Planning and Management of Smart Tourism

Destination (TMgt 582)

By
Zemenu Bires (PhD)

May 2023
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1.1. Tourism and Sustainability
 Brainstorming Questions

• What is Tourism?
• What is sustainability?
• What do we mean by the concept: Smart
tourism?
 Sustainability and sustainable tourism
 Sustainable tourism which means;
 tourism which is economically viable
 But, does not destroy the resources on which:
the future of tourism will depend, notably the physical
environment and
the social fabric of the host community
 It is an aspiration to acknowledge all impacts of tourism, both
positive and negative.
 It aims to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the
positive ones.
 Negative impacts to a destination include economic leakage,
damage to the natural environment and overcrowding etc.
 Smart Tourism
Smart tourism should be regarded as;
a tourism development and management mindset or philosophy
with larger implications for tourism governance and for the
strategic orientation of the destination.
smart tourism as a tourism development and management strategy
goes beyond technology implementation.
Smart tourism is concerned with taking advantage of a range of
smart technologies, such as sensors, beacons, mobile phone apps,
radio-frequency identification (RFID), near-field communication
(NFC), smart meters, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), cloud
computing, relational databases, etc., that together form a smart
digital ecosystem that fosters data-driven innovations and supports
new business models.
 Smart Tourism…
According to this big data and technology perspective, smart
tourism has been defined as:
«tourism supported by integrated efforts at a destination to collect
and aggregate data derived from physical infrastructure, social
connections, government/organizational sources and human
bodies/minds in combination with the use of advanced
technologies to transform that data into on-site experiences and
business value-propositions with a clear focus on efficiency,
sustainability and experience enrichment» (Gretzel et al., 2015a:
181).
Where smartness has three dimensions, namely a technological, a
human and an institutional one.
 Cont’d….
• Yigitcanlar et al. (2018) further establish the following eight areas,
two for each application domain, which smart city development
seeks to improve:
1) Governance; 2) Planning; 3) Productivity; 4) Innovation; 5)
Liveability; 6) Wellbeing; 7) Sustainability; and, 8) Accessibility.
 Integrated governance, comprehensive and participatory planning,
productivity gains and a skilled workforce, competitive
advantages, an innovation culture, greater mobility, better
infrastructure, enhanced quality of live, the responsible
management and use of natural resources, as well as an inclusive
community therefore constitute the major outcomes
of smart city development.
 Difference between Smart tourism and e-Tourism

smart tourism bridges the virtual and the physical, encompasses

broader techno-utopian visions of destinations, and calls for strong
governance.
While e-Tourism focused on the informatization and virtualization
of touristic exchanges and the exploitation of digital value chains
smart tourism distinguished from e-Tourism by emphasizing its
connection to the physical attributes of a destination, its
conceptualization as a larger ecosystem and its dependence on
public-private partnerships.
Whereas e-Tourism spans all phases of the tourism experience
(pre, during and post-travel), smart tourism experiences are
currently firmly anchored around experiences during the trip,
usually not even accounting for movement to and from a
destination .
Pillars of smart tourism
 Pillars..

