Journal of Tourism Intelligence and Smartness

Yazarlar: Sibel MEHTER AYKIN

Konular:Otelcilik, Konaklama, Spor ve Turizm

Anahtar Kelimeler:European Union,Tourism Policy,European Capital of Smart Tourism,Helsinki

Özet: The European Union carries out supporting, coordinating and complementing activities in order to provide a favourable environment for the development of tourism enterprises and compete with the emerging destinations. The European Union defined the priorities of its New Tourism Policy by the policy document entitled Europe, the World’s No 1 Tourist Destination – A New Political Framework for Tourism in Europe. Within this context, 4 strategical priorities and a several number of tools were introduced in order to achieve the aim of developing a competitive, sustainable, modern and socially responsible tourism sector. Most recently, a new tool has been added onto the existing ones and a contest on the European Capital of Smart Tourism was organized by the European Commission. It is a must to provide accessible, sustainable, digital goods and services, and a must to intermingle cultural heritage and innovation so as to enrich the goods and services provided to the visitors for any tourism destination to become a European Capital of Smart Tourism. Despite the fact that the contest is open only for the member states, it is inpiring for the cities that aspire to become smart tourism destination. Therefore, it seems to be the right choice to scrutinize the winning cities of the contest and to learn from their experiences. In this respect, the aim of this paper is to explain the European Capital of Smart Tourism initiative within the context of tourism policy of the Europan Union and to raise awareness on the issue. In this paper, qualitative analysis based on case study is realized. In line with the defined aim and method, after explaining the content of tourism policy realized at the European Union level, the European Capital of Smart Tourism initiative, develepod as an instrument for applying the above stated policy, is thoroughly dealt with. Foregrounding the case of Helsinki as a European Capital of Smart Tourism, the paper is concluded by a set of recommendations for those cities striving for becoming a smart tourism destination.

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