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Today’s visitor journey is fragmented. Customer data can help brands unlock seamless, digitally-enabled guest experiences within connected smart destinations.

The concept of “smart destinations” or “smart tourism” has been advancing the guest experience for years, but there’s one piece of the puzzle that the travel and hospitality industry has yet to unlock: the integration of customer data for proactive insights that enable personalization.

Smart tourism defines travel experiences that are digitally enabled and connected to technology, allowing guests to efficiently navigate through foreign cities, book activities online and utilize their mobile devices to tackle their entire itinerary.

But smart tourism is entering a new era of seamless travel, served not only by technology, but also by customer data.  

“The future of smart tourism is travel experiences that are proactive,” says Mukundhan Sundaram, senior director of technology at Publicis Sapient. “You’re removing all points of friction and frustration by putting data in the hands of the customer to effectively guide their journey.”

Learn how the next era of smart tourism can build guest loyalty and how customer data will transform the end-to-end guest experience.

What smart tourism is—and what it isn’t

Smart destinations are often enabled by specific technology upgrades, like mobile apps or online booking platforms, but that’s not all it is. Smart tourism is tourism that transforms the end-to-end guest experience through interconnected physical and digital technology.

“Technology upgrades implemented in a vacuum aren’t truly ‘smart,’ because they’re not grounded in the end-to-end guest experience,” says Sundaram, travel and hospitality industry expert.

Smart tourism is not just luxury travel; it applies to mass-market or affordable tourism experiences as well. Smart tourism creates seamless and luxurious experiences enabled by technology, increasing convenience and accessibility for travelers.

The next era of smart tourism, sometimes referred to as “cognitive tourism,” goes a step further by utilizing first-party customer data to proactively recommend the next step of the guest experience, whether that’s a reminder to get to the airport, an invitation for a vacation activity or a coupon for a recommended restaurant. This means no more written itineraries that need to be carried around and the ability to plan a dream vacation at the click of a button, taking much of the thinking out of the process.

Why guests crave smart destinations now more than ever

Post-COVID-19, travelers expect and rely on technology to power travel experiences across every touchpoint of their journey. Understaffed travel and hospitality brands need to use technology to bridge the gap at formerly in-person touchpoints that are becoming overwhelmed with “revenge tourism.”

But the need for smart tourism isn’t just because of a lack of staff. As travel prices continue to rise and loyalty falls, guests will revisit brands that personalize products and messaging. Almost one-third of travelers are more likely to stay in hotels that offer contactless checkout and/or personalized digital offers, according to 2022 research. Digitizing the travel experience allows brands to further tailor marketing and recommendations to customers based on their data.

Smart tourism also enables more sustainable, regenerative travel experiences that appeal to younger travelers. Roughly two-thirds of Millennials and Gen Z say that sustainability is important to them when they travel, according to the same study.

How can smart tourism transform the end-to-end travel experience?

From booking to hotel check-in and travel activities, brands can allow customers to share first-party data through mobile devices for more personalized and efficient travel experiences.

Here’s how brands can integrate customer data across each step of the travel experience:

Booking the vacation  

• Read blogs, forums and articles to research vacation options.
• Manually enter log-in information on several different websites to receive points and discounts on bookings.
• Fill out lengthy forms with contact information for each booking.
• Go to the brand website to enter a virtual metaverse experience to explore and learn about the destination.
• Scan a QR code from the website browser to give consent for the brand to automatically access all required booking credentials stored within a [decentralized digital identity], from payment information to contact information.
•  Receive personalized recommendations for travel based on metaverse activity and decentralized digital identity.

Checking in at the airport for a flight

• Enter the airport well in advance of the flight to stand in a long line to check bags.
• Check into flight via the website, and have to enter the flight number and remember to check in well in advance of the flight.
• Enter the long TSA line for security, and have to show your passport/ID and boarding pass.
• Airline app sends a notification to check in for your flight, and boarding information is automatically added to the app.
• App recommends what time to get to the airport based on traffic flow and locations and also shows recommendations for food around the gate area, allowing passengers to place orders for products or food in advance with stored payment methods.
• App allows passengers to check bags through a contactless method and use their phone to get through security and boarding with no queues.

Checking into a hotel for vacation

• Arrive at the front desk to wait in a long line.
• Front desk staff member has to check multiple databases to locate guest check-in information as the guest waits with their family and luggage.
• Guest has to juggle their ID and credit card and sign paper check-in forms and receives an envelope with room keys.
• Receive an email on the day of check-in with instructions on how to check in.
• Geo-sensing technology recognizes when you have reached the hotel property and sends a ping with the room information and room key.
• App guides visitors to their rooms and provides recommendations for initial food, activities and added amenities based on demographic information and travel history.

Accomplishing the travel itinerary

• Research and book the best activities near the hotel far in advance of the trip.
• Separately research and book the most convenient transportation and food options to accompany the activity.
• Check into each activity using a different ticket or pass, search deep in email inbox or print out the pass in advance.
• Receive a realistic recommended travel itinerary for the trip based on geo-location, preferences, demographics and other traveler information.
• In case of unanticipated events, the activities and overall itinerary are dynamic, with the ability to transition to new reservation times or plans depending on the situation.
• Receive proactive activity reminders for timing, transportation and necessary preparation.

In order to bring smart and even cognitive tourism experiences to life, travel brands need to connect physical and digital technology, as well as customer data, across the entire travel ecosystem. This includes city governments, payment processors, airports, airlines, hotels and more.

How Publicis Sapient creates smart destinations

Through partnerships with key industry players, Publicis Sapient helps global travel companies utilize artificial intelligence, big data, information of things, augmented and virtual reality and decentralized identity solutions to create connected travel ecosystems.

“Publicis Sapient is a global leader in smart destination solutions across geographies and sectors,” says Sundaram, travel and hospitality industry expert. “Our approach to smart tourism is customer-centric and involves a variety of stakeholders in order to be truly seamless.”

Approaching smart and cognitive tourism as an entire ecosystem rather than a singular touchpoint or brand in isolation allows hotels, airlines and cities to create frictionless and delightful travel experiences. At the same time, it creates experiences that are scalable over time and able to onboard and integrate new partners or hybrid legacy architecture.

Publicis Sapient helps brands like Miral to store every piece of information needed for travel in one place, digitally.

Contact Publicis Sapient to design and deliver a customer-centric smart tourism experience below.

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The 2023 ‘Leading Examples of Smart Tourism Practices in Europe’ is out

The 2023 report ‘Leading Examples of Smart Tourism Practices in Europe’, the go-to guide to smart tourism in the EU, is now available online.

The European Commission has released its collection of best practices in smart tourism, derived from cities that submitted applications to the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023 competition, which reveals the most innovative destinations in Europe.   The goal of the European Capital of Smart Tourism initiative from the European Commission is to encourage cities to become more sustainable, digital, creative and accessible by recognising destinations that have implemented successful strategies to boost smart and sustainable tourism.

For tourists, this means better experiences, for locals, it means they can make the most out of their city, as well as better jobs, and, for the environment, it means a greener future.   The recently published report “Leading examples of Smart Tourism Practices in Europe” showcases the selection of best practices in each category of the European Capital of Smart Tourism initiative (accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation, cultural heritage and creativity).

The report aims to raise awareness about smart tourism tools, initiatives and projects, sharing the best practices in tourism implemented by cities and strengthening peer-to-peer learning and innovative development of tourism. Read the report and get inspired here:  https://smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu/best-practices_en

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What is smart tourism and why is it so BIG?

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Smart tourism is big business in the travel and tourism industry, but why is it so big and what does smart tourism actually do? Read on to learn more…

What is smart tourism?

A definition of smart tourism, types of smart tourism, smart tourism accessibility options, smart tourism sustainability initiatives, smart tourism information sharing, smart tourism research and management tools, smart tourist experiences, smart tourism: conclusion.

Smart tourism is defined according to the technological capabilities of a particular destination, attraction or the tourist themselves. Many destinations are now modernising to include increased use of smart technology in their operations ranging from payment methods to interactive activities.

The ultimate aim of smart tourism is to improve the efficiency of resource management, maximise competitiveness and to enhance sustainability through the use of technological innovations and practices. It is often associated with e-tourism as this will involve the use of technology.

One destination that is leading the way with their smart tourism industry is China, whereby tourists can use their phones to do simple tasks such as pay for taxis, order meals, check queue times and read information on the destination or attraction that they are visiting through a supplied QR code.

‘Smart’ has become somewhat of a buzzword in recent years.

In essence, for something to be ‘smart’ it needs to have complex technological capabilities in order to allow for the exploitation of a range of information that is then used to inform product development and operation. Whilst the average tourist may not be aware of what goes on behind the scenes, there is likely a lot of work that goes on to ensure maximum productivity and competitiveness.

Whilst the concept of ‘smart’ isn’t directly correlated with technology, in today’s world they are inevitably intertwined. In order to be ‘smart’, destinations, attractions and other tourism industry stakeholders will utilise a variety of technological innovations and practices (these are outlined shortly). As such, the use of technology is at the heart of the concept of smart tourism.

