Purpose: Smart tourism (ST) needs the development of smart business. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the future of the smart component of tourism companies, what their perspectives are and what factors can help to accelerate it. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of 133 managers of tourist companies is the basis of the empirical information. The study was a personal survey carried out during FITUR 2019 International Tourism Fair of Madrid. The main element of the study is the future development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and smart tourism (ST) in business. Findings: The results indicate that there is little development at present of the smart business eco-system and that development will continue to be slow in the future. Moreover, this is not a critical issue in the agendas of companies. It was found that tourists pressure tourism through the extensive use of their smartphones, but only at the level of tourism resources. Furthermore, it will be the consolidation of the smart tourism destination that marks the medium and long-term design of smart business. Research limitations/implications: The limitations concern the problems of a sampling procedure. Firstly, it operates with a database of managers’ opinions; secondly, there are specificities of each company in particular. Practical implications: The design of the smart tourism destination must incorporate the integration of tourism companies, both with a useful vision of ICTs towards the creation of experiences. Originality/value: Research on smart business tourism is very scarce compared to smart destination and smart tourists. Also, the data are supported by managers of important tourism companies, as their companies are present at FITUR.

The application of the Signalling Theory to the case of the tourism standards of quality are established. An empirical research study on the performance of a wide range of hotels that have evolved from not possessing certification to being accredited by some form of quality standard (regional, national or international) during a period of seven years. The results provide evidence on the usefulness of quality certifications as signals to the market to achieve increases in sales, gains in market share, increased occupancy and average room price, and therefore an improvement in profitability per room and overall profit for the hotels.

Smart Tourist Destination is a term of high academic relevance, but what happens in rural tourism? Smart regions and smart villages projects are interesting for rural tourism, but it is necessary to support more research. This paper studies the perceptions and interests of rural tourists for technological applications in two time periods (2016 and 2019). The results indicate that the rural tourist value the technological innovation of rural destinations, especially those ICT utilities that increase the value of their tourist experience. That is the “during” stage of the rural trip. It presses on the smart developments that rural tourism demands. Pažangi turistinė vieta yra labai svarbi akademinė sąvoka, tačiau kas vyksta kaimo turizme? Pažangūs regionai ir išmaniųjų kaimų projektai yra įdomūs kaimo turizmui, tačiau būtina paremti daugiau tyrimų. Šiame darbe nagrinėjami kaimo turistų suvokimai ir pomėgiai naudoti technologijas dviem laikotarpiais (2016 ir 2019 m.). Rezultatai rodo, kad kaimo turistas vertina kaimo vietovių technologines naujoves, ypač tas IRT paslaugas, kurios padidina jų turizmo patirtį. Tai yra kaimo kelionės „etapas“. Tai skatina pažangius pokyčius, kurių reikalauja kaimo turizmas.

Smart Tourism is the main component of current destinations, however, there are severe difficulties for its application in small destinations. This problem is essential in the case of rural tourism. Taramundi is one of the most important rural destinations in Spain. There are two surveys about tourists conducted in 2016 and 2019. These surveys are about obtaining data on changes in the behavior of tourists in the dynamic field of mobile technologies. The results indicated the importance of the smartphone for rural tourism, the temporary growth in the use of its tourist utilities, and most importantly, the technological applications that improve the enjoyment stay. The rural tourist does not abandon the use of pre- and post-travel regarding Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), but the interest in Tics during travel increases significantly. Specifically, the App of Destiny is the central element of smart rural tourism, seeing that it should focus on the increase of new technographic utilities for tourists. In the perspective of Gretzel (2018), the application of the concept of Smart Tourist Destination is impossible in rural areas. However, with a specialization approach, rural destinations must work towards the goal of “smartification.”

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the antecedents of two variables concerning the presence of quality certifications in hotel chains: the (ex ante) decision to become a member of the quality system and the (ex post) trend to increase or decrease the number of certified properties. Six hypotheses are posed and tested.Design/methodology/approach: The empirical investigation is carried out on the Spanish Q for Quality in Tourism using a database including 295 hotel chains and 2,727 hotels.Findings: The results evidence the presence of differences in the behavior of hotel chains relative to certification depending on their size, market segment, customer origin and the geographical concentration of their establishments.Originality/value: This research deepens in how the hotel chain characteristics affect the effectiveness of a quality certification. The consideration of two stages in investment decisions allows the authors to identify differences in the ex ante and ex post decision processes. As a result, one factor (geographical concentration) has been detected as being underrated by managers in the first stage.