Adopting digitalization, innovation, and new technologies in the tourism sector is contingent upon smart tourism tools (STTs) availability. Such tools can facilitate the optimization of efficiency and sustainability in tourism operations. Moreover, awareness of past initiatives in smart tourism may catalyze the aforementioned uptake. The objective of the EUROSTIT project is to develop a comprehensive observatory that will provide a broad overview of the various Smart Tourism Tools and Initiatives currently available in Europe. A set of published catalogs was employed as a source of bootstrap content for a prototype version within the context of the European RESETTING project, which preceded this project proposal. The prototype is deficient in advanced, user-friendly search functionality and content classification. The plethora of technological solutions, coupled with the wealth of past experiences and lessons learned, necessitates a meticulous and methodical approach to identifying the optimal technological solutions and the underlying principles that must be adhered to to achieve the desired outcomes. A validated taxonomy, developed within the scope of RESETTING, will be employed to classify all European STTs identified. The EUROSTIT Observatory will constitute an independent entity associated with the ISTAR-IUL research unit, focusing on issues and challenges pertaining to the digital transformation of tourism, a sector with a significant impact on Portugal's balance of payments. The EUROSTIT team will critically examine the smart tourism ecosystem, thereby advancing scientific knowledge and transferring it to society. Furthermore, it will contribute to the definition of research methodologies, the formulation and evaluation of policies for promoting sustainable tourism (in terms of the environment, society, and the economy), and the provision of analysis and advice. The project is comprised of four interrelated tasks. The initial task entails the construction of ...

The global COVID-19 crisis triggered major changes across societies around the world disrupting the way we live and conduct business. Across Europe, the measures and restrictions enforced due to the pandemic have led to sudden changes in many paradigms paving the way for new business models and market exchanges. This dramatic disruption has accelerated some socio-economic trends, which were visible before the COVID-19 crisis, such as the adoption of sophisticated technology and data solutions to facilitate human-centered, people-smart, and sustainable operation models; the incorporation of sustainability and climate mitigation as non-negotiable principles of operating and doing businesses and last but not least, relying on smart data evidence-based solutions to guide decision making for optimal commercial and sustainability performance. The tourism industry is one of the global economic sectors that is most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated with its economic downturn, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation. UNWTO data states that the current crisis is responsible for a global fall in export revenues of between EUR 750-900 billion and a loss of direct jobs that could be between 100 and 200 million. With the fall in profits and lack of certainty for stable markets, the recovery shortly of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which according to UNWTO shoulder 80% of global tourism, is at stake. With lost revenues and subsequently, talent drain to other economic sectors, tourism SMEs face the need to adapt at a time of crisis with constraint capacities. Through the design of a dynamic technological solution (platform) for knowledge-transfer and experience exchange made available to a network of tourism SME clusters across six countries, this project will demonstrate how digitalization can accelerate innovation and uptake of new sustainability solutions in a sector that is built up mostly of small enterprises with limited resources for n...