Boosting innovation and development? The Italian Smart Tourism, a critical perspective

This paper deals with smart tourism practices and innovative tools supporting cultural heritage, with the aim of evaluating their potential in the Italian scenery. In particular, it evaluates the theoretical and methodological implications of the Smart City paradigm, above all in the tourism sector, as well as analysing the results of data, indexes and good practices related to Italian smart tourism. Furthermore, it provides an innovative methodological approach named STeMA, used within different UE-funded projects with the aim of promoting integrated, strategic and competitive tourism management plans thanks to the development of ICTs.