Monaco’s struggle to become a smart destination

Abstract

PurposeMonaco is a simultaneously a destination, a state and a city, which belongs to the long list of places that aims to become smart. The purpose of this paper is to present Monaco’s transformation strategy from October 2017 to May 2019. It will present Monaco’s smart urban ecosystem as a meeting point between the destination and the smart city.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop the methodology as an exploratory observation of the state transformations. The methodology relies on an understanding of smart cities policy from an insider perspective, as one of the co-authors participates in the “Matrice Smart-City Monaco” program (Season 1: Tourism), on a media coverage analysis and in a semi-directive interview with a stakeholder of the digital transformation in Monaco.FindingsThe paper empirically and theoretically explores the following three hypotheses: H1 – being a smart city/destination is less a status than a process; H2 – a permeable state city challenges the boundaries between the city and the smart destination; and H3 – the conceptualization of the smart city requires a broader definition of who its engaged stakeholders are.Research limitations/implicationsThe case of Monaco helps us to understand the role of tourism in a smart city and to deepen the link between “smart city” and “smart destination” from a theoretical point of view. Monaco offers us the opportunity to reinforce our understanding of the relationship between the smart city and the smart destination.Originality/valueThe study concerns a micro-state that aims to become smart using a top–down strategy. However, for a city to become smart, stakeholders including citizens must be able to support the process.