The effect of smart tourism technologies on the marketability of destinations: Example of region TR81

With the rapid population growth in the world, the problem of not using the resources effectively and efficiently has emerged. Especially with the crowdedness of metropolises, social, economic, environmental and organizational problems have increased more. City managers sought technological solutions for these problems and tried to overcome these problems with the help of smart approaches. In this context, the concept of smart city constitutes one of the most emphasized issues in recent years. In short, the smart city emerges as a new model in which new generation information systems are used in all areas from the planning of the city to its construction, from the management to the services provided. In the context of the smart city concept, the tourism industry adapts smart technologies quickly. Developments in information and communication technologies and the use of smart technologies in tourism have led to the emergence of a new concept called smart tourism. Smart tourism can be described as a concept that includes the integration of smart technologies into the tourism sector and is used in all areas of the sector. So, smart tourism is a technological transformation that provides added value to the tourist's experience by meeting all kinds of individual needs of tourists and using tourism resources in the target destination effectively. It is seen that tourism destinations have started to use smart tourism technologies widely in order to enrich the tourist experience, increase the tourist's travel comfort, and thus make the destination more attractive. In order for tourism destinations to become smart destinations, it is of great importance to use the technological infrastructure in the goods and services to be offered to the tourists and to enrich the tourist experiences with the technological opportunities to be offered. It has seen that many destinations in the world have evolved into smart destinations. In this context, the cities of Helsinki, Lyon, Málaga, Gothenburg, Bordeaux and Valencia can be given as examples of smart tourism destinations. In these cities, it will be possible for tourists to access the information they need (for example, easy access to the historical and cultural values of the city, real-time information with the help of tourism supply sources, collecting all kinds of information about tourists through information and communication technologies and making demand analysis etc.). Thanks to this data to be obtained, the promotion and marketing activities of the city will be carried out more effectively. So much so that smart tourism applications are thought to be of great importance in the context of creating a touristic image and branding in tourism for the provinces of Bartın, Karabük and Zonguldak, whose tourist hosting potential is not at the desired level. The starting point of this study is the rapid use of technological innovations in all areas of the tourism sector and the rapid adaptation of smart technologies by touristic destinations in the context of the concept of smart city. With this research, TR81 region was evaluated as a tourism destination, and it was tried to reveal how smart tourism technologies would affect the marketability of the destination. According to the results of the research, the creation of the smart city infrastructures of the provinces of Bartın, Karabük and Zonguldak in the TR81 region, followed by smart applications for the tourists visiting the region, providing free wifi service in all open areas in the cities, establishment of information and communication technology units in public institutions and organizations where information about tourists coming to the city is followed, development of interactive mobile applications specific to cities, the region is included in all GPS sharing platforms, it is necessary to establish a travel and accommodation platform for the region and to establish tourist information offices with digital equipment.