 Gretzel, Ham and Koo (2018) describe smart tourism as consisting

of five layers:
1) a physical layer that includes natural and human-made touristic
resources as well as transportation and service infrastructures;
2) a smart technology layer that links to this physical infrastructure
and provides back-end business solutions and front-end consumer
applications;
3) a data layer that includes data storage, open data clearing houses
and data-mining applications;
4) a business layer that innovates based on the available technologies
and respective data sources; and, finally,
5) an experience layer in which the resulting technology- and data-
enhanced experiences are consumed.
• The Smart Tourist Destination methodology is structured around
the pillars supporting the Smart Tourist Destination Programme:
governance, innovation, technology, sustainability and
accessibility.
• Its effective implementation relies on the close coordination of all
the areas and all the public and private agents that directly or
indirectly make tourist activity possible within the territory.
• The aim is to build a common working framework to identify
needs and priority actions before initiating the process of
becoming a recognised Smart Tourist Destination.
Cont’d…
The path to becoming a Smart Tourist Destination is divided into
two cycles and five phases.
- Recognised Smart Tourist Destinations must regularly renew their
commitment to prove continuous improvement.
 Smart tourism…
• strategic orientation of smart tourism as aimed at leadership,
entrepreneurship, human capital, innovation and social capital
development.
• Learning and knowledge management are focal drivers and
outcomes of smart tourism.
• The smart destination has been described as:
«An innovative tourist destination, built on an infrastructure of
state-of-the-art technology guaranteeing the sustainable
development of the tourist area, accessible to everyone,
which facilitates the visitors‟ interaction with and integration into
their surroundings, increases the quality of the experience at the
destination, while also improving the quality of life of
its residents» (SEGITTUR, 2018)
•
 Sustainable
Tourism
Scope of
Nature and
 Nature and Scope of ST
o Sustainable Tourism is a complex term.
o It Synonymous with terms like Responsible Tourism, Alternative
Tourism, Soft Tourism, Minimum impact tourism, Ecotourism,
Environment Friendly Tourism.
o Most of the authors talk about the responsibility of tourists towards
nature but not about their rights as paying customers,
o Conversely they also talk about sustainable and non-sustainable
sides of tourism, but there are many shades of grey as well.
Scope of Sustainable Tourism
 Stakeholders encompassing the scope
• Tourists – Mass market, eco-tourists
• The Host Community – Directly or indirectly employed in tourism,
Local business people
• Governmental Bodies – International e.g.: European Union,
National, Regional and Local
• Tourism Industry – Tour operators, Transport Operators,
Hospitality Sector, Visitor attractions
• Pressure Groups – Environment, Wildlife, Human rights, Workers
Rights
• Media – News, Specialist travel articles
• Experts – Commercial consultants, Academics
• Voluntary sector – NGO‟s, Trusts and Environmental charities
Dimensions of Sustainable Tourism
 i) Environmental Dimension
 There are five aspects of environment dimension:
1. The Natural Resource: It includes like water, Climate and Air. Tourism makes
use of a range of natural resources, and in many cases, the core attraction of a
destinations product may be natural resources such as: Clean, pure mountain air,
Land.
2. The Natural Environment: It includes the mountainous area, seas ,lakes and
rivers, caves, beaches and natural woodland. we need to recognize that: There are
few natural landscapes or wilderness area left in the world.
3. The Farmed Environment : It includes Agriculture landscapes, Man-made
forests, Fish farms.
4. Wildlife: It includes the Land-based mammals and reptiles, flora, Birds, insects
and Fish and marine mammals.
5. The Built Environment: It includes the Villages and townscapes, Transport
,infrastructure e.g.; roads and airports, Individual buildings and structures, Dams
and resources, The built environment exists at no less than 3 levels:
• Individual buildings and structures.
• Small-scale settlements such as villages.
• Large-scale settlements e.g.; towns and cities.
 iii) Economic Dimension
• Unlike some of its environmental and socio-cultural effects,
tourisms economic impacts are mainly considered to be beneficial.
These are:
• the generation of foreign exchange,
• the creation of new job and employment opportunities,
• the stimulation of trade, income and entrepreneurship - especially
in the service and small business sectors,
• the provision of new infrastructure which is available for non-
tourism uses,
• increased regional development - particularly in isolated areas,
• greater tax revenues permitting greater government spending - or
