The upcoming Global Report on Smart Tourism in Cities: offering world tourism cities new ideas of building smart cities

From September 2nd through the 4th, the WTCF Helsinki Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2019 will be held in Finland’s capital, Helsinki. The theme of the summit is “Smart Tourism — Road to City Innovation and Development”. The Global Report on Smart Tourism in Cities, an important academic research achievement of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) will be released during the summit. Through case sharing, the report will inspire world tourism cities to better develop according to their own characteristics.

The Global Report on Smart Tourism in Cities makes an overall assessment of the level of city members’ smart tourism development mainly by administering questionnaires, and conducting an in-depth analysis of how these cities use cutting-edge science and technology to improve their status of development.

The report includes the key principles of “smart tourism” and “smart destination management”. It emphasizes the experience of smart tourism city construction in six city members of WTCF, including Beijing, Chengdu, Madrid, Helsinki, Buenos Aires and Marrakech, as well as the experience of two institutional members, Tencent and Ctrip, in helping cities with developing smart tourism. Additionally, the report especially introduces successful cases, in which MIT Senseable City Lab, with the assistance of leading-edge engineering and mathematics models, provided technological support in smart tourism cities’ development. It is hoped that this report will provide a new alternative for the local governments of cities within the WTCF and to encourage active adoption of technological innovation to meet the needs of tourists and citizens.

What’s more, the report analyses the experiences and perceptions of Chinese tourists as consumers. It is known to us that China has become the largest source of tourists worldwide. The unique consumption and habits of Chinese tourists have promoted the transformation of many overseas destinations’ service models. Assessing the development of smart tourism in overseas cities from the perspective of Chinese tourists can provide valuable reference for the industry’s development in various cities around the world, especially in terms of attractiveness for future Chinese travelers.

As the world’s first international tourism organization focusing on cities, WTCF always upholds the core vision of Better City Life through Tourism and commits to promoting cooperation and exchange among tourism cities in the world. The total number of members of the WTCF has reached 218, covering 73 countries and territories worldwide.