SMART TOURISM APPLICATIONS

Tourism is one of the leading sectors which are directly affected by technology due to the reasons as changing tourist profile, customer satisfaction and competitive advantage. As a result of the use of technology in Tourism, the concept of smart tourism has emerged as a new approach based on technology, environment and quality. Although there are various ‘smart tourism’ definitions in literature, a common definition is not seen yet. In the direction of the definitions and explanations of smart tourism, it is seen that information and communication technologies (ICT), smart destination and smart hotel are the forefront expressions. The purpose of this study, shaped as literature review, is to investigate both the different ‘smart tourism’ definitions and the different smart tourism practices in tourism sector. In this way, it is aimed to make contribution about the smart tourism concept to the literature, especially Turkish literature. In this study, first of all, the literature is reviewed in detail and the different definitions of smart tourism are written as well as the concepts of smart destination and smart hotel are examined. Then, the technological applications, evaluated within the scope of smart tourism, in tourism are reviewed and then smart tourism concept is supported by this concrete data. As a result, it is determined that the definitions of smart tourism within the scope of ICT is based on mobile applications, smart phones, social media and internet whereas environmental understanding is ignored. On the other hand, it is observed that the smart tourism applications evaluated during the study are in compliance with the smart tourism definition of World Tourism Organization whereas environmental sensitivity is not adequately emphasized in academic writing