reduced taxes on other activities, and the operation of what is
called the multiplier effect.
 Principles for Economic Responsibility
• Asses economic impacts before developing tourism and exercise
preference for those forms of development that benefit local
communities.
• Maximise local economic benefits by increasing linkages and
reducing leakages, by ensuring that communities are involved in
and benefit from tourism.
• Develop quality products that reflect complement, and enhance the
destination.
 iii) Social Dimension
• The social dimensions are relating to the people of certain area .
• Its important to understand the impact of tourism within the area
and to make sure that the tourism on the area is not having any
negative effect on the local people , culture ,values , attitudes ,
liveability, etc.
• Social dimensions of tourism has been given less attention in
sustainable tourism debate , than the environmental impact of
tourism.
• Perhaps this is because the social impacts of tourism usually occurs
slowly over time in an unspectacular fashion.
• They are also largely invisible and intangible.
• Yet the social impact of tourism is usually permanent with little or
no opportunity to reverse the change once it has taken place.
Scope of Social Dimensions of Sustainable Tourism
• It includes following:
1. Tourist
2. Foreign tour operators
3. Destination government
4. Local tourism industry
5. Host community
 Sustainability can be achieved more in social dimensions as below
• All stakeholders in tourism being given fair treatment
• Equal employment opportunities for all
• Increasing opportunities for everyone in the world who wants to
take a holiday
• Managing tourism in away that local people maintain their dignity
and sense of pride of their communities
• Development of concept of fair trade where tourists pay a fair price
for the holiday they take
• Benefits of tourism are widely distributed within host community
• Ethics, in other words, the tourism industry being honest with
tourists and ethical in its dealings with its suppliers, and destination
governments being ethical towards their host population and
tourists.
 The Triple Bottom Line for
Sustainable Tourism Development
 The Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
• TBL is a philosophical orientation whereby organizations develop
and implement:
 not just a traditional economically sustainable strategy,
 but also explicitly include environmental and social sustainability
strategies.
• The TBL approach is a way of measuring tourism impact on
people, profit and planet, or in other words the impact on people
and societies, on the economics and on the environment.
 Fast facts about the triple bottom line:
• It is a transformation framework to help businesses and organizations
move toward a regenerative and more sustainable future.
• TBL offers tools that help an organization measure, benchmark, set goals,
and eventually evolve toward more sustainable systems and models.
• It illustrates that if an organization is only focused on profit, while
ignoring people and the planet, it cannot account for the full cost of doing
business and thus will not succeed long term.
• Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a term used to describe the economic, social
and environmental accountability of a firm.
• TBL is directly tied to the concepts and goals of sustainable development
and is a relatively new measure of corporate performance that requires
the public disclosure of social, economic and environmental indicators
of organizational performance and is a concept that is closely related to
social responsibility.
Dimensions of Triple Bottom Line
 1. The Economic Dimension of TBL
• The economic dimension can be assessed using traditional
financial performance indicators such as sales revenue, profit,
return on investment or shareholder value models.
• Other industry-specific measures are also readily available to
assess the economic performance of an operation.
 E.g., in the tourism industry, indicators such as heads in beds (for
hotels), RevPAR or visitation (for attractions) are popular
measures.
 2. The Social Dimension of TBL
• referred to as social capital consists of two components: -
a. human capital (employees, contractors, suppliers and advisors)
and
b. investment by the social systems that support the business
• social capital as the “trust, norms and networks needed to facilitate
cooperation.”
• social capital is generated through copious everyday interpersonal
interactions and identify key dimensions such as;
 valuing the self and others;
 trust (interpersonal and generic);
 connection (community participation and social networks);
 multiple relationships; and
 reciprocity in relationships.
 Social…cont’d
• Some social indicators suggested by the GRI (Global Reporting
Initiative) include:
 employee retention rates; job satisfaction levels and investment
per employee in illness and injury prevention
• The social dimension involves social well-being, working with
