Integrating Overtourism in the Smart Tourism Cities Agenda

Abstract

This research note explores how cities that develop a smart city and/or smart destination strategy approach the management of overtourism. A group of cities with uneven tourism pressure in Spain and Portugal have been expressly selected. Using a qualitative methodology, the findings show that overtourism is a complex phenomenon comprising highly diverse processes and constitutes a localised problem in specific areas of each city. The measures for addressing overtourism include regulatory measures and the occasional use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). There is a need for an increasing use of technology that could have a wider scope if the smart city/destination strategy were more consolidated from a holistic point of view.