There hasn’t been a great deal of research into smart tourism to date. Most studies in the area focus instead on ‘smart cities’ or ‘smart destinations’.

Gretzel et al (2015) advocate that the notion of smart tourism is, in fact, a complex one, and that succinctly defining the term smart tourism is a difficult endeavour.

The The European Capital of Smart Tourism , define a smart destination as:

‘A destination facilitating access to tourism and hospitality products, services, spaces and experiences through ICT-based tools. It is a healthy social and cultural environment, which can be found through a focus on the city´s social and human capital. It also implements innovative, intelligent solutions and fosters the development of entrepreneurial businesses and their interconnectedness.’

To further elaborate, Buhalis and Amaranggana explain that:

‘Smart Tourism Destinations take advantage of: (1) Technology embedded environments; (2) Responsive processes at micro and macro levels (3) End-user devices in multiple touch-points; and (4) Engaged stakeholders that use the platform dynamically as a neural system.’

Taking into account the available literature at the time of writing, I have provided my own definition of smart tourism below.

‘Smart tourism is the act of tourism agents utilising innovative technologies and practices to enhance resource management and sustainability, whilst increasing the businesses overall competitiveness’.

resource management, maximise competitiveness and to enhance sustainability through the use of technological innovations and practices.

At the heart of smart tourism is technology, that much is clear. But the key is how this technology is used to make the tourism agent (destination management organisation , tourist attraction, hotel, restaurant etc) operate more effectively.

Below you will find five of the most common methods of implementing smart tourism.

EU launches European Capital of Smart Tourism 2022 competition

Today, the European Commission launches the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2022 competition. This initiative rewards European cities for outstanding, innovative and sustainable tourism practices.

The tourism sector plays a crucial role in generating growth and jobs in the EU, and still holds untapped potential – especially in the area of smart tourism. Innovation, accessibility, and sustainability are the future of tourism, and the European Commission aims to keep European tourism ahead of the curve. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the tourism ecosystem. With many cities and destinations now looking to recover and grow more resilient, it is important to develop and implement smart tourism practices in line with green and digital transition.

The European Capital of Smart Tourism is an EU initiative, currently financed under the COSME Programme. It is built on the successful experience of the Preparatory Action proposed by the European Parliament and implemented by the European Commission in 2019 and 2020. The competition is open to cities across both the EU, as well as the non-EU countries that take part in the COSME programme . The initiative seeks to strengthen tourism-generated innovative development in European cities and their surroundings, increase their attractiveness as well as strengthen economic growth and job creation. It also aims to establish a framework for the exchange of best practices between cities participating in the competition, create opportunities for cooperation and new partnerships.

In order to compete for the 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism title, cities are asked to demonstrate their innovative tourism practices in four areas: accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation, cultural heritage and creativity. Applications will first be evaluated by a panel of independent experts. In the second step, 7 shortlisted cities will be asked to present their city’s candidature in front of the European Jury. The European Jury will select two winners, the European Capitals of Smart Tourism 2022, which will be announced in November 2021.

Both winning cities will receive expert communication and branding support throughout 2022. This will include the production of a promotional video, a large hashtag sculpture to install in a prominent location, diverse promotional activities and visibility at the EU level.

The competition has a proven track record of success. The 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism is the third edition of the competition. Gothenburg and Málaga were selected as the winners of the 2020 European Capitals of Smart Tourism competition, while Helsinki and Lyon won the inaugural competition and jointly held the titles of 2019 European Capitals of Smart Tourism.

To apply, city representatives are asked to complete an online form . The deadline for applications is 16 June 2021 at 17:00 CET.

For all the latest news on the European Capital of Smart Tourism website , sign up to our newsletter , or follow us on Facebook or Twitter .

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Seville: Embracing the Future as a Smart Destination by European Capital & Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism

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Discover the European Capital & Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism initiative, a groundbreaking EU initiative that recognizes cities at the forefront of sustainable and intelligent tourism. Explore how these capitals lead the way in green innovation, smart mobility, and sustainable travel practices, setting an example for destinations worldwide.

The innovative and vibrant city in Spain

Welcome to Seville, Spain , the vibrant city that is leading the charge towards a sustainable and digitally immersive tourism experience in Europe. As one of the European Capitals of Smart Tourism in 2023 , alongside Pafos, Cyprus, Seville has been recognized by the European Commission for its ground-breaking initiatives that aim to enhance the sustainability and accessibility of its tourist offer. Located in the captivating region of Andalucía, Seville has set the bar high when it comes to redefining the way we explore and enjoy our travels. With a perfect blend of rich history, architectural highlights, and a progressive mindset, this city promises an unforgettable experience for every visitor.

Seville’s commitment to sustainability is evident in its innovative initiatives. From eco-friendly transportation options to renewable energy practices, the city is at the forefront of creating a greener environment. By embracing sustainable tourism practices and the city’s motto of #SharingIsSmart, Seville is not only preserving its natural beauty but also inspiring other destinations to follow.

But sustainability is just the tip of the iceberg. Seville is also a trailblazer in embracing digital innovation to enhance the tourist experience. The city has harnessed cutting-edge technology to provide visitors with a seamless and immersive journey. From augmented reality tours that bring historical landmarks to life to interactive mobile applications that guide you through the city’s hidden gems, Seville has transformed the way we explore and engage with our surroundings.

Seville offers a plethora of experiences that cater to all interests and preferences. Take a stroll through the enchanting streets of the Santa Cruz neighbourhood, marvel at the Mudejar-style architecture, indulge in the lively atmosphere of the Triana district, or enjoy the most bohemian area in the Northern part of the city. Read on to learn more about the Andalucian city’s initiatives and make the most of your visit.

SEVILLE ACCESSIBLE APP

Love to plan for and predict the future? The Seville Accessible app helps those with limited mobility to plan their route and avoid any obstacles they may encounter while exploring the sights. Specifically, the app has analysed and integrated 22,000 elements in 781 kilometres of routes into its map.

Users can plot the start and end point of their trip and filter based on their mobility needs and preferred mode of transport. The app will then generate an itinerary to facilitate your mobility around the city – taking away any unnecessary stress so that you can enjoy this vibrant destination! Additionally, the app is a live tool, so users can report incidents detected on the journey and update the information to improve the user experience.

GO AGAINST THE FLOW: TOURISM INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM

Need a break from the crowds? As part of its Tourism Intelligence System (SIT) , Seville has a project to analyse and divert  tourist flows from the Santa Cruz neighbourhood,  one of the most visited areas in the city. One of Seville’s first challenges when designing a smart tourism model included decongesting the historic city centre, where the main heritage and cultural attractions are concentrated.

The impact of high volumes of tourists in the neighbourhood has negative effects on the coexistence with residents, so a data-driven project was created to improve the quality of life of the neighbours and experience of the visitors. Visitors can discover other historical attractions and hidden gems while ensuring that their visit limits disturbance. In Seville’s summer heat, hours of crowds are the last thing you’d want!

Visit Seville, where innovation, sustainability, and unforgettable experiences await.

Best Practices from the 2023 European Capital of Smart Tourism Competition

Learn from the smartest destinations – To find out more about other smart measures that cities put forward in their applications to become the European Capitals of Smart Tourism, visit the initiative’s website  or download the Best Practices 2023 Report  here.

The festive Netherlands

Lights, markets and Dutch traditions.

Unique Swiss museums

Visit unusual collections in the Alps.

The thermal wonders of Romania

A tradition of over 2000 years.

Unusual, iconic places in Poland

Attractions you’ve probably never heard of!

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Smart tourism: foundations and developments

• Position Paper
• Open access
• Published: 01 August 2015
• Volume 25 , pages 179–188, ( 2015 )

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You have full access to this open access article

• Ulrike Gretzel 1 ,
• Marianna Sigala 2 ,
• Zheng Xiang 3 &
• Chulmo Koo 4  

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Smart tourism is a new buzzword applied to describe the increasing reliance of tourism destinations, their industries and their tourists on emerging forms of ICT that allow for massive amounts of data to be transformed into value propositions. However, it remains ill-defined as a concept, which hinders its theoretical development. The paper defines smart tourism, sheds light on current smart tourism trends, and then lays out its technological and business foundations. This is followed by a brief discussion on the prospects and drawbacks of smart tourism. The paper further draws attention to the great need for research to inform smart tourism development and management.

