Geographies of Smart Tourism Development

Smart tourism has emerged as a global phenomenon of tourism development; however, its interpretation and implementation vary across world regions. This chapter analyses regional differences in smart tourism development using a qualitative content analysis of strategic documents, policy reports and media sources. It identifies the key drivers, barriers and regional specificities of smart tourism development. The findings reveal a diverse landscape. Europe exhibits strong institutional backing and balanced smartness, Asia leads in technological innovation, Middle East and North Africa emphasise new visitor experiences, Sub-Saharan Africa shows isolated successes constrained by systemic challenges, North America applies data-driven strategies with uneven support, some Latin American countries are adopting and/or adapting the Spanish smart destination model and Australia integrates smart governance through data infrastructure. These insights contribute to a more contextualised understanding of smart tourism and underscore the need for comparative and regionally grounded research.