Smart Tourism

Course Description

Smart Tourism is the progression from traditional tourism models to innovative management ones that promote sustainability by using the technologies. The improvement of visitors’ experiences is one of the Smart Tourism goals, as well as to manage the resources efficiently and competitively. 
This subject will deepen in all the elements needed to transform a traditional tourism destination into a new Smart Destination. Among others sustainability, innovation, technology, governance, and management represent these elements.

Basic Skills

• BS03- That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make judgments that include a reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.

Specific Skills

• SS01- Understand the principles of tourism and the socio-cultural and environmental impacts that derive from it. 
• SS09- Understand and use information technologies and information management systems in tourism. 
• SS11- Manage the accessibility and mobility of tourists. 
• SS13- Manage tourist destinations and spaces.

Learning Objectives

1. To understand the tourism destination key factors and to design functional improvements.
2. To acquire basic knowledge and tools related to cartography and digital tools applicable to tourism destinations management and planification.
3. To know potentialities about the relation between patrimony and tourism, as well as principles and concepts of cultural management.
4. To acknowledge the actions which ensure both, the touristic purpose and conservation of heritage assets.
5. To construe current information related to tourism destinations.
6. To develop the required methodological tools in order to properly interpret tourism destinations performances.
7. To apply measures, rules and guidelines in order to develop destinations.
8. To understand political-administrative structures that develop touristic activity and to know how to display different tourism management and politics strategies that public institutions work up with, as well as become acquainted of the impacts that it may produce.

Academic Contents 

Unit 1. Concept and Theoretical bases. 
1.  Smart concept, and its application to territory 
2.  Smart City
3.  Smart Tourism
4. Smart Destination
5. Smart Tourist
Unit 2. Smart Management Models.
1. History and evolution
2. Contemporary models
3. Central axes, dimensions or layers
4. Indicators and measurement variables.
Unit 3. Standards and Regulations
1. National Plan of Smart Cities
2. White-book of Smart Tourist Destinations 
3. Guide for Applicants
4. Hand-book of Smart Destinations
5. Public entities and State Agencies. 
Unit 4. The Smart Destination Development, and project development

Learning Methodology
The learning methodologies planned for the subject combine a number of processes being the most remarkable the cognitive methods related to the comprehension of the principles of tourism and the global tourism system as well as the inclusion of a set of skills, mainly technical.
The activities and methodologies -both group and individual- designed for this subject are the following:
− Activity 1. Dynamic presentation of Smart Evolution
− Activity 2. Test and Discussion
− Activity 3. Smart Development Project