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“Smart” has become a new buzzword to describe technological, economic and social developments fuelled by technologies that rely on sensors, big data, open data, new ways of connectivity and exchange of information (e.g., Internet of Things, RFID, and NFC) as well as abilities to infer and reason. Höjer and Wangel ( 2015 ) argue that it is not so much the individual technological advances but rather the interconnection, synchronization and concerted use of different technologies that constitutes smartness. Harrison et al. ( 2010 ) conceptualize smart as exploiting operational, near-real-time real-world data, integrating and sharing data, and using complex analytics, modelling, optimization and visualization to make better operational decisions. The term has been added to cities (smart city) to describe efforts aimed at using technologies innovatively to achieve resource optimization, effective and fair governance, sustainability and quality of life. In connection with physical infrastructure (e.g., smart home, smart factory), the focus is on blurring the lines between the physical and the digital and on fostering technology integration. Added to technologies (smart phone, smart card, smart TV, etc.), it describes multi-functionality and high levels of connectivity. In the context of markets/economies (smart economy), it refers to technologies supporting new forms of collaboration and value creation that lead to innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness.

In the context of tourism, smart is used to describe a complex amalgam of all of the above. There is incredible institutional support and in some instances even pressure to realize smart tourism. Especially in Asia, there have been concerted efforts to drive the smart tourism agenda forward. Governments in China and South Korea are heavily funding initiatives mostly focused on building the technological infrastructure that supports smart tourism (Hwang et al. 2015 ). In Europe, many of the smart tourism initiatives were born out of smart city projects and, as a consequence, smart tourism destinations are increasingly making an appearance in the European tourism landscape. The focus in Europe, however, is more on innovation and competitiveness and developing smart end-user applications that support enriched tourism experiences using already existing data combined and processed in new ways (Lamsfus et al. 2015 ; Boes et al. 2015a , b ). In Australia, the emphasis is on smart governance and specifically open data. What governments universally recognize is the transformative power of smart technologies not only in terms of the economic potential but also the social and experiential dimensions.

Yet in practice “smart” has become a very fuzzy concept often used to drive specific political agendas and to sell technological solutions. This is especially true in the case of “smart tourism”, where it is frequently used in the context of open data initiatives or for rather trivial projects such as promoting free wi-fi or the development of mobile applications. While these technologies and new approaches to data collection, management and sharing are important stepping stones in implementing smart tourism, they do not provide the full picture of what smart tourism encompasses. There is also a lack of definitional clarity: suddenly everything is smart. Further, as far as smart tourism is concerned, theory seems to lag behind the many government and industry-led projects. Academic work is largely focused on describing the phenomenon in the form of case studies (e.g., Boes et al. 2015a , b ; Bakıcı et al. 2013 ; Wang et al. 2013 ) or on discussing isolated technological developments (e.g., Huang and Chen 2015 ; Boes et al. 2015a , b ) rather than on laying the theoretical foundations for its advancement and/or critique. It is therefore the aim of this paper to provide insights regarding our current understanding of what smart tourism is, and what it is not. In addition, it outlines research needs to be met in order to inform the future development of smart tourism.

Defining smart tourism

According to the UNWTO ( 2015 ), tourism is “a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes”. Given the information-intensity of tourism and the resulting high dependence on information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Law et al. 2014 ; Koo et al. 2015 ; Werthner and Klein 1999 ; Benckendorff et al. 2014 ), it is not surprising to see the concept of “smart” being applied to phenomena that encompass tourism. In many ways, smart tourism can be seen as a logical progression from traditional tourism and more recently e-tourism in that the groundwork for the innovations and the technological orientation of the industry and the consumers were laid early with the extensive adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in tourism, for instance in the form of global distribution and central reservation systems, the integration of Web-based technologies that led to the emergence of e-Tourism (Buhalis 2003 ; Werthner and Ricci 2004 ). This developmental trajectory continued with the widespread adoption of social media (Sigala et al. 2012 ), and a move towards realizing mobile tourism in recognition of the high mobility of tourism information and of tourism consumers (Buhalis and Law 2008 ; Wang et al. 2012 ). However, smart tourism is certainly a distinct step in the evolution of ICT in tourism in that the physical and governance dimensions of tourism are entering the digital playing field, new levels of intelligence are achieved in tourism systems (Gretzel 2011 ), the fabric of the industry is yet again changed and the ways in which tourism experiences are created, exchanged, consumed and shared are fundamentally different.

Smart tourism involves multiple components and layers of smart that are supported by ICTs (Fig.  1 ). On one hand, it refers to Smart Destinations , which are special cases of smart cities: they apply smart city principles to urban or rural areas and not only consider residents but also tourists in their efforts to support mobility, resource availability and allocation, sustainability and quality of life/visits. Lopez de Avila ( 2015 , n.p.) defines the smart tourism destination as:

Components and layers of smart tourism

an innovative tourist destination, built on an infrastructure of state-of-the-art technology guaranteeing the sustainable development of tourist areas, accessible to everyone, which facilitates the visitor’s interaction with and integration into his or her surroundings, increases the quality of the experience at the destination, and improves residents’ quality of life.

The key aspect of smart destinations is the integration of ICTs into physical infrastructure. Barcelona, for instance offers travellers interactive bus shelters that not only provide touristic information and bus arrival times but also USB ports for charging mobile devices. In addition, it makes bicycles available throughout the city and travellers can check their locations via a smartphone app, thereby fostering environmentally friendly transportation around the city ( http://smartcity.bcn.cat/en/bicing.html ). The city of Brisbane has recently mounted over 100 beacons onto points of interest to communicate information to tourists via a mobile app if they are within a certain radius of the location ( http://goo.gl/QidSOC ). Amsterdam uses beacons to let tourist signs translate themselves into different languages and the Amsterdam ArenA is testing sensors for better crowd management ( http://amsterdamsmartcity.com/ ). Seoul invests heavily in providing free wi-fi as well as smart phones to tourists ( http://www.visitseoul.net ), Jeju Island in South Korea has just declared itself as a smart tourism hub that will use innovative technology for content delivery to tourists ( https://youtu.be/d3C7vS-IbAY ) and Sunmoon Lake in Taiwan provides location-based information on its tourist bus shuttles. Importantly, all these efforts are pieces of larger, coordinated efforts and strategic investments to foster innovation, quality of life and sustainability through enriching physical infrastructure with data within the context of specific destinations.

In addition to including a destination component, smart tourism is a social phenomenon arising from the convergence of ICTs with the tourism experience (Hunter et al. 2015 ). The smart experience component specifically focuses on technology-mediated tourism experiences and their enhancement through personalization, context-awareness and real-time monitoring (Buhalis and Amaranggana 2015 ). Neuhofer et al. ( 2015 ) identify information aggregation, ubiquitous connectedness and real-time synchronization as the major drivers of such smart tourism experiences. The smart tourism experience is efficient and rich in meaning. Tourists are active participants in its creation. They not only consume but also create, annotate or otherwise enhance data that constitutes the basis of the experience (e.g., by uploading photos to Instagram with destination-related hashtags or helping map toilets at destinations - http://www.nyrestroom.com/ ). The smart tourists and their digital selves (or data bodies) use smartphones to tap into information infrastructures provided at the destination or virtually in order to add value to their experiences.

The third component, Smart Business , refers to the complex business ecosystem that creates and supports the exchange of touristic resources and the co-creation of the tourism experience. Buhalis and Amaranggana ( 2014 ) describe the business component of smart tourism as being characterized by dynamically interconnected stakeholders, the digitalization of core business processes, and organizational agility. A distinct aspect of this smart business component is that it includes public-private collaboration to an extent that is unusual and results from governments becoming more open and technology-focused as providers of infrastructure and data. In addition, smart tourism recognizes that consumers can also create and offer value as well as monitor and therefore take on business or governance roles.

Importantly, smart tourism spans three layers across these three components: a smart information layer that aims at collecting data; a smart exchange layer that supports interconnectivity; and, a smart processing layer that is responsible for the analysis, visualization, integration and intelligent use of data (Tu and Liu 2014 ).

Based on these considerations, smart tourism is defined as tourism supported by integrated efforts at a destination to collect and aggregate/harness data derived from physical infrastructure, social connections, government/organizational sources and human bodies/minds in combination with the use of advanced technologies to transform that data into on-site experiences and business value-propositions with a clear focus on efficiency, sustainability and experience enrichment . Its main differences from e-tourism following the above descriptions and definition are further elaborated in Table  1 .

Technological foundations of smart tourism

ICT is, undoubtedly, key to the conceptualization as well as development of smart tourism. While the notion of smart tourism became popular only recently among academics and practitioners, ICT with the ability to support tourism in an intelligent way has been discussed, developed, and envisioned for quite a long time (Gretzel 2011 ). Smart ICT is expected to be able to comprehend, to profit from experience, to acquire and retain knowledge, and to respond quickly and successfully to a new situation (Rudas and Fodor 2008 ). Within a smart tourism setting, this kind of technology is the key component of information systems that promise to supply tourism consumers and service providers with more relevant information, better decision support, greater mobility, and, ultimately, more enjoyable tourism experiences (Gretzel 2011 ; Werthner 2003 ; Sigala and Chalkiti 2014 ). These smart systems include a wide range of technologies in direct support of tourism such as decision support systems and the more recent recommender systems, context-aware systems, autonomous agents searching and mining Web sources, ambient intelligence, as well as systems that create augmented realities (Fesenmaier et al. 2006 ; Lamsfus et al. 2014 ; Venturini and Ricci 2006 ).

