Keywords

Introduction

Granada is a city in southern Spain with almost 250,000 inhabitants. Some of its must-visit sites are the Palace of the Alhambra, the Generalife Gardens, the San Nicolás lookout, the Albaicín (old Moorish quarter), and the Cathedral with its Royal Chapel where the Catholic Monarchs are buried. These sites attracted more than three million visitors in 2018, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2017. This translated into 6,265,559 overnight stays representing a growth of 5.8% (El Independiente, 2018). Most of the tourists are from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Italy and Japan (Granadatur, 2018). Despite these positive figures, Granada’s city council desires to attract even more tourists in 2021 and for this reason plans to launch a series of measures, notably a project to convert Granada into a smarter city. In other words, it aims to make Granada more accessible, sustainable, technological and communicative.

This case study aims to delve deeper into the origin, application and initiatives of Smart Tourism Destinations (henceforth STD) in order to help students grasp the definition of a smart city and help the city council of Granada identify the most useful technological platforms and services required to become one. It likewise serves to evaluate the potential pros and cons of becoming an STD for businesses and consumers.

Background: e-GRANADA, a Smart Tourism Destination Program

The team led by Sainz was charged in January 2020 with implementing an STD program in Granada called “e-Granada” to offer technological, sustainable and accessibility solutions to tourists and businesses. The team includes experts in marketing, technology, tourism, geography and ecommerce. Despite their high level of expertise, they do not have a clear understanding of the characteristics of STDs, the most useful technological platforms and services, or the potential advantages and disadvantages of STDs for businesses and consumers.

The e-Granada team sought out information, programs and initiatives from other Spanish cities already considered STDs. Specifically, the team consulted The White Paper on Smart Tourist Destinations in Spain (Segittur, 2019). This is an official platform that offers an in-depth explanation of (i) the definition of STDs and their main characteristics, (ii) which smart applications and services are put in place in Spain’s STDs, and (iii) the perception of STDs by companies and potential tourists.

Based on data gleaned from this report, students should clarify the main initiatives of STDs applicable to the e-Granada project, as well as identify possible reactions of tourists and companies to smart environments. The following sections, besides advancing elements serving for this case study, aim for the student to (i) acquire advanced knowledge as to the definition and characteristics of STDs, (ii) gain a deeper grasp of the most useful technological platforms and services required by a city to become an STD and (iii) evaluate the potential pros and cons of creating a smarter city for businesses and consumers.

Theoretical Background: Smart Cities and Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs)

The World Tourism Organization recorded 1400 million worldwide tourists for 2018 (UNWTO, 2019). The tourism sector accounts for 10% of the global gross domestic product and 7% of world exports. Moreover, one in ten jobs worldwide is linked to tourism which directly or indirectly generates even more employment (UNWTO, 2019).

The exponential increase in tourism has nonetheless generated serious problems: (i) climate change due to the substantial increase of urban waste (Amelung & Viner, 2006), (ii) massification of urban and natural destinations (Capocchi et al., 2019), (iii) seasonality leading to precarious employment and a concentration of economic activity limited to a few months of the year (Pou, 2012), (iv) inflation due to an increase in demand over that of supply (González & Ruiz, 2006), and (v) a surge in noise and pollution due to increased vehicle use (Castro, 2003).

Smart Cities

Governmental and academic institutions have in recent years attempted to design sustainable, technological and efficient cities to counter many of these issues (Gretzel et al., 2015), actions that have giving rise to the notion of smart cities. According to Manville et al. (2014), a smart city has to adhere to the following requirements: (i) invest heavily in human and social capital, (ii) incorporate both traditional and modern communication infrastructures, (iii) apply sustainable energy sources, (iv) bolster economic growth and a high quality of life, (v) develop a smart management of natural resources, and (vi) implement a participatory type of governance.

The main benefits of creating smart cities are the following:

  • Medium- and long-term savings. An efficient use of resources reduces costs (energy, administrative, etc.).

  • Better services. Improvement of quality and a more efficient governance are fundamental to all facets of smart cities to enhance services.

  • Better quality of life. Upgrading public, welfare, and environmental services leads to greater satisfaction among residents.

  • Opportunity for industrial development. Establishing new technology-based and environmentally sustainable companies pave the way to create new industries.

Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs)

Large cities are themselves tourist centers that constantly attract visitors and therefore must adapt to the needs of tourism. Tourists are considered temporary residents, that is, citizens who make use of the public resources of the place they visit. They are external agents characterized by intense consumption. The role of tourists in the development of smart cities has given rise to the so-called Smart Tourist Destinations (Gretzel et al., 2015). According to García and Jiménez (2014), STDs are innovative spaces founded on state-of-the-art technological infrastructures that take advantage of the surge of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to offer efficient services. Their objective is to guarantee a sustainable development of a territory rendering it accessible to all, and facilitate interaction and integration of the visitor with the environment.

Giffinger et al. (2007) and Kaur and Kaur (2016) conclude that actions to develop STDs must be carried out based on the following six pillars:

  • Mobility concerns the development of a safe, accessible, sustainable and efficient transport infrastructure as traffic congestion, besides provoking accidents and deaths, leads to acoustic and environmental pollution.

  • E-Government represents the relationship of the municipal government with its citizens based on transparency and participatory decision-making. STDs require management of online procedures that facilitate bureaucratic procedures, time, travel and cost savings (eadministration, e-participation, open government and open data, analytical applications). As a result, Giffinger et al. (2007) and Kaur and Kaur (2016) propose improvements to managing public buildings, public infrastructure and urban equipment.

  • Economyfor smartdestinations. It is crucial to develop new models of funding based on public-private contributions (open data, space for entrepreneurs, co-working, etc.). This encourages the development of an innovation-based economy capable of attracting emerging companies applying low carbon emissions. Hence, smart cities offer steps to (i) encourage innovation and entrepreneurship to both residents and future visitors by creating, for example, business incubators and collaborative work spaces, (ii) link the brand of the city with innovation, creativity and knowledge and, (iii) support tourism as a sector that generates urban economic development.

  • Society. It is essential that the authorities of cities and smart destinations bear in mind the concepts of education, human capital and culture put in place by e-learning and teleworking, tourism and cultural information services, levels of qualification and citizen participation. It is likewise of utmost value to offer open Wi-Fi networks in city halls and public buildings. Finally, universal accessibility, essential to smart cities and destinations, can be attained by eliminating architectural barriers, improving lighting and access to the web for the visual and/or auditory disabled.

  • Lifestyle. Smart cities and destinations reflect a technological and efficient commitment to public safety. This includes management of emergency public services and civil protection, video surveillance and citizen security, as well as fire protection and detection. Also of essence is an efficient health management involving the participation of municipalities to offer primary health care through telemonitoring and telemedicine, telecare and social services, and public health. Thus emerges the concept of “smart living” which refers to a safe life devoid of instability and risk to physical integrity in the same territory and access to housing.

  • Energy efficiency and the environment are focal points of smart destinations. They encompass a rational distribution of energy, collection and treatment of urban waste, management of parks and public gardens and real-time monitoring of environmental parameters so as to guarantee energy without service cuts. The commitment to renewable energy (photovoltaic, geothermal, aeolian, biomass, etc.) is key to achieving these objectives.

STDs in Practice: The White Paper on Smart Tourist Destinations in Spain

The team charged with implementing e-Granada must carry out an in-depth study of The White Paper on SmartTourist Destinationsin Spain (Segittur, 2019) so as to (i) come a general understanding of the solutions and applications adopted by STDs, (ii) explore the current initiatives and programs implemented by Spain’s STDs, and (iii) identify the perceptions of STDs by tourists and companies. These are key to the development of a comprehensible and realistic e-Granada project intended to bolster tourism in 2021.

Technological Solutions for STDs

The White Paper on Smart Tourist Destinations in Spain (Segittur, 2019) offers smart technological solutions differing from those of traditional destinations (Fig. 12.1). Table 12.1 lists their differences.

Fig. 12.1
A collage of two photos labeled a and b. A is the side view of a girl wearing a V R headset. She extends her hands to her front, in the air. B is a close up of a concrete road with stepped pavements.

(a) Example of augmented reality typical of a smart tourism destinations. (b) Example of the hazards of noninclusive paving typical of traditional tourism destinations. (Source: (a) Pixabay (9 February 2020) at https://n9.cl/ztx5; (b) Adapted from Moravia (9 February 2020) at https://n9.cl/qwe2)

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Table 12.1 Features of traditional and smart tourist destinations
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The notions that can be gleaned from Table 12.1 confirm the advances of STDs: (i) pre-trip: a boom in online travel agencies, chatbots, social networks and online ticketing, (ii) in-trip: virtual traveler communities (e.g., Tripadvisor), collaborative tourism, geolocation and accessibility and sustainability in cities, and (iii) post-trip: social networks and commentary traveler platforms.