employees, their families, the local community, and society to
improve their quality of life.
• Organizations with social awareness better understand and account
for the consequences of their operations on the social well-being of
the communities affected by those operations.
• Their framework specifies four dimensions of an operation‟s
social impact, including an individual’s well-being, community
well-being, employment experiences and satisfaction, and
organizational impact.
 3. The Environmental Dimension of TBL
• referred to as natural capital.
• availability of natural resources such as forests, minerals, fish and
soil have long been taken for granted despite the fact that this is
the capital upon which our existence depends (i.e., clean air and
water)
• Wealth that destroys the basis of life is no wealth at all.”
• Environmental indicators suggested by the GRI include items such
as;
 total energy use,
 use of recycled materials and
 water sources significantly affected by an organization‟s use of
water.
 Critique of TBL
• The criticisms of the triple bottom line are manifold and include
such arguments as;
1) TBL focuses on controlling the negative aspects of an
organization‟s operations and not enhancing the positive
(McDonough & Braungart, 2002),
2) the economic and environmental indicators are relatively easy to
assess, while the social indicators are difficult (Vanclay, 2004),
and perhaps most importantly,
3) whether or not additional bottom lines (beyond the economic
bottom line) can or should be measured and assessed (Norman &
MacDonald, 2004).
 Linking TBL, Sustainability and Sustainable Tourism
• Sustainable tourism is the best way to preserve the “golden goose”
of tourism.
• They feel it is a viable tool to maintain and enhance a destination‟s
competitiveness.
• Sustainable tourism and development as that which finds a balance
between economic prosperity, environmental protection and social
equity.
• While there is still some debate surrounding a clear definition of
sustainable tourism, there is wide agreement that it should facilitate
the social, economic and environmental well-being of a region.
• Sustainable tourism refers to a level of tourism activity that can be
maintained over the long term because it results in a net benefit for
the social, economic, natural and cultural environments of the area
in which it takes place.
 Cont‟d
• Thus, at least sustainable tourism and TBL can be linked with tourism
products such as;
• Ecotourism- referred to as „nature tourism‟ is a responsible travel to
natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare
of local people.
• ecotourism is nature-based tourism designed to minimize the ecological
impact to a tourism area and includes amenities such as landscape
sightseeing, bicycling, hiking, canoeing, etc.
• Heritage/Cultural Tourism- tourism that engages with the cultural
tradition of a particular location.
• Included in heritage and cultural tourism are tangible remains of the past
such as artifacts, as well as intangible cultural assets such as folk
traditions.
• Others have identified cultural tourism as historical and heritage sites,
arts and craft fairs and festivals, museums, and the performing and visual
arts which tourists visit in pursuit of their cultural experiences.
 Linking…ST and TBL
• Heritage/cultural tourism provides visitors the opportunity to
understand and appreciate the character of an area and includes its
history, archeology, people and their lifestyle, cultural diversity,
arts and architecture, and social and political structure.
• Agritourism- as rural enterprises that incorporate both a working
farm and commercial tourism component.
• Agritourism is based on attracting visitors to farm operations
including crop and animal farms, U-pick operations, wineries, for-
fee fishing operations, Christmas tree farms, herb farms and
greenhouses, maple syrup and cheese producers, and farm stands,
to name a few.
 Key Challenges of ST
• Failing to acknowledge that every destination is different, with its own specific
circumstances and priorities.
• Working in silos- Not understanding that sustainability is a collective journey that
requires collaboration.
• Lack of political will – the switch to sustainability is not easy and even more difficult
if local or regional public policy doesn’t support it.
• Using inadequate measures of success: merely the number of arrivals (which can lead
to overconsumption)
• Not involving employees and supply chain adequately.
• Consequences of the Pandemic, especially the focus on quick earnings over a slow
and sustainable tourism.
• A missing sense of urgency – e.g., while the climate has begun changing considerable,
action is slow.
• No adequate measures in place to manage overcrowding now that tourism will
bounce back.
• Green-washing – not finding the right balance between touting one’s green
credentials and exaggerating claims of sustainability.
• Lack of awareness – insufficient awareness among the tourism industry of the
Sustainable Development Goals.
Thank you