With the focus on the traveler as the user of these systems, these systems aim to support travelers by: 1) anticipating user needs based upon a variety of factors, and making recommendations with respect to the choice of context-specific consumption activities such as points of interest, dining and recreation; 2) enhancing travelers’ on-site experiences by offering rich information, location-based and customized, interactive services; and 3) enabling travelers to share their travel experiences so that they help other travelers in their decision making process, revive and reinforce their travel experiences as well as construct their self-image and status on social networks. From the industry perspective, the emphasis is on the potential contributions of these smart systems in terms of process automation, efficiency gains, new product development, demand forecasting, crisis management, and value co-creation (Werthner 2003 ; Wöber 2003 ; Sigala 2012a and b ; Yoo et al. 2015 ). Although these systems can be characterized as heterogeneous, distributed, and sometimes even fragmented, the overarching goal of developing these systems should be open, scalable, and cooperative, enabling full autonomy of the respective participants of the industry as well as supporting the entire tourist experience and all business phases (Staab and Werthner 2002 ).

In smart tourism, technology is seen as an infrastructure, rather than as individual information systems, and encompasses a variety of smart computing technologies that integrate hardware, software, and network technologies to provide real-time awareness of the real world and advanced analytics to help people make more intelligent decisions about alternatives, as well as actions that will optimize business processes and business performances (Washburn et al. 2010 ). Today, the widespread use of mobile devices, especially of the smartphone and its numerous apps, signifies an era of unprecedented connectivity and ubiquitous access to the Internet (Wang and Xiang 2012 ). Many technological developments that support mobile access, such as Cloud Computing and End-User Internet Service Systems are thus instrumental to facilitating smart tourism goals.

As indicated in Table  1 , bridging the physical world with the digital realm is a central concern for smart tourism development. The increasing use of iBeacon technology in tourism ensures a first step in this direction in that it allows smart phones to react to signals from the physical world in order to support ambient context identification (see www.ibeaconinsider.com for an elaboration). However, ultimately, realizing the Internet of Things (IoT) will be crucial for creating the desired pervasive, “smart” technological environment that encompasses connected physical and digital infrastructures. Remaining largely a vision at this stage, the Internet of Things has the potential to rapidly become a new reality as a technological infrastructure (Atzori et al. 2010 ). It has been identified as an important foundation for the services to be provided by smart tourism cities (Guo et al. 2014 ; Perera et al. 2014 ). The basic idea of the IoT is the pervasive presence around us of a variety of objects such as Radio-Frequency-Identification (RFID) tags, sensors, actuators, mobile devices, etc., which are able to interact with each other and cooperate with their neighboring objects to achieve common goals (Want et al. 2015 ). These objects are connected to the Internet which consequently bridges the gap between the real world and the digital realm. Hence, the IoT enables the development of various platforms able to transmit a wide range and various types of data using participatory sensing systems (Gutiérrez, et al. 2013 ). Importantly, the emergence of the IoT will provide a shift in service provision, moving from the current vision of always-on services, typical in the Web era, to always-responsive situated services, built and composed at run-time to respond to a specific need and able to account for the user’s context. Thus, it is predicted that the Internet will soon realize the vision long dreamed of - a seamless fabric of classic networks and networked objects which can be identified, located, monitored, and managed anytime and anyplace. Content and services will all be around us, persistently available, creating conditions for new applications and enabling new ways of working, interacting, entertainment, and living (Miorandi et al. 2012 ).

The innovations driven by the IoT have important implications for tourism development because travel involves movement through time and space and this “smart” environment will grow to be aware of, and be able to address, the traveler’s contextual needs in a pervasive yet non-intrusive way. For example, sensors embedded in tourist attractions will enable tourism service providers to track tourists’ locations and their consumption behavior so that location-based services could be offered. Wearable technologies such as smart watches play an important role in this as well as they not only collect data through their sensors and cameras but also communicate with the network and potentially the IoT and support high levels of connectivity without interfering with the experience. At the management level, this type of system can be employed to control visitor numbers within specific tourism sites by using a variety of sensors with each site’s carrying capacity as a benchmark. The social dimensions also have to be recognized as smart objects embedded in the environment may automatically trigger the transmission of messages to family and friends to enable them to know what we are doing or what we have done in the past, such as moving from one site to another or meeting some common friends. Within a social setting we may think of the IoT as a platform that generates information about ‘events’ of people and places which is gathered and uploaded to provide information about travelers within their social networking sites. As such, the technological factor of smart tourism is multidimensional consisting of the ubiquitous infrastructure, more mobile and context-aware information systems, and the increasingly complex and dynamic connectivity that supports real-time interactions not only with one’s physical environment but also the community and society at large, directly or indirectly related to the traveler.

Smart tourism also clearly rests on the ability to not only collect enormous amounts of data but to intelligently store, process, combine, analyze and use big data to inform business innovation, operations and services. Numerous technologies support big data creation and, in the context of smart tourism, they are often the ones put into the limelight. However, a lot of innovation is also happening in the other big data areas with the ultimate goal of deriving intelligence from massive amounts of data, which is what is at the core of smart tourism initiatives.

Business foundations of smart tourism

ICT tools and applications have enabled tourism firms to become ‘smarter’ in how to increase their performance and competitiveness by (hyper)-automating, informating and transforming their business functions and processes such as marketing, procurement/supply chain management, human resource management, and customer service and management (Sigala and Marinidis 2012 ). However, the business impact of ICT is not limited to solely functional effects. ICT have also an instrumental role in driving institutional and structural market changes in the tourism industry. To survive, traditional tourism firms have to redefine their business model and the way they propose to create customer value. Indeed, the numerous definitions of a business model converge to reflect “the design or architecture of the value creation, delivery and capture mechanisms” (Teece 2010 : 191). By introducing new business models, firms develop new markets (Callon and Muniesa 2005 ; MacKenzie and Millo 2003 ; Pollock and Williams 2009 ; Inversini and Masiero 2014 ; Storbacka and Nenonen 2011 ). Sigala ( 2015 ) describes smart tourism as changing all or some of the following five market elements: exchange object, market actors, market structure, market institutions, and market practices. Morabito ( 2015 ) suggests that operating in a big data driven, smart environment affects all nine elements of business models in fundamental ways: 1) customer segments; 2) value propositions; 3) channels; 4) customer relationships; 5) revenue streams; 6) key resources; 7) key activities; 8) key partnerships; and, 9) cost structure. To define their business model, firms should therefore determine the following design elements: customer value creation, the actor’s earnings logic, value network of the actor, resources and capabilities that the actor has, and strategic decisions that the actor makes (Nenonen and Storbacka 2010 ). However, what the actual smart tourism business models are has yet to be determined. Most smart tourism initiatives are currently in development and heavily subsidized by government. Indeed, while new governance models for public services in smart cities have been presented in the literature (Anttiroiko et al. 2014 ), theoretical development of business models suitable for smart tourism is lacking. Morabito ( 2015 ) goes as far as suggesting that smart tourism might mean profoundly questioning the way we think about business models and their importance for strategy. Literature in the fields of open innovation, service-dominant-logic (SDL) and service science provides the theoretical underpinnings for management approaches that firms can adopt to identify, address and exploit the opportunities, challenges and affordances of smart tourism and to re-define their business models and sustain competitiveness (Schmidt_Rauch and Schwabe 2014 ).

Open innovation is based on the assumption that an organisation cannot just rely on its own resources, but has to engage with partners in order to innovate (Dahlander and Gann 2010 ; West and Gallagher 2006 ). To that end, tourism firms have to collaborate with stakeholders beyond their organizational borders in order to source and exchange resources for value co-creation.

According to service science and SDL, value co-creation takes place inside wider service ecosystems (Anttiroiko et al. 2014 ). However, although a functioning service ecosystem is seen as a major prerequisite for enabling the co-creation of customer experiences (Vargo and Lusch 2014 ), little is still known about how firms can actually construct and continuously manage such service ecosystems. Vargo et al. ( 2008 ) and Spohrer et al. ( 2007 ) described a service ecosystem as a spontaneously sensing and responding spatial and temporal structure of largely loosely-coupled value-proposing social and economic actors interacting through institutions and technology, to: (1) co-produce service offerings, (2) exchange service offerings and resources (3) co-create value. This corresponds to Buhalis and Amaranggana’s ( 2014 ) notion of dynamically interconnected smart tourism stakeholders and Van Heck and Vervest’s ( 2007 ) definition of smart business networks that allow for “plug and play” scenarios to seize emerging value creation opportunities. Social media and internet tools are instrumental in enabling firms to develop such dynamic connections, as technologies enable them to network with others and to seamlessly exchange resources. Schmidt-Rauch and Schwabe ( 2014 ) discuss the importance of mobile technology for co-creation in the smart tourism ecosystem, proposing that it opens up communication channels and allows for a shared representation of the solution space in situ. Resources that actors may possess and exchange in a smart tourism ecosystem can relate to the following types: tangible or intangible resources (e.g., tools, software, and information); human resources (e.g., skills, knowledge, and virtual communities); and relational ones (e.g., relations to partners and suppliers, and network membership). In a smart service ecosystem, any stakeholder is an actor aiming to interact and exchange resources with other actors for value co-creation. In this vein, labels and roles assigned to players like travelers, firms and intermediaries are not valid anymore (Vargo and Lusch 2008 ). In a smart tourism ecosystem, any type of stakeholder can become a producer, consumer, intermediary etc. depending on resources and connections rather than pre-defined roles (Gretzel et al. 2015 ). This means producer-client relationships have to be redefined and new approaches to cooperation in production, delivery and consumption of services have to be developed (Anttiroiko et al. 2014 ).

Yoo et al. ( 2015 ) described the ways and strategies adopted by TripAdvisor for constructing its service ecosystem by identifying its various stakeholders, the types of resources that are being exchanged and the type of value that is co-created from these interactions. The paper highlights the need of tourism firms to adopt open information systems and business models, as they enable them to manage their smart tourism ecosystems in a dynamic way and support ‘plugging and playing’ stakeholders ad hoc depending on what resources need to be exchanged. This is the case because open business ecosystems enable actors to co-create ‘value-in-context’ by accessing, mixing and matching, exchanging, adapting and integrating resources in many different and flexible ways depending on the consumption situation.

In smart tourism, business builds on an extensive “info-structure” and the big data that sustains it is to a large extent either actively (e.g., uploaded onto social media) or implicitly (through sensors on mobile or wearable devices) provided by consumers. Indeed the very concept of smart tourism is very much based on the assumption that data is willingly shared by these consumers. Smart tourism business relies on an abundance of free information and on access to open technological platforms to be transformed into value propositions. At the same time, smart tourism infostructure can lead to new information asymmetries that can be commercially exploited (Tachizawa et al. 2015 ). Economic power in smart tourism is without doubt derived from control over information sources and flows. It is also important to recognize that value not only emerges from ownership but increasingly from access to infrastructure or data. Therefore, beyond traditional notions of value creation, businesses seeking to operate within smart tourism environments have to consider “value-in-use” (Bick et al. 2012 ), referring to value creation through use of data/technology/infrastructure rather than ownership and beyond individual exchanges.

Anttiroiko et al. ( 2014 ) argue that smart service ecosystems require new alliances to share risk, circulate knowledge, and extend or reformulate value chains/neworks and that they constitute an environment in which there is great competitive pressure to be cost-effective and innovative in (re)configuring services. Tachizawa et al. ( 2015 ) present possible implications of smart cities on business network structures and governance mechanisms, suggesting that the resulting smart ecosystems are complex with high transaction costs that probably favor informal governance. Similarly, Anttiroiko et al ( 2014 ) describe the necessary creative mutuality and cooperation in these systems as more difficult to manage than traditional competitive rivalry. On the other hand, greater complexity in network structures might open up structural holes that can be exploited by businesses. These assumptions need to be further explored/validated to build solid foundations for striving smart tourism businesses.

Discussion and implications for research

Research in the area of smart tourism remains very limited and mostly provides case studies of existing initiatives. It also largely focuses on the consumer-perspective and has adopted a very optimistic and uncritical stance. The following discussion points out several key research areas that have to be addressed in order to ensure the successful realization of smart tourism goals.

Data lies at the core of all smart tourism activities. Privacy is therefore an obvious concern in the context of smart tourism. Especially location-based services, while extremely useful for tourists, also make consumers vulnerable. Privacy in tourism is a special case as relationships with providers and therefore their apps/services are typically short-lived, which limits trust-building. Also, the need for information is so great, that tourists might be easily persuaded to forego privacy (Anuar and Gretzel 2011 ). The digital footprint of a smart tourist is huge and opportunities for mining the digital traces left while on vacation or traveling for business are manifold. Smart tourism is becoming a big contributor to and benefactor of the “sensor society” (Andrejevic and Burdon 2015 ) that is characterized by ubiquitous, always-on data capture. With it come concerns of being able to identify individuals out of large collections of supposedly anonymous data, automatic capture of data for no concrete purpose, and surveillance under the disguise of service provision. Smart tourism raises big issues with respect to information governance (Tallon 2013 ) and correctly deriving the value of information. The current assumption is that all information is extremely valuable to businesses and will be freely provided by the smart tourists who seek enriched tourism experiences. Data is mindlessly captured and storage/retrieval/information management costs are not calculated. While smart city concept implementations have forced governments to carefully think about what data they have and in what way it could be made useful, such efforts are not necessarily taking place in businesses. Therefore, a major area of research necessary in the context of smart tourism is information governance and privacy, with particular questions relating to determining the value of information and ensuring safety and security in rather open and ubiquitous info-structures.

Another issue increasingly discussed in the context of smart tourism is the extreme technology-dependence. This has clear implications in terms of a widening digital divide (Minghetti and Buhalis 2010 ) for those without smartphones and destinations that cannot afford to build smart tourism infostructures. But the problem is not only access or affordability: recent developments in the smartwatch market suggest that consumers are only reluctantly adopting this wearable technology (Forbes 2015 ). Also, when inspected, this ICT dependence reveals other issues, namely information overload, lack of serendipity that is often essential to meaningful tourism experiences, and an increasing desire to at least escape technology when on vacation (Gretzel 2010 ). While research is already being conducted on how technology enhances tourism experiences, there is a clear lack of research focusing on potential drawbacks of too much mediation. What is clearly needed is a more critical perspective on smart tourism experiences, more information on psychological and health risks of constant bombardment with data by context-aware systems and insights regarding consumer attitudes towards the various aspects of smart tourism, including their willingness to co-create and their enjoyment of such processes and the actual dimensions of “value-in-use” derived by consumers.

Needing to unlock the power of big data for translation into smart tourism services also raises the issue of human and artificial intelligence necessary to do so. Tourism is not currently a sector that attracts a lot of knowledge workers. It also struggles notoriously with innovation deficiencies despite its strong reliance on ICT (Hjalager 2002 ). Human resources issues with respect to smart tourism are not typically discussed. Further, smart tourism has a very utopian view of happy collaboration among various actors and a self-regulating ecosystem in which value will be sustainably produced. In addition, as mentioned above, what business models can and should be adopted in this context remains a mystery. Therefore, more research from an organizational and management perspective is needed, as well has conceptual and empirical investigations into the economics of smart tourism.

Despite these concerns, smart tourism is an incredibly promising scenario that results in more convenient, safe, exciting and sustainable living spaces for both residents and tourists, more personalized and therefore more relevant tourism experiences, and even greater opportunities for new services, business models and markets to emerge as a result of more flexible structures and different perspectives on value creation. Werthner et al. ( 2015 ) have recently published a research manifesto that outlines the many layers on which tourism and ICT-related research needs to make significant contributions. From looking at human-computer interaction issues to social dynamics, market structures and industry value chains to informing policy and governance, smart tourism-related research has to fill many gaps to be able to critically inform smart tourism initiatives. Research in connection with design science is further needed to explore the new value creation opportunities supplied by smart tourism and translate them into working ICTs. Many of the pillars of the emerging smart tourism economy like Uber or AirBnB are based on simple technological platforms that take advantage of existing technologies to exploit a distinct market niche. These technology-market combinations need to be systematically explored and mapped to support innovation activities. It also becomes very clear that advances in semantic technologies and artificial intelligence are needed to really exploit the various data layers. Since sustainability is a major concern, the true costs of smart tourism (e.g., energy consumption, e-waste, etc.) have to be estimated. Finally, whether smart tourists are actually having better experiences has yet to be empirically investigated. Table  2 summarizes the main research areas identified.

This paper attempted to provide definitional clarity and an overview of the basic assumptions underlying the smart tourism concept. It identified smart destinations, smart business ecosystems and smart experiences as the three basic components supported by layers of data creation, processing and exchange. In doing so it established smart tourism as distinct from general e-tourism not only in the core technologies of which it takes advantage but also in the approaches to creating enhanced at-destination experiences. The paper highlighted the strong practical and theoretical grounding in smart city-related conceptualizations and the resulting focus on public service models at the expense of comprehensive and systematic exploration of its business opportunities and implications. It also revealed a lack of critical literature that scrutinizes smart tourism assumptions and questioned its feasibility and positive experiential, economic and societal impacts. The paper proposed a research agenda, which is far from being comprehensive; rather, it sought to emphasize the currently most overlooked gaps in understanding the potential of smart tourism and its possible drawbacks.

Smart tourism development is already under way. In many ways it naturally evolves from the extensive uptake of technology in tourism. However, the systematic and widespread coordination and sharing as well as exploitation of touristic data for value creation is still in its infancy. Smart tourism initiatives around the world are seeking to build viable smart tourism ecosystems (Gretzel et al. 2015 ) but the complexity of the sector makes it extremely difficult to go beyond very specific platform-, technology- or service-specific innovations. Yet, the technology push in the direction of smart tourism is immense and it is expected that tourism will provide the backdrop for pioneering many of these smart technologies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2013S1A3A2043345).

