Nowadays, tourism sector needs to adapt to a very fast changing environment and stronger competitiveness. Smart tourism describes the current stage of tourism development influenced by the evolution of information technologies and is becoming a promising way how to face the new market conditions. The aim of the paper is to review the conceptual foundations of smart tourism and to analyse the development of smart tourism initiative in Central Europe, specifically in Slovakia. The paper adopts an exploratory multiple case study methodology, focusing on information technologies used by Central European tourists, willingness of data sharing and the use of the state-of-the-art technologies in tourism businesses. Moreover, the smart concept is examined based on the (SA)6 framework in three tourism destinations. The paper concludes that smart tourism should not be the ultimate goal, but with the help of technology, innovation, and cooperation, it should bring better tourist experience, wellbeing of residents, enhance effectiveness and competitiveness of businesses and destinations, and lead to overall competitive sustainability.

The concept of smart tourism has gained a significant attention in the last years, leading to fruitful discussions among scientists and practitioners; however, there has been lack of attention paid to smart tourists so far. Although this emerging type of tourist has been conceptualized, it is now important to find whether it can be considered as a market segment. The article fills the gap in the smart tourism research by using two-step cluster analysis to classify 5975 tourists, finding a smart tourism market segment and analysing the characteristics and travel behaviour of this segment. This segment is worth focusing on and differentiates in all trip experience phases. The rethinking of business models of today’s destination management organizations towards creating value proposition during all trip experience phases based on personalization and experience enrichment is needed in order to reach the smart tourist market segment.

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Purpose This paper aims to review the research on tourists and outlines future scenarios for its development. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a critical and conceptual approach to this phenomenon and provides new perspectives for its future investigation. Findings This research on tourists might consider more aspects, such as the change from purely human-centred to a broader scope including non-human tourists, non-physical space and non-current time slots. This might provide the opportunity to engage more research disciplines into the research on tourists. Originality/value The past perspective includes the comparison of research on tourists in Western Europe and North America with an often-overlooked situation in Central and Eastern Europe. The future perspectives deal with challenges that might affect tourism research in the following years.

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