Smart Tourism Destination - New Exploration towards Sustainable Development in Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

Tourism is one of the most prosperous economic activities in the world. The Sultanate of Oman is an emerging tourist destination on the Arabian Peninsula. Tourism experiences are the core product in tourism industry with direct impact on tourist's satisfaction. More recently, there has been a paradigm shift in tourism towards more user-friendly intelligent systems based on information technology called “smart tourism”. A smart tourism destination is characterized by a high level of innovation and facilitation using higher order technology and interfaces. Smart Tourism is reliant on four core information and communication technologies: IoT, mobile communication, cloud computing, and artificial intelligent technology. The future of tourism is based on technological development and its rapid and extensive implementation at all tourism sector's levels. 6As of tourism destinations such as Attractions, Accessibility, Amenities, Available Packages, Activities and Ancillary Services that will facilitate a dynamic cocreation process to increase destination competitiveness. These 6 A's along with the smart application will add value to the touristic experience. As tourism experiences progress to become smart, there would be enormous opportunities for the development of new businesses that can show new exploration to the Sustainable Development in Oman.