Smart Tourism and Literary Tourism

Tourism, as a system, reflects and translates different and multiple resources, which, when integrated and articulated in certain contexts, form the tourist experience (Zhang et al., 2022). Recognised as part of cultural tourism and heritage tourism, literary tourism presupposes that the traveller goes to a particular destination motivated by its literary attributes (Topler et al., 2024). Therefore, considering that cultural tourism reflects the heritage and attributes of cultural attractions that are important as tourism products, strategies for connection and willingness to interact will be needed to achieve reciprocal benefits between the parties involved and the classification of value-generating user experiences (Lee & Jan, 2022).

Literary tourism experiences include literary tours, festivals, bookshops and libraries, parks, hotels, literary cities, and competitions, with the literary dimension being the purpose of those who take in or visit them (Topler et al., 2024). In this context, smart tourism boosts more convenient and sustainable spaces, more personalised experiences, and more and better possibilities for the design and offering of creative services, businesses based on innovative models and the emergence of new markets, which are more flexible and have different interpretations for creating value, where Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is unavoidable (Gretzel, 2021; Zhang et al., 2022).

The literature shows that ICT, on the one hand, has fundamentally changed the way travellers access and consume tourism products and, on the other hand, has generated new needs and opportunities for accessing data and, thus, a better understanding of travel behaviour (Gretzel, 2021; Zhang et al., 2022). Technology has a decisive role to play, as it (i) helps tourism and hotel agents to practise dynamic information management; (ii) enhances the fulfilment of consumer needs related to the demand for up-to-date and instant information; and (iii) provides competitive advantages by aiding decision-making processes (Sigala et al., 2024). In this context, technological evolution is not enormously essential but rather its potential for synchronised interaction, that is, the adoption of various technologies with a common purpose (Bhuiyan et al., 2022).

There are already several applications where smart technology interacts with literary tourism, promoting the collection, management, and communication of data, with benefits for all parties involved, from technology-based companies to end users, including accommodation units, tourist attractions, museums, restaurants, transport networks, routes, and parks, among others (Spot-lit, 2025). Examples such as these occurring in Ireland, with Irelands Literary West – To The Words & The Wild; in Finland, in the Kainuu region; in Scotland; or in Northern Ireland, where applications are being developed and implemented that allow the enrichment of the literary tourism experience through more detailed, intuitive and real-time knowledge about attractions, bookstores, facilities and paths, where the convergence between literature, culture and tourism is a virtuous reality (Spot-lit, 2025).

Within the scope of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/home), the Cities of Literature experience simultaneously includes the visitors' motivation to explore the unique literary characteristics of the destination and the utilisation of technology-based solutions that enhance the tourist experience (UNESCO, 2025). This interaction is of paramount importance for the growth and development of these cities (UNESCO, 2025).

Technology has transformed the tourist experience, restructuring it by interacting with multiple systems and environments, with social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp, and YouTube standing out in this regard, all Web 2.0 applications par excellence, translating new ways of facilitating the exchange of information (Gretzel, 2021). These networks are also synonymous with mobility, because through the smartphone - a communication tool and, at the same time, an accessory of everyday life - they enable a more hedonic and creative use, and the development of location-based services (LBS) makes places more immersive and captivating (Gretzel, 2021).

Smart tourism represents a phenomenon supported by smart technology, i.e. specific technologies and events that result in data providers and interaction promoters, including unexplored models such as sensory solutions, ubiquitous networks, near field communication (NFC), mobility-based devices, radio frequency identification (RFID), and ChatGPT, framed within high volumes of data that are permanently monitored and analysed (Sigala et al., 2024). In this context, the visual presentation of monuments in their current state, along with the contrast to the descriptions provided by the authors in their works, can spark curiosity and interest in visiting these sites in the future, particularly for those that are less frequently visited monuments (Solomon et al., 2022).

To summarise, smart tourism stems from capturing, processing, and communicating a destination's data, from its physical infrastructure, social interactions, and public and private institutions, which, combined with the adoption of contemporary technological innovations, enhances differentiating local tourism experiences and value-added businesses, with efficiency and sustainability criteria (Bhuiyan et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022).

Smart technology encompasses hardware, software, and networks, with real-time knowledge and analyses that assist in decision-making regarding optimising alternatives at personal and business levels (Bhuiyan et al., 2022). In this process, which is permanently unfinished, technological innovations continue to emerge and require new visions for the development of tourism (Gretzel, 2021). For example, the Internet of Things (IoT) leads to the widespread presence of a variety of objects, such as RFID tags, sensors, and mobile devices, among others, capable of interacting with each other and cooperating to achieve common goals, between the real world and the digital world (Bhuiyan et al., 2022). The development of mobile equipment supports a multitude of applications, combining visual marking of physical objects and NFC devices, which contribute to the development of the IoT (Bhuiyan et al., 2022). For instance, the N-LITE initiative is currently in progress, challenging small and medium-sized enterprises and community organisations to propose innovative digital solutions that merge storytelling with immersive technologies, aimed at enhancing literary and cultural tourism experiences in the historical landscapes of Ireland (N-LITE, 2025).

Smart tourism therefore represents an important milestone in the evolution and application of ICT, with the physical and governance dimensions entering the digital sphere, with new levels of intelligence and increasingly significant interactions, namely in the tourist experiences´ creation, mediation, consumption and sharing (Bhuiyan et al., 2022; Sigala et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2022).

Particularly noteworthy in this context are co-created experiences, which, by focussing above all on the involvement of the individual and the value of the service or the experience creation, have fundamental support in the growing proliferation of ICT, transforming the level of this customer involvement in the development of products and services, enshrining the integration of consumers as a fundamental resource in contemporary innovation processes (Bhuiyan et al., 2022).

This is a multi-impact scenario, capable of transforming the market, particularly at the level of actors, organisational structures, and business practices, with the capacity to change the corresponding rationales of market segment and value addition, distribution and communication, consumer relations, revenue sources and resource optimisation, the establishment of partnerships and increase in activities (Lee & Jan, 2022; Zhang et al., 2022). The collection, exchange, and processing of a huge amount of data is crucial as support for information, and for interaction, which leads to the visual, analytical, integrative and user connection that will allow better technologically mediated options, particularly at the decision-making process level, and contextual dimension and perception, among others (Sigala et al., 2024). This is a reality where tourism activity assumes vital importance with various stakeholders, including tourists and local communities, producers and distributors, digital channels, public entities and regulators, transporters, technology-based services, consultants, tourist facilities, and residential buildings (Bhuiyan et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022). As such, the technological factor of smart tourism is multidimensional, consisting of ubiquitous infrastructure and more mobile and context-sensitive information systems. This results in increasingly complex and dynamic connectivity that supports real-time interactions, not only with the physical environment but also with the community and society in general, directly and/or indirectly related to the traveller, which has enormous potential in literary tourism (Sigala et al., 2024).

This not only reflects a current reality in literary tourism but also signifies the immense potential for growth in a context where adopting innovative technological solutions, along with understanding visitors' needs and expectations, is becoming increasingly crucial for the success of tourism (Sigala et al., 2024).

How to cite this dictionary entry: Vaz Serra, P., & Seabra, C. (2025). Smart Tourism and Literature Tourism. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia.