Tomáš Gajdošík

Towards a Conceptual Model of Intelligent Information System for Smart Tourism Destinations.

Smart tourism destinations represent a new concept of application of information technologies and information sharing in destinations, leading to the higher competitiveness and satisfaction of all relevant stakeholders, including tourists as tourism product co-creators and co-promoters of a destination. Although the use of information technologies in tourism destinations is well analyzed, the requirements on information system integrating all relevant technologies have not been conceptualized so far. Therefore the aim of the paper is to propose a conceptual model of intelligent information system for smart tourism destinations based on the state-of-the art technologies applied in tourism destinations. The selected smart destinations are analyzed together with the use of information technologies during the travel behavior. The proposed model consists of three layers – data collection, processing and exchange. The article contributes to the new paradigm research – the management of smart destinations and use of big data in tourism development.

Innovation Process in Mountain Destinations: Does Sustainability Matter? The High Tatras Case Study

Nowadays innovations are considered as one of the key sources of performance and competitiveness among tourism destinations. As tourism development is primarily based on their natural sources, the innovation process should respect the criteria of sustainable development. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the implementation of innovations in mountain destinations and examine their effect on sustainable tourism development. The research adopts in-depth analysis of the Central European destination High Tatras, concerning primary and secondary data from a survey and interviews with destination managers, tourism stakeholders, local inhabitants and annual reports. The novelty of this analysis lies in examining the connection of implementing different categories of innovations within different stages of the destination life cycle. The chapter concludes that various categories of innovation with different effects on sustainability are implemented in different stages of the destination life cycle.

Innovations and networking fostering tourist destination development in Slovakia

Abstract The paper focuses on the implementation of innovations and networking in the sector of tourism in two Slovak mountain destinations of international significance. The main objective of the paper is to identify and evaluate how innovations and networking contribute to tourist destination development in Slovakia. The implementation of institutional innovation resulted in the establishment of formal and informal networks. The developed networks consist of representatives of all sectors co-ordinating all relevant stakeholders. Formal and informal networks and the collaboration among stakeholders have launched other types of innovations in the tourism sector. The interactions and intensity of relations among stakeholders are analysed by network analysis. Destinations are compared with the network of the same size and density through quantitative network characteristics. Based on empirical research we investigate the impact of networks and innovations on tourist destination development. Due to the synergy effect of networking and implementation of multiple innovations, tourist destination development is observed.