The Smart scenario and its derivatives in the online marketing strategy of tourist destinations. The case of the Valencian Region

Abstract

The technological revolution has shaped a renewed tourism scenario characterised by an intensive use of technology throughout the travel cycle, which is evolving towards a context of smart management in which technologies associated with social media stand out, due to their influence on the strategy and operations of online marketing at the destinations. The new patterns of behaviour of supply and demand associated with social media now determine the image of destinations and influence their competitiveness, thus placing social media at the centre of marketing management of the entities responsible for promoting and managing the destination. Social media and the technologies that support it represent the main way to bring destinations closer to the smart destination model. This research approaches the current tourism scenario in order to understand its influence on the online marketing processes developed by tourist destinations. Specifically, and for a group of destinations in the Valencian Community, an applied analysis is carried out based on a social media measurement index.