Mapping the Smart Tourism Experience Landscape: A Systematic Literature Review

The tourist industry has seen a substantial transformation due to the growing use of digital technologies, which has made the Smart tourist Experience (STE) a key area of study. The literature on the technological aspects that enable smart experiences, the factors that influence visitor engagement, and the identification of ongoing research gaps is still scattered, despite the tremendous growth in scholarly interest in STE. The current work uses the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) criteria to conduct a systematic scoping review in order to solve this problem. To compile the body of knowledge on smart tourist experiences, a thorough search and screening of peer-reviewed literature published in prestigious academic databases was conducted. Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data analytics, mobile technologies, augmented and virtual reality, and integrated smart platforms are among the major technological aspects that the assessment highlights as supporting STE. The study also classifies important STE antecedents at the individual, technological, and destination levels, including travelers' digital preparedness, perceived utility, system interactivity, and smart destination infrastructure. The results also highlight significant gaps in the body of existing work, such as a lack of focus on ethical, privacy, and sustainability issues, inadequate theoretical integration, underrepresentation of emerging economies, and little empirical validation. This study presents a future research agenda to further theoretical development and empirical investigation in smart tourism studies, as well as an organized understanding of the smart tourist experience through the consolidation of scattered research.