Page 16 - Smart tourism: A path to more secure and resilient destinations

A Smart Tourist Destination can also be understood as a system linking visitors, citizens and all
local organizations, which allows services to be obtained in real time (Buhalis et al, 2015). Thus, for
a destination to become a Smart Tourist Destination, the integration of four essential concepts is
necessary: human capital, leadership, social capital, and innovation. Advanced ICT infrastructures
such as cloud and other technological innovations, provide the essential infrastructure for the
development of a Smart Tourist Destination. ICT is fundamental; however, it is not enough.

Tourism affects the social and the economic activity across the territory in which it operates;
consequently, it cannot be managed in an isolated or fragmented manner. Smart Tourist Destinations
must be understood in their complexity, as a holistic and interdependent system, comprising distinct
sectors and actors or agents (stakeholders), which are related directly or indirectly, creating a whole
ecosystem in which all actors are interrelated. Key features of a Smart Destination include the
following five pillars: governance, innovation, technology, sustainability and universal accessibility.

2.3 The Spanish Smart Tourist Destinations framework

The Smart Tourist Destination framework has been developed under the leadership of Spanish
Secretariat of State for Tourism through the State Mercantile Society for the Management of
Innovation and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR). The framework involves a programme with its
implementation methodology, a set of public Spanish normalization (UNE) standards and the Red
DTI, a network of destinations and solutions providers.

2.3.1 Smart Tourist Destination definition

The Smart Tourist Destination definition proposed by SEGITTUR and accepted by the UNE Smart
cities working group reads as follows:

“A Smart Tourist Destination is an innovative tourist destination, consolidated on a cutting-edge
technological infrastructure, which guarantees the sustainable development of the tourist territory,
which promotes accessibility for all and facilitates the interaction and integration of the visitor with
the environment, increasing the quality of their experience in the destination and improving the
quality of life of the residents.”

(SEGITTUR is the Spanish acronym for the State Mercantile Society for the Management of Innovation
and Tourism Technologies.) 2

2 “SEGITTUR is an effective operator capable of contributing to the development, modernisation and maintenance of
a leading tourist industry through technological innovation. It generates and manages the technology, expertise, and
innovation necessary to improve competitiveness, quality and sustainability in the environmental, economic and social
aspects of tourism. It disseminates, promotes and implements in tourism markets both at home and abroad the best
practices, know-how and technological innovation that have made Spain a world reference in the sphere of international
tourism (https:// www .segittur .es/ en/ lines -of -action/ )”.

6 Smart tourism: A path to more secure and resilient destinations