Applicability of the smart tourism destination case i̇n the example of Malatya

With the increase in urbanization rates, cities have faced many spatial and social challenges. As a result, new searches have emerged in urban planning theories. Developments in the field of information and communication technologies have led to changes in the management and service provision of cities. Resource efficiency and sustainable city services provided by technology have formed the basis of the smart city phenomenon. Thanks to smart city applications, problems can be analyzed in many ways, and citizens can access all kinds of services directly and faster. The information and communication technology infrastructure formed in smart cities has also enabled the presentation of smart tourism applications. Smart tourism technologies; cloud computing network, virtual reality, augmented reality, Qr coded applications etc. examination of destinations and touristic focal points without going to the location; making travel plans, accommodation-entertainment etc. reservation and purchase of services, etc. facilitates services. Thanks to the smart tourism destinations that emerged as a result of the integration of smart city components with tourism sector components; While all kinds of data about the destination can be accessed before and during the trip, the experiences gained after the trip can be shared instantly. While an environment of opportunity is created for the destination to renew itself in line with the shared experiences, the quality of life of the local residents increases with the satisfaction level of the tourist visiting the destination. With innovative services that add value to smart tourism destinations, the ability to take precautions before possible crises and threats, to manage during a crisis, and to recover after a crisis increases. The Covid-19 pandemic or local/regional-scale natural disasters, which emerged as a global epidemic, also means that smart city and smart tourism destination applications; showed that individuals, societies and cities can be used to be more resilient against crises. In this study, the requirements for Malatya province to be considered as a smart tourism destination were questioned. First, the smart city phenomenon and its 6 components are explained; Intelligent services offered in the cities of the world and Türkiye were conveyed. In the next section, smart tourism is examined together with its components and the technological applications used in this field are explained. Smart tourism applications carried out in the cities of Venice, Salzburg, Macau and Dubai, which are accepted as important tourism destinations in the world, are presented. In the next section, which includes threats to tourism destinations and smart city applications; The earthquake was mentioned within the scope of the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters. The tourism values of the province of Malatya, which was determined as the study area, were presented in detail and the tourism statistics of the province were evaluated. In order to evaluate the applicability of smart tourism in Malatya destination, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourism stakeholders in the city. Depending on the findings obtained from these interviews, together with the tourism infrastructure of the city, the current situation of the city as a smart tourism destination has been conveyed. In the last part, suggestions have been made in line with the goal of the city to be a smart tourism destination. Keywords: Smart Tourism, Smart Tourism Destination, Smart City, Tourism Technology, Malatya