Applications, Experiences, and Challenges of Smart Tourism Development in China

Abstract

Despite the increasing attention given to smart tourism in China, limited research has been conducted on this topic. The purpose of this research was to analyze the stakeholders, applications, experiences, and challenges of smart tourism in China. Public–private partnership played a dominant role in China’s smart tourism construction. Smart technologies were applied in information platform construction, tourism statistics innovation, information offering, overcrowding management, environment and resource protection, experience co-creation and personalization, tourism traffic, and marketing. The experiences and challenges of China’s smart tourism initiative, which can provide valuable implications for other destinations to improve smartness level, were also identified.