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Ulrike Gretzel

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Marianna Sigala

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Gretzel, U., Sigala, M., Xiang, Z. et al. Smart tourism: foundations and developments. Electron Markets 25 , 179–188 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-015-0196-8

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Digital advances are transforming how the world connects and impacts how data is shared between ecosystems, affecting behavioural patterns and encouraging innovation and sustainable, responsible growth strategies. Tourism is one of the sectors to digitize business processes on a global scale, by providing a number of tourist services online. Digitization is expected to continue enhancing the travel experience on its trajectory toward the global goals.

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Smart tourism: where digitalization meets sustainability

Yes, traveling is a wonderful thing. But so is protecting the environment! Our  our Master’s student writes about his world trip and what sustainable choices are possible. His goal on his trip was clear: How can we combine the two? How can we travel more sustainably? Can we use smart technologies for our adventures around the world? A trip around the world was the experience of a lifetime. His 2019 journey around the globe started in beautiful Bern and took him on an adventure across six continents. For him, traveling and interacting with other cultures has always been a great passion and at the same time an eye-opener in terms of sustainability.

Today, more people than ever could afford to travel. But how can you travel smart? How can you help preserve the environment and sights and not inconvenience locals? Before the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was booming like never before. According to the United Nations UNCTAD early indicators show that traveling and tourism is one of the most affected sectors by the pandemic. Their studies show that even with the introduction of vaccination, it will take a longer time for travel to return to pre-pandemic levels. So, it’s time to take advantage of this social pause in travel and look back at where smart technologies within travel have led to more sustainability. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) calculated that 1.4 billion people traveled internationally in 2018, half of them in Europe.

But tourism doesn’t just bring good profits to a region or city. Places like Dubrovnik, Amsterdam, or Venice  struggle to cope with the massive influx of tourists . Some say apps like Airbnb or Booking.com are displacing local residents and turning entire cities into giant hotels. In addition, social media providers like Instagram are adding to our desire to visit remote and culturally rich sites and take home the best photos of them.

Fig. 1: Overtourism in Venice, Italy.

When there are more tourists than a particular place or landscape can handle, we talk about overtourism , which has negatively impacted the sustainability and environmental protection of travel again in recent years.

Are smart technologies the solution?

Can cutting-edge technology help make travel friendlier for visitors and locals? Lisa Kinne, smart travel expert from the German digital association Bitkom , says: Yes!

When it comes to tourism, digitalization has great potential to improve sustainability according the Bitkom studies . If it’s first about making information easily accessible, such as real-time data on tourist numbers, tourist flows in popular localities can be regulated more sustainably. Which would mean less overtourism. Another option is to link smart travel options together. This allows us to get from A to B more efficiently. With more and simpler travel information, tourists can consciously choose more sustainable travel solutions.

This is what makes tourism smarter these days. To me, this means taking advantage of the opportunities that digitalization offers us to minimize risks as much as possible and support sustainability.

Practical examples and hacks of smart traveling

For example, how to get to a destination. Services like www.ecopassenger.org help travelers compare different itineraries in terms of CO2 emissions. We also often used the train for our travels, and we were helped by the famous “man from seat 61” who runs an online blog about sustainable train travel on www.seat61.com .

Fig. 2: Ecopassenger.org supports the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Websites like www.myclimate.org calculate the environmental carbon footprint of our trip and convert it into the required CO2 offset of a flight. For instance, when we flew from São Paulo to Johannesburg, we were able to donate to a climate protection project in developing and emerging countries by compensating about 70 additional swiss francs.

The latter mentioned case of our trip shows that sustainability is not only an issue about emissions, but also about social sustainability – such as reforestation or education – which should be considered while traveling. For social sustainability, to give an instance, we traveled to Arequipa in Peru, to help within a social education project. The digital platform www.socialbnb.org , a useful example from the sharing economy, made this possible. Similarly exciting here is the provider www.fairbnb.coop , which uses commission money to support local projects.

The power of data, AI, and machine learning for more sustainable travels

It would be great if we could expand existing data networks and share more data regarding more sustainable travel with society. As travelers, we have the technologies at our fingertips to collect data and make it available to the travel community. As an illustration, let’s say we didn’t feel a travel deal was very sustainable. So, we can suggest a different offer to the community online and end up doing good by collecting data on more sustainable offers on an ongoing basis.

Through smart tourism, we can contribute further to science by providing data. Vacation snapshots taken can become part of a smart tourism data pool. Travelers can upload their photos online through a project of the Citizen Science Center at the University of Zurich and collect valuable data for research on coasts and animals. You wonder how it works?

Are you traveling to a coast or a beach and taking some snapshots of it? Travelers can nowadays upload their coastal photos on Coastwards or via coastwards app without login and provide the exact location of it. These images go into a global database and help scientists to better understand the risks of rising sea levels through artificial intelligence and machine learning models.

During our South Africa safaris, we got to observe one of the rarest and most endangered species in the wild: the wild dog. While there, we learned about the digital solution Wild Me. WildMe develops open software and artificial intelligence to support wildlife conservation. They use machine learning in the fight against the extinction of endangered species . This smart technology documents wildlife migration routes and trails.

Fig. 3: How Wild Me works through Microsoft Azure.

An animal with unique patterns like the South African wild dog is photographed by a traveler. The images are then posted to the cloud by users or through social media scans. Computer vision models use pattern recognition to identify the species and individual animals. Users can then track their favorite animals in a wildbook (gamification possible through a collaboration with Microsoft). The data collected helps scientists monitor endangered populations, animal interactions, and individual movements for the benefit of wildlife conservation.

Fig. 4: Wild Me AI technology combined with machine learning to protect South African wildlife.

Scientists aren’t the only ones who can benefit from this Big Data generation. Travelers like us do too. Tourists in the city of Hangzhou (China), for instance, are tracked via geo-tracking so that the city can inform visitors how crowded a place or attraction is, and this is possible about 2 hours in advance using predictive analysis.

Our trip around the world showed us impressively through these examples and digital hacks that digitalization is revolutionizing tourism and travel and that automated innovations can contribute to more sustainability.

Smart traveling – in a European role model

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) claims that smart cities are the best prepared  for reconciling sustainability and travel . In recent years, two cities have been named European smart tourism capitals for the first time. Lyon and Helsinki. The example of Helsinki (Finland) shows what smart traveling and, consequently, a Smart City can look like. You can start your trip to Helsinki completely digitally! In fact, anyone can visit and explore Helsinki virtually through VR technology and a VR headset .

In the future, it might even be possible to attend concerts and exhibitions virtually or go shopping in Helsinki virtually. Not everyone can afford to travel, or the pandemic situation currently prevents it. Through Helsinki’s VR technology, these hurdles can be overcome, and it offers the possibility to explore the city and various sights without flying or physically traveling . VR saves travel time and the associated CO2 emissions.

Those who still travel to Helsinki in person can filter the most sustainable food and exploration options via Myhelsinki . And then there’s the question of how to get from A to B sustainably in Helsinki? By metro or light rail, or by bike, or by taking the nearest ride-share? The app Whim (also available in Switzerland) allows you to search, book and pay for the different means of transport available in Helsinki. Within the app, the most sustainable route can be determined directly using the appropriate mode of transport. This makes the city much cleaner, more convenient and increases the quality of life for residents.

Fig. 5: Virtual Helsinki: a completely digital visit to Finland through VR.

Many of these initiatives are supported by the municipality to implement a better and more sustainable future, making Helsinki an example of a smart city for smart travelers.

This blog ends with the same statement it started: Yes, traveling is a wonderful thing. But so is protecting the environment! It will remain a big challenge for travelers, for cities or countries, and for society to make travel more sustainable. However, the digital solutions of our time and the associated power of data can help us promote sustainability during our travels. The associated community on more sustainable travel will grow, and at the same time more cities will be digitized into smart cities. The potential to travel more sustainably is great, and the next time we travel, digitalization will surely already be providing new opportunities.

So, let’s all take advantage of the technological developments of our time in travel, so that future generations can also explore and travel our planet in a sustainable state and its full beauty.

