Strategic technological determinant in smart destinations: obtaining an automatic classification of the quality of the destination

Purpose Smart tourist destinations (STDs) make use of new technologies to facilitate and improve the experience of tourists. So why not use these technologies to efficiently manage the destination? The aim of this work is to define and implement a methodology that provides value to STDs by defining their most important characteristics to monitor and quantify them automatically in real time. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a conceptual framework to the smart tourism approach presented in previous studies, the latest technologies and the application of the smart tourism system (STS). Based on the focus group method with stakeholders from the tourism industry of the Spanish tourist municipality of Puerto de la Cruz, they defined the main KPIs for a municipal STD. Likewise, the authors specified the necessary technologies to obtain, manage and represent the data, and the method for quantifying the quality of the STD by using the AHP method. Lastly, they implemented the framework for the aforementioned municipality. Findings The implementation in a real context of the STS proposed for Puerto de la Cruz demonstrates its validity and the possibility of adapting it to any other municipal destination. In addition, the authors corroborate how this STS improves on other versions. Originality/value This paper provides a theoretical methodology to improve STD management and implements it. Other studies have focused only on the theoretical aspect. Moreover, automated management tools are emerging for STDs, but they lack the quality provided by the scientific approach employed herein.