THE DEVELOPMENT AND TREND OF URBAN SMART TOURISM

Abstract

Technological developments, which are closely related to the tourism sector, have led to the concepts of “smart tourism”. The smart city approach is the basis of smart concepts for tourism. For this reason, in order to realize “smart tourism” applications in a tourism destination, it is necessary to develop “smart city” infrastructure for that city first. Therefore, it would be a correct approach to evaluate “smart city” and “smart tourism” applications as integrated with each other, enhancing and enriching the quality of life of the local people in that city, and enriching the experiences of those who temporarily visit that city, supported by advanced internet technologies. When we look at the current “smart tourism” objects, it is seen that internet-supported applications have been developed in important tourism destinations, which especially regulate the tourist's use of time, make use of transportation services, obtain information about tourist attractions, and facilitate their use. These are the practices that contribute significantly to the quality of the touristic experience of the tourist at the destination. Thus, it is very important to develop applications related to “smart tourism”, primarily in destinations that have worldwide awareness and significant touristic attractions. Keywords: “Smart city”, “smart tourism”, information technologies, modernization, urban planning.