Abstract
Reluctance and even resistance for the city transformation into a smart tourism destination (STD) may occur on the edge field of smart systems, even if over time, often with political changes, this resistance breaks down. This situation is occurring in Cordoba (Spain) which held the record of four inscriptions in the World Heritage Lists granted by UNESCO. The concept of smart tourism is recent. As a research domain, it is only emerging. So, few analyses and case studies were elaborated on it. This chapter shows how this reluctance is coming from stakeholders and how the transformation of Cordoba into a smart destination can be made harmoniously. Three scenarios are possible for this transformation either following actual tendencies or looking for two other paths, the green one or the intercultural one; how it could be done and its impacts on the City and the Province of Cordoba's economy, society, culture, and environment.
TopThe Notion Of Smart Tourism Destination (Std)
The concept of smart city finds its origin in the 1990s to foster economic, social and environmental prosperity. It flourished significantly after 2007 according to Hollands (2008). The perception of smart tourism appeared as a major component of a smart city around 2010. As underlines by Gretzel (2011) as well as by Boes, Buhalis & Inversini (2016), the concept emerges from the rapid development of ICT and the goings-on of the smart cities: “With technology being embedded on all organizations and entities, destinations will exploit synergies between ubiquitous sensing technology and their social components to support the enrichment of tourist experiences” (Buhalis 2014). UNWTO, the World Tourism Organization, a United Nations Agency dedicated to tourism, considered smart tourism destinations from 2012 (UNWTO 2012). It organized two international seminars, the first in Murcia in 2017, the second in Oviedo in 2018 with the strong assistance of SEGITTUR1.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Innovation Helices: The triple helix model of innovation is based on the interactions between research, industries which produced goods and services, and governments which regulate market. The quadruple helix boosts the knowledge society and the quintuple helix emphasizes the socioecological transition of a society.
Smart Governance: Concerns the efficiency of public services of a smart city and their improvement through innovations without forgetting the democratic inclusiveness of its residents.
Sustainability: Refers to the sustainable development of human civilization in relation with the biosphere and the territory ecosystems. For the tourism sector, the term “sustainable tourism”, formed in 1988, is considered as the ability of a destination to well preserve its environment, protect its population and its economy facing tourism development.
Connectivity: Is linked to the capacity of connecting or interconnecting systems, applications and platforms of individual terminals, mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones and the ability to communicate between them.
Scenarios: Is a thinking process of anticipating futures, without aiming to predict them but rather simulating some possible expectations following different paths and visions. A Smart City Integrates ICT (information and communication technologies) to improve the performance of public services such as energy, transportation, health, education, utilities in order to enhance the quality of life of its residents and the temporary tourists. The European Parliament (2014) added that smart cities must face three objectives: connectivity, sustainability and inclusiveness.
Likert – Type Scale: Is a psychometric tool to rate responses of a research questionnaire.
Smart Tourism Destinations: Involve the use of ICTs to ease access to tourism and hospitality products, services, experiences as well as equipment without overlooking to the efficiency of the destination public services and emphasizing on the inclusiveness of its residents in the tourist sector by a smart governance and a constant interaction between enterprises, local administrations, tourists and residents.
Resistance to Transformation: Is linked to the concept of resistance to change i.e. actions taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that change is a threat for various common reasons such the fear of the unknown.