Investigating the Requirements for Smart Tourism Development in Iran
Subject Areas : مطالعات اجتماعی و گردشگری، جامعه شناسی گردشگری
1 - Social planning , Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Social Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Keywords: Smart Tourism, Smartization, Contextual Analysis, Communication and Information Technologies,
Abstract :
The growing trend of smart tourism development is emerging alongside the rapid pace of global changes. However, aligning the tourism industry with modern, rapid transformations and its smart development is a process that cannot be achieved without planned interventions. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the relevant requirements to create a proper foundation for its formation. Experts and practitioners in the field of tourism and smart development are considered the most important sources of information in this regard. To this end, the present study sought to identify the requirements for the promotion of this type of tourism in Iran from the perspective of the mentioned group, applying a qualitative method. Moreover, the required data were collected through unstructured interviews, which were then analyzed via content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the requirements can be organized in the form of categories such as evaluation, smartization of tourism services, smart governance, empowering individuals, alignment of policies, development of technical and infrastructural factors, and removal of restrictions.