• COVID-19 and Tourism – An Update . United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2021. https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditcinf2021d3_en_0.pdf
• International Tourist Arrivals Reach 1.4 Billion Two Years Ahead Of Forecasts. World Tourism Organization UNWTO, 2019. https://www.unwto.org/global/press-release/2019-01-21/international-tourist-arrivals-reach-14-billion-two-years-ahead-forecasts
• “Tourists Go Home!” – Tourism Overcrowding And “Tourismophobia” In European Cities (Can Tourists And Residents Still Co-Habitate In The City?) , Egresi, I., 2018. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327883652_Tourists_go_home_-_Tourism_overcrowding_and_tourismophobia_in_European_cities_Can_tourists_and_residents_still_co-habitate_in_the_city
• Nationale Tourismusstrategie digital denken – Bitkom-Handlungsempfehlungen für den Tourismusstandort Deutschland. Kinne, L., 2020. https://www.bitkom.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/20200504_bitkom_positionspapier_nationale-tourismusstrategie-digital-denken.pdf
• Digitaler Tourismus 2020: So smart reisen die Deutschen. Paulsen, N., 2020. https://www.bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Digitaler-Tourismus-2020-So-smart-reisen-die-Deutschen
• The Amazing Ways Wild Me Uses Artificial Intelligence And Citizen Scientists To Help With Conservation . Marr, B., 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/01/29/the-amazing-ways-wild-me-uses-artificial-intelligence-and-citizen-scientists-to-help-with-conservation/?sh=449b4152dcdc
• Stadtentwicklung: Mit der App “Smart Cities» in die Zukunft. Euronews, 2019. https://de.euronews.com/next/2019/10/17/stadtentwicklung-mit-der-app-smart-cities-in-die-zukunft
• Helsinki’s huge VR gig hints at the potential of virtual tourism. Baxter, S., 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/may/05/helsinki-huge-vr-virtual-reality-gig-potential-virtual-tourism

About the Master Digital Administration

This article was written as part of the Master’s programme in Digital Business Administration at BFH Wirtschaft. The programme provides the relevant skills to help shape the digital future of business and society. Thanks to current live cases from companies in the digital transformation, the study programme is strongly practice-oriented and provides hands-on experience in the use of current and emerging digital technologies.

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You are on the information portal about smart tourism, where we collected a lot of materials from all over the world related to online travel, digital tourism, e-tourism, online travel services, etc., our information is suitable for everyone.

We try to select information materials in a way that their study and understanding does not require special training in the field of digital technologies, and so that anyone with Internet access can use smart tourism technologies.

Why Smart Tourism

Smart tourism brings tourists more unique experiences and better conveys the cultural and historical code of the destination, thanks to the abundance of useful information from the Internet. Smart tourism reduces the likelihood of stress and unpleasant surprises, because tourists are informed in advance about what to do, where to go and what rules to follow. Smart tourism is more environmentally friendly, if only because it reduces paper consumption, since smart tourists do not use paper guides, catalogs, maps, etc. In general, smart tourists are better prepared and educated, and therefore more likely to travel safer.

The Mission of This Internet Portal

The mission of this portal is to help tourists and tourism organizations understand the essence and intricacies of smart tourism, and ultimately, teach participants of the tourism process, regardless of their place of residence or place of travel, how to use all the benefits and opportunities that modern information technologies provide us.

In the "News" section you will find the latest news in the field of smart tourism, interviews with key figures in world tourism, information about new trends, directions and innovations in tourism, the schedule of upcoming and recordings of past webinars, conferences and summits.

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In this section we publish useful information for travelers. There are descriptions of smart tourism technologies, practical tips on how to use them, a list of mobile applications for traveling, and an overview of popular travel blogs.

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We provide consulting services, tutorials, methodologies, audits and trainings in the field of Internet marketing for various tourism organizations, museums, travel agents and DMOs. Also, we are engaged in the production of audio guides for museums and city tours.

Smart tourism is essentially a state in which tourists require nothing but a smartphone and internet connection. The goal of smart tourism is for tourism organizations to provide useful and up-to-date information to tourists through the internet.

Topical articles.

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Based on our experience and developments, we produce various educational and methodical manuals.

Calendar of Events 2023

We have collected the most significant events in the world of tourism that are related to smart tourism, technology and innovation.

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Checking the completeness and accuracy of posting information about your company or destination on the Internet with the issuance of reports and recommendations for improvement.

Tourism for People with Disabilities

There needs to be development and popularization of different ways of tourism that would allow people with disabilities to feel themselves full-fledged travelers.

Globalization of Tourism

The globalization of tourism is becoming a clear trend in the development of tourism. Practices to reduce the negative impact on tourism through smart tourism.

Our Definition of Smart City and Smart Destination

What should a Smart City look like in order for a tourist to have a full-fledged trip with only smartphone and the Internet?

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Going overseas for a medical procedure (medical tourism).

This page is for Australians planning to travel overseas for a medical procedure. 

Explore this page to learn about: 

• what is medical tourism?  
• what to think about before travelling for a medical procedure  
• the cost of medical treatment overseas
• insurance and medical tourism
• consular services and medical tourism

What is medical tourism? 

Medical tourism is when you go overseas for medical treatment. 

Many Australians travel overseas for health care to save money. Some go for treatments that are unavailable in Australia. 

The most common procedures Australians go overseas for are: 

• cosmetic surgery 
• dentistry 
• heart surgery 
• fertility treatments 
• surrogacy  
• gender affirming surgery  
• stem-cell therapy 
• cancer treatments. 

What to think about before travelling for a medical procedure 

Before you go, research the  destination , doctor, hospital and procedure. This helps you reduce the risk of things going wrong. 

Talk to your doctor in Australia about your plans. Ask for their advice. Get a health check at least 6 weeks before you go. Make sure you've got appropriate  vaccinations . 

Choosing a destination 

Research the health system of your destination. The quality of care may not be what you're used to in Australia. 

• Read  your destination's travel advisory . See the 'Health' section for advice about local healthcare. 
• Minimum healthcare standards in some countries can be low. Standards can differ between regions, hospitals, and medical professionals within a country. 
• Learn about your legal rights in your destination. Find out if you can take legal action against the hospital and surgeon if things go wrong. 

Choosing a hospital 

Many hospitals overseas are a similar standard to hospitals in Australia. But quality and standards in some countries can be poor. Some may have low training standards for doctors and nurses. Others may have high rates of infection and complications. 

• Find out if the hospital is accredited by the local authorities. Don't go to an unofficial medical facility. 
• See if there are reports of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the hospital. These infections may not be treatable. 
• Compare the complication risks they give you to those mentioned in Australia. Be wary if a hospital overseas suggests much lower risks. 

Choosing a doctor 

Check if the surgeon who will do your procedure is qualified and accredited. Most countries have this information on an official website. 

• Find out the reputation of the doctor and the experiences of past patients. 
• In some countries, doctors and hospitals don't have to get professional insurance. Make sure your surgeon and hospital have indemnity and malpractice insurance. 

Preparing for if things don't go to plan 

There are always risks with medical procedures. You could suffer from complications, or  you could die . Even if you're young, fit and healthy. 

• Take someone with you. You'll need their support if things go wrong. They may need to make decisions for you. 
• Make sure your will is up to date. 

If your procedure goes wrong, you may end up with a new or worse problem. It could cost more to fix it. Make sure your travel insurance covers complications and medical evacuation. 

The cost of medical treatment overseas 

In some countries, elective procedures can cost much less than in Australia. But make sure you consider all possible costs. 

• If you have a complication during or after the procedure, you may have to pay more to fix it. Make sure your estimate also covers this. 
• Your travel insurance may not cover issues caused by your procedure. Check your policy. 

You're responsible for the cost of your treatment overseas. You, your family or your travel insurer will have to pay if you need further care or a medical evacuation. 

• Medicare doesn't cover you when you're overseas. 
• Reciprocal health care agreements  only cover some situations in some countries. 
• You're not likely to get subsidised care through your destination's public health system. 

The Australian government can't pay your bills or loan you money. 

Medical tourism and insurance 

Basic travel insurance policies rarely cover medical tourism. Get a specialised policy that covers the costs of your specific procedure. Some offer this as a paid extra on their policies. 

Ask your insurer about: 

• post-operative care 
• complications 
• medical evacuation. 

Be open about your plans. You may void your policy if you don't tell them everything. 

Know what you're covered for and what's excluded. Always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). 

Learn more about  medical tourism and insurance  from the Better Health Channel. Also, read our  general advice about travel insurance . 

Australian private health insurance for medical tourism 

Some private health insurers in Australia have arrangements with hospitals overseas. They may give you the option to have a medical procedure overseas. Some may cover your travel expenses and medical fees. They may help organise your trip. 

Tell them about your plans. Ask your insurer if they: 

• will cover your procedure and travel costs 
• have a list of hospitals and surgeons overseas that they endorse 
• offer a travel insurance policy that covers you if things go wrong with your procedure. 

Even if your health insurer won't cover you, always tell them about your plans. If you don't, you may void your insurance policy if you suffer a complication. 

Consular services and medical tourism 

Understand when and how we can support Australians overseas. Read the  Consular Services Charter . 

What we can do 

• We can  contact your family in Australia with your permission. 
• We can  give you a list of local hospitals and doctors who speak English. 
• We can  give you a list of local lawyers who speak English. 

What we can't do 

• We can't  pay your medical expenses, evacuation, or legal costs. 
• We can't  get you out of trouble or jail if you can't pay your bill. 
• We can't  represent you in legal cases or intervene in local legal processes. 
• We can't  recommend hospitals or surgeons for your procedure. 

