Improving the Competitiveness of Urban Tourism Destinations through the Smart Cities Concept

Urban areas are the heart of tourist movements in the world nowadays. Urban tourism contributes to the development of urban areas. Urban centres are the most significant users of resources and energy in rural areas and producers of waste and all forms of pollution. Since cities are complex systems, the concept of smart cities was developed to contribute to the infrastructural arrangement of the city, a cleaner, more sustainable environment, and thus a better quality of life for citizens. The research aims to show how important it is to apply the concept of smart cities to improve the competitiveness of urban tourist destinations. The study was conducted with respect to Copenhagen. A case study methodology reveals influential factors that make urban tourism based on smart city concepts competitive. The research contributes to improving urban tourism competitiveness and initiating smart city projects. Smart and sustainable city projects are strongly recommended.