The contribution of the Internet to the development of tourism via the transformation of large urban centers into smart cities: The case of the municipality of Heraklion.

Postgraduate Thesis uoadl:2865811 344 Read counter

Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Στρατηγικές Αειφόρου Ανάπτυξης στην Αυτοδίοικηση
Library of the School of Science
Deposit date:
2019-03-12
Year:
2019
Author:
Perraki Emmanouilia
Supervisors info:
Χ. Πάλλης - Δρ. Οικονομολόγος
Δρ. Α. Τασόπουλος - Καθηγ.ΠΑΝΤΕΙΟΥ ΠΑΝ/ΜΙΟΥ
Δρ. Α. Παπαδασκαλόπουλος - Καθηγ.ΠΑΝΤΕΙΟΥ ΠΑΝ/ΜΙΟΥ
Δρ. Β. Αντωνίου - Δρ. Γεωλόγος, Ε.Δ.Ι.Π. ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Η συμβολή του διαδικτύου στην ανάπτυξη του τουρισμού μέσω της μετεξέλιξης των μεγάλων αστικών κέντρων σε έξυπνες πόλεις: Η περίπτωση του δήμου Ηρακλείου
Languages:
Greek
Translated title:
The contribution of the Internet to the development of tourism via the transformation of large urban centers into smart cities: The case of the municipality of Heraklion.
Summary:
"Smart" is a new word that describes technological, economic and social developments that are powered by sensor-based technologies, large open data, new ways of connecting and sharing information, as well as the ability to draw conclusions and justify. As far as technologies are concerned, it describes their multifunctionality and their high levels of connectivity, whereas in markets / economies it refers to technologies that, by supporting new forms of cooperation and value creation, lead to innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness. The term has been added to cities to describe efforts aimed at using innovative technologies to achieve resource optimization, effective and fair governance, sustainability and improved quality of life. The special importance given to encouraging research and innovation in the tourism sector favors the promotion of technologies that are connected with smart cities, as these, combined with other infrastructures, contribute to the strengthening of urban tourism, which represents a new strong tourist trend, with feedback from economic sectors such as energy and transport. Within the new development environment, ICTs are recognized as a dominant tool for enhancing the competitiveness of the tourism industry, promoting innovative entrepreneurship of the tourism sector and enriching and diversifying the tourist product and experience, which not only actively involve the visitor in offering and displaying tourist experiences but also link innovative elements to cultural and agri-cultural clusters. By using ICT applications, tourism organizations are given the opportunity to diversify their product to adapt it to the personal requirements of their customers. This has led to a globalization of the tourism system which facilitates both the consumers, by offering them concise, transparent and effective procedures, and the tourist destinations, by increasing their competitiveness. Their growing importance in tourism is illustrated by the concept of the term e-tourism, which is related to their use and their applications, and it is meant as the reflection of the digitization of all processes and value chains in tourism, travel, hospitality and dining. Their development, especially that of the internet, has created a new model of a tourist who is conscientious and is looking for great value of money and time. At the same time, the marketing of products or services through the Internet, which has been developedin connection with tourism, aims at the effective use of its tools for the better propulsion and promotion of the tourist destination or the hotel business and in order to offer profits to the business or the organization. Nowadays, transactions are made through wireless technology meaning that ICT requirements have been multiplied by the use of wireless applications and devices that ensure free movement to the user. The nature of mobile technology allows a world-wide presence, tracking, directness, personalization, radio retransmission, portability and identification. Thus, the pursued target should be the transition from electronic to so-called "smart" tourism, the one that, supported by integrated efforts to collect and gather data from physical infrastructure, social connections, governmental or organizational resources and people in a destination, in conjunction with the use of advanced technologies, attempts to transform these data into on-the-spot experiences and business value propositions with a clear focus on efficiency, sustainability and enriching experience. "Smart tourism" is basically a logical evolution from traditional and, more recently, from e-tourism, since the widespread adoption of Information Technologies and Communication (ICT) has laid the foundations for the innovations and technological orientation of the tourism industry and consumers, This development course continued with the simultaneous widespread adoption of social media and the enhancement of mobile tourism as a result of the high mobility of tourist information and consumers. In smart tourism, technology is not considered individual information systems but infrastructure and includes a variety of intelligent computing technologies that incorporate hardware, software and network technologies to deliver real-time real-world awareness and advanced analytics to help people get more smart decisions about alternative solutions and actions that, at the same time, can optimize business processes and performance. A basic concept in terms of tourism is the so-called destination, as a combination of products and services available at a place that can attract visitors beyond land-boundary constraints. However, a crucial factor to shape the desired "smart" technological environment, which includes the associated physical and digital infrastructures, is to disseminate and familiarize with the Internet of Things (IoT), This, although at present, is practically a vision, can rapidly become a new reality as a technological infrastructure, since it has been recognized as a very important base forthe services to be provided by smart tourist cities. The Internet will soon achieve its goal of being everywhere providing services available on a permanent basis, in order to create conditions for new applications and to promote new ways of working, interacting, entertaining and living. In Greece, with the passage of time has been understood by all the competent authorities the need to promote digital applications in tourism since the systematic exploitation and strengthening technological innovation in ICTs has become a strategic choice and bet for increasing competitiveness and highlighting quality of Greek tourism services. The modern technological tools adopted aim at enriching the tourist product and, at the same time, enhancing the extroversion of Greek tourism and contributing to the promotion and targeted and effective visibility of the country internationally as a top attractive destination for tourism 365 days a year. Local government is able to become a dominant promoter of smart city policy because it is an entity that brings together those competencies and resources that enable a coordinating role on this issue and the appropriate scale of implementation to bring measurable and tangible results. Since, to make a city smart requires close and efficient cooperation between municipal authorities, businesses and citizens, the central government need to install the necessary infrastructures to create a smart city environment, businesses need to actively participate in creating new innovative services and new business models that include new services and citizens need to become active and conscious users of new services, to provide relevant information and to evaluate these services. Therefore, each country, apart from specialized digital applications, must be digitally ready to welcome high-demanding visitors, in order not to be directed to other destinations. Thus, in Greece, cities need adequate support infrastructures, high-speed and high-capacity networks to make the tourist product fully accessible to businesses, visitors and citizens in every corner of the country and not to be complacent by the increase in arrivals. Some cities have already adopted the "smart tourism" strategy to boost their performance in the tourism sector in a conscious effort to remain active in the competitive tourism market. This marks the future of tourism, which is not limited to the traditional concept that existed until today, since the experience of the visitor is now mostly formatted digitally. The aim of this Thesis is to present, through the presentation of multiple components and levels of smart tourism applications in cities, that smart tourism notonly refers to intelligent destinations but also is a social phenomenon resulting from the convergence of ICTs with experience of tourism. At the same time, it is to be understood that, as we are in a time of unprecedented connectivity, due to the widespread use of mobile devices and the constant access to the Ιnternet, the promotion of smart targets in tourism, by bridging the natural world with the digital one, is absolutely necessary for the tourism development. However, the required dissemination and familiarization with the Internet of Things (IoT), although recognized as a major foundation for the services to be provided by smart tourist cities is, to a large extent, a vision. The research focuses on the degree of adaption of Greece to developments, in general, and more specifically through the presentation of the city of Heraklion as an intelligent tourist destination and, consequently, attempts to draw conclusions.
Main subject category:
Science
Keywords:
nformation and Communication Technologies, Internet of Things, smart cities, smart tourism, smart travel destination.
Index:
No
Number of index pages:
0
Contains images:
Yes
Number of references:
76
Number of pages:
103
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