destination planners/designers are suggested.     

Towards a Smart Tourism Business Ecosystem based on Industrial Heritage: research perspectives from the mining region of Rio Tinto,Spain

The implications of the study provide suggestions for future improvements relating to the development of industrial tourism destinations. The possibility of ‘re-using’ the old industrial and mining heritage could favour the development of an economic opportunity to the recession that affected most industrial regions after the 1960s. This paper is focused on the field of industrial heritage tourism management (IHTM) to deepen the knowledge about its business ecosystem. The IHTM is chosen because a number of evidences highlight the interconnections that exist between this field and the business ecosystem concept. To explore these interconnections, the purpose of this article is to define a frame of analysis based also on the emergent initiative of smart tourism and to set up a theoretical framework not only used to the case study of the region of Rio Tinto mine in Spain, but also used as a policy instrument to suggest propositions for recommending new paths for future studies.     

Designing for Quality of life

There has been substantial interest in examining the connection between tourism as a socioeconomic force and quality of life. Similarly, designing places as smart destinations to enhance experience is now an important area of research and application. The paper argues that designing for tourism is intimately related to the enhancement of quality of life; that is, designing appropriate platforms for tourism experience settings with its actors will contribute not only to the wellbeing of participants, but also improve the livability of places as destinations. The article outlines a conceptual framework with seven propositions which links tourism design and key elements of quality of life. The paper concludes with a discussion of important areas for future research and practical implications.     

Towards the smart tourism destination: Key factors in information source use on the tourist shopping journey

This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge on how the Smart Tourism Destination (STD) might enhance the Tourist Shopping Journey (TSJ) through offering information sources that meet visitors' needs and preferences. The CAN (Cognitive-Affective-Normative) model was employed to explore the antecedents of using information sources for purchases made in destinations. The importance of the cognitive variables performance and effort expectancy in the purchasing process are highlighted: tourists are pragmatic when consulting information sources in destinations. This study contributes to the knowledge of the role of information sources in TSJ behaviour, and can help managers in the development of STD strategies and services. It also opens new research lines by considering the TSJ as a hitherto unexamined holistic process.     

Developing a model for sustainable smart tourism destinations: A systematic review

The main contribution of this paper was to present a new model for smart tourism destinations using the steps of grounded theory as an analytical framework. To build the model, a systematic review of articles published between 2000 and 2017 was undertaken. Strauss and Corbin's framework for grounded theory formed the basis of the review process. The first step, which was open coding, involved the collection of a group of primary concepts and the extraction of analytic categories. In axial coding, the relationship between the categories was determined. Using selective coding, all of the identified categories were integrated and built, and 6 main categories and 28 sub-categories were identified. In addition to making an important contribution to the literature regarding sustainable and smart tourism destinations, this model is likely to be of interest to policymakers to enhance their awareness of the prerequisites and strategies of developing smart tourism destination.     

The roles of perceived internal and external benefits and costs in innovation co-creation: lessons from Japan

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that motivate tourists to engage in collaborative efforts with tourist destinations for the co-creation of innovative tourism products. Targeting tourists who have visited Tokyo for tourism purpose, the study verifies the antecedents of tourists’ intention to co-create, which include perceived benefits (PB), perceived costs (PC), subjective norms, and ability to co-create tourism innovation. This study further reveals that PC do not have a significant impact on tourists’ intention to participate in innovation co-creation activities, while the other antecedents play important roles. Also, separating PB and costs into internal and external factors, perceived internal benefits (PIB) play a significant role in motivating tourists to participate in co-creation, while perceived external benefits do not. Practical implications are provided for destinations such as Japan to encourage tourists to share their valuable knowledge to improve tourism products and services of tourist destinations.     

Supporting innovation for tourism development through multi-stakeholder approaches: Experiences from Africa

Innovation and entrepreneurship provide essential value to the advancement and quality of the international tourism industry. For Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) tourism innovation is an opportunity to differentiate the tourism product making it more competitive and increasing socio-economic gains at grassroots level counteracting foreign currency leakages from the destination. The paper argues that for small indigenous businesses in LEDC destinations to flourish a supportive environment promoting innovation and entrepreneurship is required. The paper emphasises the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration by drawing on two distinct African case studies: a trade association in The Gambia and a training programme building entrepreneurial capacity in a university in Tanzania both of which have helped provide supportive environments for indigenous entrepreneurship and innovation. The Gambian case study is based on a collaborative marketing approach, the Tanzanian case study on the Triple Helix model. Both demonstrate the importance of institutional support in stimulating networking, transfer of knowledge and best practice in LEDC destinations.     

