Understanding Smart Tourism Solutions
The tourism industry is rapidly digitizing, creating a gap between large companies and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). To bridge this gap, the European Observatory of Smart Tourism Initiatives and Tools (EUROSTIT) have developed a taxonomy to help businesses identify and classify Smart Tourism Tools (STTs).
STTs are digital solutions designed to benefit tourism stakeholders—such as tourists, providers, and destination managers—with a specific focus on sustainable development (Galvão et al., 2025).
The Taxonomy Categories
The taxonomy organizes tools into three broad Contexts based on their function. To classify a tool, you simply ask a "Yes/No" question for each category.
Context A: Design, Management & Operations
This context covers tools integral to the internal management and creation of tourist services.
Category: Design
Focus: Helping businesses create and build their products (e.g., finding suppliers, building packages).
Q: Does the STT help Tourism Providers design and build their offerings?
Example: Web services that can create a website for users through a natural language request, also known as a prompt, without requiring any web programming knowledge.
Category: Deployment
Focus: Practical resources to put an offer on the market, such as booking engines or payment platforms.
Q: Does the STT help Tourism Providers deploy their offerings?
Example: An online booking platform that allows tourists to reserve experiences or stays.
Category: Operation
Focus: Day-to-day efficiency and real-time logistics.
Q: Does the STT help Tourism Providers manage and operate their offerings?
Example: Crowd-management tools at a museum that track visitor flow to optimize entry points.
Category: Maintenance / Evolution
Focus: Data analysis and feedback to improve future performance.
Q: Does the STT help Tourism Providers collect and/or analyze data to improve their tourism offerings?
Example: Analytics tools that analyze tourist feedback and booking patterns to identify opportunities for improvement.
Context B: Marketing
This context includes tools used for promotion and gathering user feedback.
Category: Pre Consumption
Focus: Attracting customers before the trip.
Q: Does the STT help Tourism Providers promote their services before the tourism experience?
Example: An advertisement technology solution that showcases offerings specifically to a target audience.
Category: Consumption
Focus: Upselling or cross-selling while the tourist is experiencing the product.
Q: Does the STT help Tourism Providers promote additional offers or services during the tourism experience?
Example: An in-room system allowing hotel guests to book a spa treatment via mobile device.
Category: Post Consumption
Focus: Encouraging reviews, reputation management, and user-generated content.
Q: Does the STT allow Tourists share their experiences, provide feedback, or act as influencers?
Example: Platforms like TripAdvisor that allow users to share reviews, images, and videos.
Context C: Tourism Fruition
This context refers to technologies that are the experience or directly enhance the enjoyment of it.
Category: Fully Digital Experience
Focus: The experience exists entirely in a digital world.
Q: Is the STT a fully immersive experience within a virtual environment?
Example: A virtual tour of a museum where the user never physically visits the location.
Category: Partial Digital Experience
Focus: Technology that augments the user's sensory experience, adding a layer of digital information or interaction to their surroundings.
Q: Is the STT a technological enabler and/or enhancer of the tourist's experience in the real-world?
Example: A tour guide app using augmented reality (AR) to overlay historical images onto a physical landmark.