Tourism, Culture and Heritage in a Smart Economy - Third International Conference IACuDiT, Athens 2016

This book explores the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer a powerful tool for the development of smart tourism. Numerous examples are presented from across the entire spectrum of cultural and heritage tourism, including art, innovations in museum interpretation and collections management, cross-cultural visions, gastronomy, film tourism, dark tourism, sports tourism, and wine tourism. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the smart destinations concept and a knowledge economy driven by innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. New modes of tourism management are described, and tourism products, services, and strategies for the stimulation of economic innovation and promotion of knowledge transfer are outlined. The potential of diverse emerging ICTs in this context is clearly explained, covering location-based services, internet of things, smart cities, mobile services, gamification, digital collections and the virtual visitor, social media, social networking, and augmented reality. The book is edited in collaboration with the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (IACuDiT) and includes the proceedings of the Third International Conference on Cultural and Digital Tourism.

Vicky Katsoni is an Associate Professor in the Tourism Department of the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens, Greece and she also teaches on the MSc program in Tourism Management at the Greek Open University. She holds a PhD in Tourism Marketing Management and ICT Applications in Tourism, an MBA, and a BA (Hons) in Economics. Having worked for over 20 years as an academic in tertiary education, Vicky Katsoni is well versed in academic multidisciplinary research and has participated in a number of European and national research projects. Her research interests include tourism marketing, digital tourism, ICTs and tourist development, and special forms of tourism and consumer behavior. She has published nine books on tourism, as well as chapters in edited volumes and numerous papers in highly academic journals. She is president of the nonprofit International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism and a member of the editorial boards of many scientific journals in tourism and marketing.

Amitabh Upadhya has over 30 years of experience in the Travel & Tourism Industry and Higher Education. He holds a PhD in Tourism Management from the University of Lucknow, India. He joined Skyline University College in Sharjah, UAE, in 2003 and is currently Professor and Dean at the College. He has long experience of university accreditation processes at the national and international levels and in 2008 received an Academic Leadership Award for his contribution to higher education administration. Over the past decade he has been involved in the planning, operations, and management of Business Management courses at graduate, postgraduate, and PhD levels. His recent research has focused on Destination Organizations, Destination Image and Branding, and the political, economic, and cultural influences on Destination Policies and Management. He has published a number of papers on these topics in refereed journals and has also written on Air Travel Management and Travel Agency Management, areas where he has extensive industry experience.

Anastasia Stratigea is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. She holds a Diploma in Surveying Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a PhD from NTUA for work on ICTs and regional development. Her research interests include Sustainable Development, Sustainable Tourism, Tourism Planning, Management of Cultural and Natural Resources, Tourism and Regional Development, ICTs and Tourist Development, and ICT Applications in the Urban Context. She has participated in a number of EU and national projects relating to planning and policy in the energy, tourism, agricultural, and transport sectors, tourist development, urban and regional development, etc. She has published her work in international conference proceedings and journals. She has been a member of the scientific committees of international conferences and is a reviewer for various international journals.