Can craft beverages shape a destination’s image? A cognitive intervention to measure pisco-related resources on conative image

Assessing potential tourists' perceptions is vital to build a destination image and brand capable to attract new and repeated visitors. The increasing popularity of craft beverage tourism in recent years is incentivizing destinations to (re)design their offerings and (re)brand their image based on their craft beverages. This study investigated how the image of an emerging craft beverage tourism destination (Ica, Peru) is formed among potential tourists by inducing cognitive image (knowledge presented through picture-text dyads) of Ica's iconic resources, staple craft beverage (pisco), and resources associated with its production. Additionally, it measured the impact of local resources' characteristics, affective image, and personal characteristics on conative image (interest to visit and willingness to recommend) at different intervention stages. Results indicate that pisco-related resources are powerful enough to motivate travel, and that the characteristics of a mix of resources should be combined with beverage-specific information when developing branding strategies for craft beverage tourism destinations.     

Encouraging behavioural change towards sustainable tourism: a German approach to free public transport for tourists

Constantly growing transport demand by tourists within holiday destinations and related increases in CO₂ emissions have helped foster a new trend amongst German destinations towards promoting a green transportation mode for vacationers. A key innovation is the “Gästeticket” or Guest Ticket concept, which offers tourists free public transport, on buses and trains, within defined destination areas throughout their stay. This paper describes the background to this concept, and the many different ways in which it has been created, designed, implemented and administered. A qualitative research methodology interviewed key public and private sector stakeholders, including local and regional politicians, accommodation providers, public transport providers and public transport authorities to identify favourable starting conditions, successful financial and institutional implementation strategies, and both supporters and opponents of guest tickets. Local politicians and many small accommodation providers opposed the concept, while regional and national politicians supported it, as did public transport providers and public transport authorities. The concept is compared to the more holistic Alpine Pearls concept founded in Austria, and the case made for better explanation of the Guest Ticket concept to its opponents, better marketing, further research and closer cooperation between transport providers and planners with tourism attractions and accommodation providers.     

How can tourism use land more efficiently? A model-based approach to land-use efficiency for tourist destinations

In densely populated areas of Central Europe, many successful tourist destinations face the problem of approaching the limit of their growth potential. Solutions to this problem commonly refer to the idea of “smart growth” based on increasing efficiency in the use of nature for economic production (eco-efficiency). In this paper, we show how eco-efficiency can be used to evaluate tourism strategies on local scale based on an augmented regional input–output model that delivers information on economic performance, land use (as indicator for environmental pressure), and employment. We illustrate this approach via a case study of the tourist destination of Davos in the Swiss Alps. The model predicts that the key drivers of land-use efficiency are: (i) the economic impact of tourists, (ii) occupancy intensity, and (iii) the density of beds per area covered by residential buildings and hotels. The economic impact of increasing bed capacity is highly dependent on the tourist category triggering the development; this can also be used to attract new tourist categories at the expense of tourist categories that make inefficient use of available land. As the impact of an increased density of beds per ground floor area is as high as an improved occupancy rate over during the year, spatial planning, building design, and facility management also play a major role in improving land efficiency in the tourism sector.     

Measurement of Satisfaction with ICT Services Implementation and Innovation in Restaurants (Case Study: Isfahan,Iran)

Nowadays, Restaurant is one of the most important factors in the choice of holiday destinations for tourists and contributes to the development of the local economy. This research is an initial attempt to investigate consumer behavior (tourist behavior) and the attitude of restaurant managers to the application of innovation and information and communication technology (ICT) in hotel restaurants. On the basis of the results of this study it can be concluded that tourists and restaurant managers in the city of Isfahan are interested in exploiting the application of innovation and ICT in hotel restaurants.     

A review of innovation research in tourism

Over the past two decades, there has been increasing focus on the topic of innovation in tourism. This article reviews the research contributions. Various categories of innovation – product, process, managerial, marketing and institutional – are addressed. Important determinants of innovation are acknowledged, including the role of entrepreneurship, technology push and the existence of territorial industry clusters. Representation of knowledge is also identified as a critical factor for both the occurrence and nature of innovations. The review reveals that there is still only limited systematic and comparable empirical evidence of the level of innovative activities and their impacts and wider implications for destinations and national economies. An agenda for future research is emerging, suggesting that there is quest for both formal quantification and for qualitative studies of the foundations, processes, implications and policies of innovation in tourism.     

