article · Sustainability
Smart tourism destinations are increasingly studied to understand their contribution to sustainable development. A systematic review of twenty research papers examined current academic progress, methodologies, publication trends, and thematic focuses in this emerging field. The findings indicate that research covers economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainability within smart tourism. Furthermore, interest is expanding around smart cities that aim to decrease the environmental footprint of tourism activities while encouraging sustainable industry growth. Several emerging priorities have been identified across the literature, specifically the attainment of sustainable development goals, the deployment of green information technology, smart energy initiatives, and improved waste management strategies. The review also maps existing gaps and suggests pathways for subsequent investigation.
Tourism can place significant pressure on local environments and communities. By connecting smart destination technologies with sustainability objectives, destination managers and planners can identify new ways to manage visitor impacts. Highlighting key areas such as green IT, energy efficiency, and waste reduction provides clearer guidance on where technological interventions can best support long-term environmental and social goals.
Because this review synthesises academic literature rather than testing a specific technology, the work sits at an early conceptual stage. However, it identifies clear intervention points for destination management organisations, municipal authorities, and technology developers. Practical development opportunities exist around green IT systems, smart energy networks, and municipal waste management tools specifically tailored for tourism hubs seeking to lessen their environmental impacts.
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The growing popularity of smart tourism destinations (STDs) has increased the need to investigate their potential impact on sustainable development. This systematic literature review (SLR) aims to analyse the past achievements and future directions of smart tourism destinations in the context of sustainable development. The review was conducted through a systematic literature review that examined 20 papers using a rigorous framework of the research problem, the primary delimitation of the research, and the definition of the data collection and extraction tools. The review focuses on identifying and analysing the current state of the research on SLRs in smart tourism destinations and their implications for sustainable development. This includes the research questions, methods, journals, dates of publications, and key themes. The review also examines the implications and limitations of SLRs in this field, and it identifies gaps in the literature and areas for future directions. The review found that SLRs have been used to examine the impacts of smart tourism destinations on various aspects of sustainable development, such as economic, social, and environmental aspects. Additionally, the review found that there is a growing interest in smart cities, with a focus on reducing the environmental footprint of tourism and promoting sustainable tourism development. The review also identified the emerging research areas in the literature, such as the achievement of the sustainable development goals, the adoption of green IT, smart energy, and waste management.
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DOI: 10.3390/su15065086
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