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Accordingly, destination promotion can be understood as a combination of
communication, marketing, and promotional activities designed to present the image,
information, unique values, and competitive advantages of a tourism destination to target
markets, thereby influencing tourists’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, and
encouraging them to visit and experience the destination.
In the context of global digital transformation, the rapid advancement of
information and communication technologies (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data,
and the Internet of Things (IoT) has fundamentally reshaped the operational mechanisms
of the tourism industry. This has led to the emergence of the concept of “smart tourism,”
which is defined as a technology-driven approach to tourism development aimed at
enhancing tourist experiences and optimizing destination management (Gretzel et al.,
2015; Buhalis & Amaranggana, 2014). Within this framework, technology evolves from a
supporting tool into a core infrastructure that enables real-time data integration,
processing, and analysis. Tourism data, collected from multiple sources such as mobile
devices, IoT sensors, and online platforms, becomes a strategic asset that allows
stakeholders to better understand tourists’ behaviors, needs, and expectations.
Alongside smart tourism, the concept of “smart destination promotion” has
increasingly attracted scholarly attention. Smart destination promotion retains the core
essence of traditional destination promotion but is implemented through digital
technology platforms. It is characterized by interactivity, personalization, and data-driven
approaches, aiming to enhance tourist experiences and optimize the effectiveness of
destination management and development in the long term.
According to Buhalis and Amaranggana (2013), smart destinations are built upon
three key pillars: ICT infrastructure, IoT-enabled systems, and stakeholder engagement. In
this context, promotion shifts from a push-based model to a pull-based model driven by
real-time interaction. Instead of delivering mass messages, smart promotion leverages
algorithms to analyze user behavior and provide the right information, at the right time,
in the right place (Gretzel et al., 2015).
Smart destination promotion operates within a highly interconnected digital
ecosystem involving tourists, tourism enterprises, and governmental authorities. This
connectivity facilitates continuous and multidirectional interactions, where tourists are
not merely passive recipients of information but active participants in content creation
and dissemination through digital platforms. Consequently, promotional activities evolve
from simple information provision to experience creation and value co-creation.
Based on the synthesis of these perspectives, smart destination promotion can be
defined as the process of utilizing digital technology platforms (including ICT, AI, Big Data,
and IoT) as core infrastructure to collect, analyze, and leverage data in order to design
and implement interactive, personalized, and co-creative promotional activities. This
process effectively connects tourists, businesses, and government stakeholders, enhances
comprehensive tourism experiences, and optimizes destination management and
development.
Characteristics of smart destination promotion
In traditional models, destination promotion is primarily understood as one-way
marketing communication, where destination management organizations act as
information providers and tourists as passive recipients (Kotler et al., 2017). Promotional
tools typically include advertising, public relations, trade fairs, and printed materials.

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