In smart tourism, co-creation involves a collaborative effort among tourists, tourism service providers, and other stakeholders to enhance tourism experiences. This study aims to examine the factors influencing tourists’ co-creation experiences in smart tourism destinations through exploratory sequential mixed methods research. Participants who visited four Chinese smart tourism destinations took part in two study phases. In the first phase, eleven individuals identified the following five dimensions that might affect tourists’ co-creation experiences: smart environment; interactive activity; personalized service; cognitive engagement; and social interaction. In the second phase, an online survey was conducted with 283 respondents to validate these five dimensions. A structured equation model was utilized to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that all five dimensions identified in the qualitative study significantly influence tourists’ co-creation experiences. These findings offer theoretical and practical insights for future research on tourists’ co-creation experiences in smart tourism.