Read more 

• Read our  advice about going overseas for an organ transplant . 
• Read the travel advice for your destination . Understand what each  advice level  means. 
• Read general advice about  vaccinations and preventative health . 
• Learn more about choosing the right  travel insurance . 
• Understand  what happens if you die  overseas. 
• Learn how to get medical help overseas . 

See also 

• Read the suite of  travel health information  (Department of Health and Aged Care). 
• Read about  medical tourism  (United States Government). 

Related content

Many countries don't have the same access, services or support for people with disabilities as Australia. Learn more about travelling with a disability.

When you go overseas, you may be exposed to a range of infectious diseases. Before you go, learn about the health risks in your destination and see your doctor.

Read our general advice for Australians planning to travel overseas with medications or medical equipment.

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Electronic System for Travel Authorization

ESTA is an automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) . Authorization via ESTA does not determine whether a traveler is admissible to the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers determine admissibility upon travelers’ arrival. The ESTA application collects biographic information and answers to VWP eligibility questions. ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel, though it is recommended that travelers apply as soon as they begin preparing travel plans or prior to purchasing airline tickets.

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Bali Tourist Tax

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Beware of Scammer Websites, selling the Tourist Tax Registration. They are not representing the Balinese Government. ONLY use the official LoveBali Portal that we linked in our FAQ below

Bali tourist tax / bali tourist levy.

The Tourist Tax for international visitors to Bali is a tax charged by Bali’s provincial government. This is all you need to know to get ready to come to Bali. Make sure you are only using the links mentioned tha guide you to the official website of the Bali government. 

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In the FAQ Section below we will answer your questions about the tourist tax.

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Bali Tourist Tax Regulations and How to Pay the Bali Tourist Tax

Faq - must know about the tourist tax (levy), the tourist tax will have to be paid by international travelers coming to bali, the tax applies to foreigners coming to bali..

For arrivals to Bali from outside Indonesia and also if you arrive coming from another province to Bali. 

The Bali Tourist Tax costs IDR 150,000 per person (ca. USD 10 and AUD 15). Regardless of the age of the traveler.

It seems, that for the online payment there is also a surcharge of Rp 4,500

Most probably you will not be checked (yet). The reason is, that the immigration officers and airport personnel is not responsible to check if you paid. And the Balinese government has not yet installed check points to control the payment (which might happen at some point).

Still you have to pay the tax and checks can happen at popular tourist destinations or then also at the airport and harbours upon entry. 

You can pay the tax online on the official Bali Tourism Website ( ONLY use that website, don't pay the tax anywhere else, there might be websites run by scammers).

Official website to pay the bali tourist tax lovebali.baliprov.go.id/.

You will also be able to pay the tax upon arrival (airports and harbours). We strongly suggest however you pay already online before you arrive.

At times the Official Bali Tax Website might be offline. 

Lovebali.baliprov.go.id/.

Don't pay the tax anywhere else! Keep trying and come back to the website. Worse case, you can arrive in Bali without paying for the tourist tax online in advance, and then pay at the lovebali-counters. The Balinese government is in the process of installing payment counters at the checkpoints at the airports and harbours.

Travelers with following Visas are exemption from paying the Bali Tourist Tax, without having to apply for the exemption online (automatic exemption)

• Holders of Diplomatic Visas and Official Visas
• Crew Members of Conveyances are exempted
•  KITAS & KITAP Holders (Holders of Temporary and permanent stay permits)
• Family unification visa holders
• Student Visa Holders

Foreigners can apply for an exemption on the official website . Apply at least 5 days before your arrival

• Golden Visa Holders
• Any other Visa issued by the immigration office, that do not have the travel purpose tourism ,. In other words, travelers with any visas that is issued with the travel purpose "tourism"  will have to pay the tax.

On the official website the government states:

We are not the government, so unfortunately we cannot help you with this issue. 

First we would check the Spam / Junk Folder, to be sure you did not receive it. 

You can also write a message to the support on 

It seems that the official site from the Bali government still has problems from time to time. Since we are not representing the government and are not charging any taxes or fees, we cannot assist you in this matter. We suggest you keep trying opening the website. Worse case, you can pay the tourist tax upon arrival.

Only use the official Bali Tax Website:

The tourist tax (levy) is a local tax that the Bali administration is implementing, it is only related to Bali and not to Indonesia

The bali administration has issued following statement:, the levy is paid only 1 (one) time while traveling in bali, before the person leaves the territory of the republic of indonesia., how they will control this is not yet clear to us, but it seems that if you travel to bali, pay the tax, then go to lombok, return to bali, you would not have to pay the tourist tax again., the bali administration has announced that they want to use the income of the tourist tax for the following initiatives (official statement from the bali administration):, preserve heritage, protecting balinese customs, traditions, arts and local wisdom, ensuring the sustainable culture of bali island., nurture nature, contribute to the nobility and preservation of bali's unique culture and natural environment, making it an even more beautiful destination., elevate your experience, improve the quality of service and balinese cultural tourism management, promising you a safe and enjoyable travel adventure in bali., bali and the indonesian tourism officials have discussed over the last few years how they can protect the environment better, handle mass tourism, improve infrastructure and handle the growing trash problem, increase income for the local population who do not yet benefit from the growing tourism sector. they wish to encourage travelers to respect and participate the local culture more and overall have a better experience when they visit the island of gods., for the moment it seems, yes, but we expect the local administration to clarify at some point., 14th february 2024, essentials for your bali vacation.

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This page provides information about photos if you are applying or renewing using a paper form. If you are renewing online, follow the steps to upload a digital photo to your application. 

• Submit one color photo
• Submit a recent photo taken in last 6 months
• Use a clear image of your face 
• Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence 
• Have someone else take your photo. No selfies.
• Take off your eyeglasses for your photo
• Use a white or off-white background without shadows, texture, or lines

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• Shadows and Lighting
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Resolution, Print Size, and Quality

• Digital Changes

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Attire, hats, and glasses, already have a photo.

Use our  Photo Tool  to crop your photo so it's the right size.

• This photo tool does not check the quality of your image. 
• This tool is for cropping your photo only when you are applying or renewing using a paper form.
• Do not use this tool if you are renewing online.

After you apply, a U.S. Department of State employee will review your photo and decide if we can accept your photo.

Tips for Submitting your Photo

• Submit a high-resolution photo that is not blurry, grainy, or pixelated.
• 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) 
• Head must be between 1 -1 3/8 inches (25 - 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head
• Printed on matte or glossy photo quality paper.
• Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence. 
• Do not submit photocopies or digitally-scanned photos.
• Do not submit a damaged photo with holes, creases, or smudges.
• Have a neutral facial expression with both eyes open and mouth closed. 
• Face the camera directly with full face in view. 
• If you cannot remove your glasses for medical reasons, please include a signed note from your doctor with application.
• You cannot wear a uniform, clothing that looks like a uniform, or camouflage clothing. 
• If you wear one for religious purposes, submit a signed statement that says it is religious attire worn daily in public.
• If you wear one for medical purposes, submit a signed doctor's statement that says you wear it for medical purposes.
• Your full face must be visible and your hat or head covering cannot cast shadows or cover part of your face.
• You cannot wear headphones or wireless hands-free devices.
• You can wear jewelry and keep on your facial piercings as long as they do not hide your face. 
• Take off any face covering or medical mask so your full face is visible and the face covering or mask do not block portions of your face.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can i get my photo taken.

You can go to:

• An acceptance facility  that will take a photo when you apply for your passport
• Any company which offers photo services
• A friend or family member, and print your own photo on matte or glossy paper

Acceptance facilities and photo vendors charge different fees for taking your photo. 

Can I smile in my passport photo?

Yes. Make sure your eyes are open and your mouth is closed in your photo. 

Do I need a new passport if my appearance changed?

You only need to apply for a new passport if your appearance significantly changed. If you can still be identified from the photo in your current passport, do not apply for a new passport. 

Minor change - do not apply for a new passport

• Growing a beard
• Coloring your hair 
• Normal aging process

Major change - apply for a new passport

• Significant facial surgery or trauma
• Adding or removing many large facial piercings or tattoos
• Significant weight loss or gain
• A gender transition

Do you have more tips to take a photo of a baby or toddler?

Yes. Some tips include:

• Lay your baby or toddler on a plain white or off-white sheet, or cover a car seat with a plain white or off-white sheet. 
• Make sure there are no shadows on your baby or toddler's face.
• It is okay if a baby's eyes are not entirely open. All other children must have their eyes open.

Picture Perfect Passport

Follow these steps so you have a great passport photo.

Tips for Taking a Good Photo

Learn about a few tips for taking a good photo if you are renewing by mail or applying in person.

Image Sizing Photo Tips

Photos that are taken too close or too far away will be rejected.

Low Quality Image or Paper Tips

Photo is blurry, grainy, pixelated, or printed on the wrong paper. Photos should be high resolution.

Photo Exposure Tips

Photos that are too bright or that show shadows on your face will also cause you problems. Your photo needs to be a clear image of your face. 

Previous Passport Book Photos

Your passport photo needs to have been taken within the last 6 months. We verify that the photo looks like you. 

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