(SA)6: A new framework for the analysis of smart tourism destinations. A comparative case study of two Spanish destinations

Abstract

The adoption of technology in tourism has changed destinations' communication and created the emergence of a new concept: Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs). The growing trend of STDs has been an increasingly relevant research topic. However, its novelty, together with rapid changes in the tourism field, has caused many difficulties to researchers and policy-makers. This paper aims to present a framework of analysis of STDs, afterwards, to test it in two destinations with different characteristics and level of smartness, finally, to specify which dimensions are more important and difficult to implement by the STDs. The results show that big and small destinations are facing different challenges in their smart tourism plans. The most important aspects of the framework of analysis are accessibility and management. Some issues, such as the availability of wi-fi, tourism website, mobile applications and public transportation are considered the basic features for any destination willing to be smart. Actas del Seminario Internacional Destinos Turísticos Inteligentes: nuevos horizontes en la investigación y gestión del turismoUniversidad de Alicante, 26 y 27 de octubre de 2017 191 ResumenLa adopción de la tecnología en el turismo ha cambiado la comunicación de los destinos y ha creado la aparición de un nuevo concepto: Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs). Los STDs son un tema de investigación de creciente relevancia. Sin embargo, su novedad, junto con los cambios rápidos en el campo del turismo, causa dificultades a los investigadores y a los responsables políticos. Este trabajo presenta un marco de análisis de los STDs, lo prueba en dos destinos con diferentes caracterís-ticas, y especifica qué dimensiones son más importantes y difíciles de implementar por los STDs. Los resultados muestran que los destinos grandes y pequeños se enfrentan a diferentes desafíos. Los aspectos más importantes del marco de análisis son la accesibilidad y la gestión. Algunas cuestiones, como la disponibilidad de wi-fi, sitio web de turismo, aplicaciones móviles y transporte público se consideran las características básicas para cualquier destino dispuesto a ser inteligente.

Smart Tourism: Concepts and Insights from Central Europe

“…For the analysis of smart tourism destinations, the (SA) 6 framework is worth using. This framework is based on Buhalis' (2000) 6A framework for the analysis of tourism destinations, later adapted by Tran, Huertas, & Moreno (2017) to the smart destination concept. It consists of smart attractions, smart accessibility, smart amenities, smart ancillary, smart activities, and smart available packages.…”

“…From the tourism point of view, the smart conception is examined based on the framework of (SA) 6 (Table 3), consisting of smart attractions, smart accessibility, smart amenities, smart ancillary, smart activities, and smart available packages (Tran et al, 2017). All the examined destinations have done some steps in all of the 6 areas of the framework.…”

A meta-narrative analysis of smart tourism destinations: implications for tourism destination management

“…In sum, we show that the research discourse needs to challenge current master ideas, which are dominated by persuasive use of language, and lift the smart tourism destination concept to meet many of the global challenges societies are facing. We show that there is a lack of theoretical and precising language and that several scholars argue for the importance of study sustainability in the context of smart tourism destinations (Tran et al, 2017;Shafiee et al, 2019). Therefore, we propose that further research directions address and consider the UN global goals for economic, social and environmentally sustainable development.…”

“…Applying smart city principles to smart tourism destinations has, however, been criticized due to the risk of urban bias (Gretzel, 2018). But, despite smart cities and smart tourism destinations having elements in common (especially the technological foundation) their objectives are different (Tran et al, 2017). Khan et al (2017) stress that one difference between the two concepts is that smart cities mainly serve their residents, while smart destinations typically focus on visitors and tourists.…”

“…From a management perspective, Mandic and Pranicevic (2019) argue that more research is needed on the involvement of the community at smart tourism destinations. More research is also required regarding business models designed explicitly for smart tourism destinations (Tran et al, 2017;Reinhold et al, 2020).…”