Smart Cities in Travel and Tourism - Thematic Research

Smart Cities in Travel and Tourism - Thematic Research

Summary

According to GlobalData’s Q3 2021 Consumer Survey, 38% of global respondents stated that they typically take city breaks. This type of trip is in the top three for most typically taken, only behind sun and beach and visiting friends or family (which is often done in city locations). The popularity of city break tourism will only grow in future years with more of the world’s population flocking to live in cities. This will increase investment in a range of industries that are connected to tourism such as hospitality and transportation. Increased investment enhances the attractiveness of cities, which will drive domestic and international tourists to these destinations. Mass tourism in cities will spur the need for smart solutions to relieve additional pressure on resources and infrastructure, turning more municipalities into smart destinations.

This thematic research report takes an in-depth look at smart cities and destinations. Firstly, the players section and theme briefing identifies some of the leading and challenging companies in this theme and why smart cities and destinations are becoming increasingly important. A trends section is then provided, describing technology trends, macroeconomic trends, regulatory trends, and tourism trends connected to the smart cities theme. An industry analysis follows, providing insight into the leading smart cities, market size and growth forecasts, hiring and social media trends related to smart cities, and electric vehicles. Smart city and destination case studies, mergers and acquisitions, and a timeline which showcases the emergence of smart cities and destinations then completes the industry analysis section. Penultimately, the smart cities value chain is reviewed, with each segment of the chain being given an in-depth description. Finally, the most notable public and private companies in the smart cities theme are outlined, along with the leading smart cities and destinations.

“A smart tourism destination helps to improve travel and tourism’s contribution to metropolitan economies, it also aims to ensure quality of life for locals is impacted positively by tourism, instead of negatively, which can be through minimizing impacts related to overtourism, or reducing the effect of seasonality.”

Key Highlights

• Smart cities are not developed for the primary purpose of improving touristic experiences. However, the digital solutions that will help to run autonomous vehicles, reduce traffic congestion, measure foot traffic, minimize crime, enhance policy and decision making, and spur economic development will be critical in the creation of smart tourism destinations, which results in the improvement of touristic experiences. If government officials and stakeholders utilize the advanced technologies that form a smart city to enhance the ‘Five A’s’ (Amenities, Accessibility, Activities, Accommodation, and Ancillary Services) of tourism, it either becomes, or is evolving into, a smart tourism destination. These destinations most effectively harness the usage of technological tools, innovations, and techniques to promote positive experiences and efficient solutions for tourists. This helps to maximize profit for organizations operating in the smart destination and improves the GVA (Gross Value Added) of the tourism industry.
• Smart cities use AI in a range of different ways to provide services connected to the tourism industry. AI-powered robots may be increasingly used in smart cities to provide visitors with information regarding the destination they are visiting. Service robots can also be integrated with travel apps through 5G, which means their use cases will surpass basic tasks such as providing standard information about a destination or entertaining younger travelers with programmed jokes. With app integration, robots could manage travelers’ flights and bookings, provide translation services, book experiences and attractions, and recommend personalized itineraries.
• Florence’s ‘Feel Florence’ app has a setting that suggests routes and experiences to visitors while detecting tourist flows in real-time. Through collecting data from sensors deployed across the city, it lets visitors know which attractions are subject to overcrowding, meaning their experience in Florence will not be negatively impacted by overtourism. The app also helps to enhance experiences in the pre-trip stage. It allows users to state their preferences and interests to create a personalized travel itinerary on the app. In the during-trip stage, the app suggests the best ways to experience Greater Florence with its “skip the line” function, by analyzing turnout data (from sensors, cameras, and statistics), the app can show how crowded a location is and, if necessary, suggest less crowded attractions in the surrounding area.

• This report provides an overview of smart cities and destinations.
• It outlines the growing importance of smart city solutions.
• This report provides a detailed industry analysis of smart cities and destinations, discussing a wide range of use cases in the process.
• This report identifies the leading smart cities and destinations, and the key elements of their strategies.
• We highlight leading players in the smart cities theme, such as IBM, Huawei, Uber, Hostelling International USA, and Lyft.

• Understand the impact of smart cities on the tourism industry and use case studies to gain context.
• Assess the strategies that cities and destinations are adopting when using smart solutions.
• Discover the cities and destinations that are leading in this space.
• To view real-world trends created by the adoption of smart solutions in urban areas.
• GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.