Smart Urban Tourism: A Case of Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

Smart urban tourism is important for tourists nowadays, people rely on technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) which can enhance their experience while traveling. Tourists do not select their destinations just because of the beautiful scenery, and culture: however; they want to gain excitement, interest, and memorable moments by using technology in a particular tourism city. The study aims to learn how smart tourism city provides tourists’ convenience, enhance the travel experience, and improve the efficiency of tourism services for both residents and tourists. It also investigates both domestic and international tourists’ perspectives of smart tourism in Bangkok of Thailand. Research design, data and methodology:  The data were collected by utilizing a qualitative method, non-probability purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews. The constant comparison technique with labeling, open and axial coding was used to analyze the data. The result of the research showed that Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched the Ploen Thai Smart Map application which is the first smart tourism project in Bangkok to build tourists’ confidence from the outbreak of Covid-19. However, most tourists never heard about this project before. Moreover, technology is important for people nowadays, people spend time mostly on their smartphones, mobile devices, or the internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The need of using them, especially when traveling, communicating with friends and family, information searching, working. In Bangkok, most tourists have never had used high technology like Virtual Reality (VR) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) because there are few tourism places where have this technology. Therefore, smart urban tourism is significant for the country's development which reaches to attract more tourists to the country by creating their satisfaction from the smart technology.