Examples of STDs in Spain

Barcelona

The smart city initiative adopted by Barcelona was crucial to alleviate the deficiencies of its housing, environment, transport, water, energy and waste problems. ICT was crucial in achieving changes in these areas. The Barcelona Smart city project resorted to technology to allow its residents and elements (buses, metro, stoplights) to be connected leading to a more sustainable, green, competitive and innovative atmosphere.

The project “Barcelona city of people” inaugurated in 2010 resorted to new technologies to promote economic development which led Barcelona, four years later, to receive the European Capital of Innovation award. The project, based on growth and well-being of its inhabitants, was founded on the following five pillars: (i) open data, (ii) sustainable growth (promotion of electric vehicles, smart lighting), (iii) social innovation, (iv) alliances between research centers, universities, private partners and the public and, (v) smart ICT-based services.

Seven years later, the Barcelona Digital city 2017–2021 project aims to create a type of design leaning toward more openness and efficiency. The goal is to promote digitalization and innovation, opening areas that assist citizens in the use of technology to improve public services. The more outstanding actions characterizing a smart city are the following:

  • LED lights that measure pollution with real-time sensors

  • Monitoring of waste collection points

  • Free internet points

  • Information on the best places to park and free parking places

  • Promotion of electric vehicles and bicycles

  • Improvement of water management in parks and public places

Malaga

The city of Malaga has evolved from a “sun and beach“type of tourism to a new model based on cultural and smart tourism (e.g., Picasso, Thyssen, Pompidou museums). Among its objectives in 2018, apart from its normal sun and beach offer, is the “Malaga, smart city“project marked by the following initiatives.

  • Sustainable mobility which prioritizes quality public transport and electric vehicles to decease private gasoline or diesel car use.

  • Energy efficiency uses smart green sustainable technologies by installing smart and efficient points and a smart subway (its greatest initiative).

  • Universal accessibility for both residents and visitors to adapt the city to the mobility of anybody in any circumstance.

  • Active citizen participation to offer applications to communicate and update incidents (such as traffic problems) through smartphones to facilitate universal accessibility.

  • Commitment to ICT entrepreneurship through technology to promote business projects.

Malaga was selected as the European Capital of Smart Tourism for 2021 in a competition initiated by the European Parliament and implemented by the European Commission. The competition other candidates including as Nice (France), Ravenna (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Karlsruhe (Germany), Gothenburg (Sweden), Bremerhaven (Germany), Breda (Holland), Turin (Italy) and Bratislava (Slovakia). The goal of the competition is to recognize achievements in the tourism offer along the lines of accessibility, sustainability, creativity, cultural heritage and digitalization.

Santander

Santander is one of Spain’s first smart cities. The “SmartSantander project” adopted in 2011 placed more than 15,000 sensors (connected by 1200 nodes) throughout the city over an area of approximately 13.4 square miles to offer real-time data on different environmental parameters (light, temperature, noise, CO2). The sensors also serve other concerns such as availability of parking spaces in certain areas of its center. These static sensors are hidden in white boxes of street lamps, buildings and utility poles, while others serving for parking information are buried under the asphalt. Other portable sensors are placed in the city’s public transport system (buses, taxis and police vehicles).

Benidorm

The city of Benidorm is particularly interesting to e-Granada as it is Spain’s first certified STD. It was awarded the rating of Q by the Institute of Spanish Tourism Quality as it passed the UNE 178501 Management System Smart Tourist Destination certification by AENOR. Table 12.2 lists some of Benidorm’s STD strategies.

Table 12.2 Examples of smart applications and services adopted by Benidorm
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The Perception of Academics and Experts of the Benefits of Using Technology in Tourism Destination

The findings of the study of Reverté et al. (2018) in combination with those of The White Paper on Smart Tourist Destinations in Spain (Segittur, 2019) shed light on the perceptions of academics and experts on the questions of STD competitiveness, tourism experience, markets and satisfaction, security, privacy, and technology acceptance. The different authors of these papers also explore the notions of technology use and acceptance of risk, and the expectations of potential tourists to the STD experience.