Leadership and Innovation Processes—Development of Products and Services Based on Core Competencies

SUMMARY

The new challenge for destinations is to professionalize the continuous development process of innovative products and services. In this context, innovation is regarded as a bipolar process between market and resources. From the resource-oriented perspective, the concentration on regional core competencies will therefore become a source of innovation for destinations while the customer is the source of innovation from the market-oriented perspective. Resulting from the nature of the destination product, the innovation process is interpreted as an inter-organizational network process. The aim has to be the implementation of continuous innovation processes in the form of networks within a system of a learning destination. Given the fact that, especially for innovative activities, networks play a minor role in tourism at present, the question is raised of how to overcome the obstacles of cooperation and to initiate network activities to foster innovation networks within a destination. A study was conducted that focused on the identification of forms of cooperation that strengthen and reinforce innovative behavior in a destination. The article aims at discussing the enhancement of the attractiveness and the quality of innovative network activities by increasing the value of cooperation for the providers of the destination.     

Industrial tourists' behavioral intention toward slow travel in Taiwan

Taiwan has experienced rapid growth in the last decade, especially in the number of international tourists and domestic leisure travelers it receives. In response to pressures to minimize the negative environmental impacts of such visits (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions) and reshape the notion of sustainable destinations, since 2010 the concept of slow travel has been promoted by governments and the tourism industry. Consequently, calls to expand programs connecting various destinations (e.g. the establishment of industrial tourism) using slower modes of transportation have begun to emerge. In an effort to elucidate the key factors that motivate a traveler's intention to engage in slow travel, this study has constructed a research model that incorporates slow travel's three core elements: the mode of slow travel, tourism experience and environmental consciousness. Particularly, this study has focused on industrial tourists who typically rely on cars to reach destinations that have become new tourism hotspots. The quality of the transportation mode (i.e. a shuttle bus) and the tourism experience were found to be the most powerful determinants of their intentions. This study provides important information to practitioners seeking to market slow travel as a form of sustainable tourism and an alternative to conventional leisure.     

Tourism Brochures: Usefulness and Image

Tourist information has been shown to have an important influence on the choice of vacation destinations. This article studies brochures, their significance as image generators, and their influence on the selection of destinations. The study sought to discover which features in this medium are more relevant in image generation and destination choice using logistic regression analysis. The analysis is based on data collected from tourists in Madrid, Spain. The results establish a model of usefulness of brochures in order to propose recommendations for their design and content. Implications pertain to the development of theoretical understandings about the influence of the information sources on destination image, destination choice, and satisfying tourist needs.     

The potential of international coastal mass tourism destinations to generate creative capital

This paper introduces a new line of research in international coastal mass tourism destinations. Such destinations have started to function in a more complex and potentially beneficial way, acting as transitional areas between the global city and local territory while at the same time developing their own unique characteristics. From this perspective, such destinations can potentially become environments for creativity and innovation, two factors that act as economic driving forces in the so-called “knowledge society”, thereby promoting the sustainable development of the destination from a socioeconomic perspective.

The methodology used herein develops 10 indicators that are calculated and mapped out for two case studies which examine the same geographical context and comparable populations in order to demonstrate the creative capacity of a location whose economy is heavily reliant on tourism. The results show that tourist destinations have greater potential for generating creative capital than non-tourist destinations. Therefore, the consolidation of international mass tourism destinations as creative and innovative spaces which are capable of generating creative capital without losing their competitiveness as tourist destinations merits a reconception of their current role in global–local networks.     

Innovation,sustainable tourism and environments in mountain destination development: a comparative analysis of Austria,Slovenia and Switzerland

This paper contributes to the comparative tourism sustainability debate in the context of mountain tourism destinations. It is based on a published three-dimensional Mountain Destination Innovation Model (MDIM) which claims that tourism development depends on a destination's innovation levels, and is subject to different conditions in a variety of important destination environments (using that term in its broadest sense), including sociocultural, natural, political, legal and technological. The authors comparatively analyzed Austrian, Slovenian and Swiss mountain destinations, which are located in small countries in the Alpine region, and that makes their environments, innovation levels and stages of development relatively easy to compare. The analysis used 88 managers’ replies to a 72 element questionnaire employing both objective and subjective measures about performance with regard to MDIM dimensions. The findings confirm differences in the stages of tourism development, in innovation levels, as well as in the supporting role of their corresponding wider environments. Swiss and Austrian mountain destinations outperformed Slovenian in almost all respects, but not in protection and quality of the natural environment or in inherited sociocultural attractiveness, where significant differences were not determined. The findings could help development and tourism policy authorities to improve the factors that determine sustainable tourism destination development.     

The absorptive capacity of tourism organisations

Absorptive capacity, one of the most prominent constructs in innovation research over recent decades, has advanced theoretically without consideration for the peculiarities of tourism and tourism enterprises. At its core is the notion that an ability to acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge generates competitive advantage. Following a review of the literature and a study of absorptive capacity in the international meetings industry, a new theoretical model is proposed. The paper also provides the means by which policy-makers might, for the first time, assess levels of absorptive capacity in destinations.