Revolutionizing travel: The role of smart tourism technologies in enhancing tourist satisfaction and shaping sustainable destination images: Insights from Istanbul

Abstract

Smart tourism technologies (STT) play a crucial role in enhancing traveler experiences by providing personalized, efficient, and data-driven services. Such technologies help tourism firms to optimize resource management, improve accessibility, and foster innovation in the industry. Keeping in view such an enhanced significance, this paper explores the role of smart tourism technologies (STT) on the perceived value experience of STT, tourists’ experience satisfaction, and the sustainable image of a famous tourist destination. The role of smart tourism technologies was assessed by their attributes, i.e., information, accessibility, interactivity, personalization, and security to propose the research model and do exploration of the revolutionized travel experiences. The survey method is used to collect data from 142 tourists of Istanbul, a city in Türkiye, and analyze by Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that tourists place more value on what they perceive from smart tourism technologies. The measurement model has good reliability and validity. The structural model indicates the significance of relationships of smart tourism technologies (STT). The perceived smart tourism technologies experience has a significant impact on travel experience satisfaction, and tourist experience satisfaction has a significant impact on sustainable destination image. The exploration of the STT attributes towards tourist experience satisfaction and sustainable destination image through the proposed model are theoretical contribution. The availability of accurate, reliable information through user-friendly smart apps and websites with better personalization features to enhance tourists' experiences are the practical implications. The limitations of the study and directions for further research are discussed and presented in the conclusion.