The following points relate specifically to the perception of tourism experts and tourists.

  • Tourism experts

    • Most consider that the inclusion of technological elements is key to the development of STDs (3.94 out 5) and that the inclusions lead to improvements of strategic and technological business models (3.35 of 5).

    • Most (81%; 4.06 of 5) report that inclusion of smart elements in tourist destinations improves the tourist experience.

    • Experts on the whole do not consider that there is a significant reduction in the privacy and security of tourists as a result of including smart elements (2.24 of 5).

    • Expert nonetheless express doubts as to the extent to which tourists apply the technology (3.18 of 5).

  • Tourists

    • Tourists in general consider themselves prepared to use technology during their trip (4.2 of 5).

    • Most (85%; 4.21 of 5) feel that geolocation and hyperconnected devices are useful to their tourism experience.

    • Most do not mind that their information is used by third parties for personalized services, but they dislike being geolocated (3 of 5).

Business Problems and Questions

The city council of Granada aims to put in place a smart tourism plan for 2021 to bolster visits to the city. Its mayor commissioned a team led by Sainz made up of experts in marketing, technology, tourism, geography and e-commerce to develop the e-Granada project to implement technological, sustainable and accessibility services for tourists. Despite their high level of expertise, the team does not reveal a clear understanding of STD characteristics, the most useful technological platforms and services or their potential advantages and disadvantages for businesses and consumers.

Aiming to develop a comprehensible and realistic e-Granada project, Sainz and her team closely examined the findings of The White Paper on SmartTourist Destinationsin Spain (Segittur, 2019), an official platform offering in-depth observations as to (i) the definition of STDs and their main characteristics, (ii) which smart applications and services are used by Spanish cities already considered as smart destinations, and (iii) the perception of companies and potential tourists of STDs.

The results of this study point to several issues that require consideration in order to promote Granada as a smart destination. As members of Sainz’s team, the students are asked to review the results of the exploratory study and submit an evaluation of the most useful technological platforms and services to incorporate and their potential pros and cons for businesses and consumers.

  • Technological platforms and services of STDs

    • What types of platforms should Granada adopt in order to evolve from a traditional to a smart tourist destination?

    • What specific services help make the pre-trip experience smart?

    • What smart initiatives should be adopted to improve the tourism experience during and after the trip?

    • Include two potential examples of sustainability, citizenship and mobile apps initiatives that should be adopted by a city to make it smart.

  • The pros and cons of STDs

    • Business: What are the potential benefits for companies from Granada after it becomes a smart city? Will they be harmed? What types of companies will experience a greatest boom? Why?

    • Tourists: To what extent are tourists prepared to make use of the technologies offered by a tourist destination? What are the main advantages of smart destinations for tourists? And the main disadvantages?

Conclusions

Despite the continued growth of tourism in the city of Granada, its city council is attempting to increase their number and improve the experience further in 2021. It therefore entrusted a team led by Sainz to develop a smart city project called “e-Granada” intended to enhance technological, sustainable and accessibility services for tourism. Despite the efforts of the team made up of experts from different fields, it does not fully grasp the characteristics of STDs, their most useful technological platforms and services, and their potential advantages and disadvantages for businesses and consumers.

Aiming to develop a comprehensible and realistic e-Granada project, the team mandated by the city council consulted The White Paper on SmartTourist Destinationsin Spain (Segittur, 2019), an official platform which offers an in depth definition of STDs, their main characteristics, the smart applications and services developed by Spanish cities considered STDs, and the perception of STDs by companies and potential tourists. The data advanced by the official report confirms the following notions:

  • Granada can incorporate technological initiatives and platforms at various stages of the tourism experience. For the (i) pre-trip these include online travel agencies, chatbots, social networks and online ticketing. For the (ii) in-trip there are virtual traveler communities (e.g., Tripadvisor), collaborative tourism, geolocation, accessibility and sustainability, whereas for the (iii) post-trip there are comments on social networks and travel platforms.

  • Despite the fact that most tourism professionals report that inclusion of smart elements into tourist destinations will improve the tourist experience, they nonetheless express doubts as to the extent to which tourists are turning to technology.

  • Tourists are generally prepared for the use of technology during their tourist experience. They nonetheless show concern about the monitoring of their location.