In the context of the technological era, the smart tourism construct serves as a bridge between human and the artificial worlds, combining social sciences and neurosciences. This study aims to explore smart tourism through neuroscientific methods in order to shape the future of tourism destinations, using a hybrid methodology combining bibliometric techniques and content analysis. The findings reveal the integration of diverse scientific domains, highlighting a transdisciplinary approach. They offer clear evidence that neuroscientific methods in smart tourism integrate multiple areas of scientific knowledge, surpassing disciplinary boundaries. “Destination” stands out alongside “emotion”, “visual attention” and eye tracking (ET). The collaboration network reveals the emergence of a new school, called neurotourism in the 21st century, formed mainly by actors and organizations from the Global North, evoking the need to include the Global South in the research scenario. The predominant methods include ET, heart rate (HR), and electroencephalography (EEG), suggesting triangulation with traditional methods for robust results. Virtual reality emerges as the primary immersive technology, promising insights when integrated with neurosciences. This study’s practical and theoretical contributions guide smart tourism strategies and enhance destination experiences through neuroscientific methods, addressing a gap in the scientific literature while advancing ontological and epistemological understanding.

Although scientific literature already shows the connections between gamification, tourism and sustainability, there is still a gap in research into how gamification can transform cities into more playful, sustainable and intelligent tourism destinations. Gamification in tourism promotes engagement, education and innovation, enriching experiences and driving the development of smart destinations. This study advances this debate by employing a mixed methodology, combining a systematic review (supported by Rayyan, an artificial intelligence) and content analysis (supported by Iramuteq, a textual software, version 0.7 Alpha 2). Additionally, we used Dreamscape by Voyant Tools online for a geographical analysis of the textual corpus formed by n = 61 abstracts. The intersection of main findings from the techniques applied provides eight new insights on urban tourism education through gamification, which are as follows: (1) exchange between the Global North and South; (2) local and global participation; (3) collaborations to achieve the 17 SDGs; (4) improve urban destination marketing by ethics principles; (5) deepening disruption technology and ethics studies; (6) the transformation of reality by sciences; (7) gamification on interdisciplinary perspectives; and (8) the role of gamification on the tourism and hospitality industry. The results suggest that gamification in tourism can offer a new ontological approach to addressing sustainable urban development, highlighting both theoretical and practical challenges. This research has both theoretical and practical implications, advancing the concept of ecogaming by integrating technology, entertainment and sustainability, and reinforces its potential to educate and engage in sustainable urban tourism practices.

The globalization of tourism poses complex challenges for destination planning and management, requiring the involvement of various stakeholders and strategic decision-making at various scales. Gastronomic tourism, a key factor in tourist satisfaction and loyalty, has been widely studied for its impact on tourism destination image (TDI). Despite advances in methodologies such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which hierarchies the factors that influence TDI, there are still gaps in the use of sensitivity analysis to improve strategic planning, in particular to leverage TDI as a management tool. Specifically in UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy (UCCG), it is crucial to understand how sensitivity analysis can improve the robustness of AHP models. To address this gap, this study investigates how sensitivity analysis can refine decision-making processes for effective tourism management in Brazil’s UCCG. Using AHP as a decision-making methodology, it integrates sensitivity analysis to assess the reliability of six dimensions in the Analytic Hierarchy Process Image—UNESCO Creative Cities Gastronomy (AHPI-UCCG) model, introducing a dynamic approach to dealing with the complexities of destination planning. The results are valuable for policy-makers and private players in the tourism, creativity, and gastronomy sectors. They offer practical perspectives for improving destination promotion and encouraging coopetition. The study also demonstrates the adaptability of this approach based on sensitivity analysis, suggesting its applicability beyond Brazil to other UCCG networks, contributing to better tourism planning and management at a global level.

Ao se considerar o planejamento e a gestão de cicloturismo sob a ótica da sustentabilidade, as oportunidades e os desafios no processo de retomada do turismo pós-pandemia do COVID 19 são inúmeros. Portanto, o objetivo deste estudo é analisar especificamente o cicloturismo como ferramenta para o desenvolvimento sustentável de áreas rurais no Brasil. A pesquisa é exploratória e descritiva. A parte empírica deriva do cruzamento de dados secundários, obtidos de diversas fontes, sendo três passos: (a) mapeamento das rotas de cicloturismo consolidadas no Brasil antes da pandemia; (b) classificação e caracterização dos municípios abrangidos; e (c) contextualização dos resultados a partir da Agenda 2030 e Covid-19. Numa perspectiva holística, os resultados contribuem para se avançar em quatro temáticas: (1) aspectos normativos e regulação; (2) participação cidadã; (3) infraestrutura e serviços; e (4) gestão, controle e operação. Em síntese, compreende-se que a bicicleta, na interface do desenvolvimento do turismo sustentável, pode inclusive contribuir para conter um problema chave da globalização, qual seja o êxodo rural em municípios de até 5 mil habitantes, ou naqueles de até 20 mil habitantes. Resultados apontam para a função estratégica desempenhada por estes municípios na manutenção de rotas de cicloturismo já consolidadas na retomada do turismo pós-pandemia.

Popayán (Colombia) was the first city to be designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in 2005, positioning itself as a symbolic ‘myth of origin’ within the network. In the context of growing demands for local strategies aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is pertinent to understand how founding cities manage and project their image through sustainable tourism marketing. Almost two decades later, this study examines how Popayán communicates and sustains its image within the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), guided by sustainable tourism marketing principles. Methodologically, the study adopts an exploratory and descriptive case study approach, based on documentary analysis of institutional sources and the application of the adapted Analytic Hierarchy Process Image—UNESCO Creative City Gastronomy (AHPI-UCCG) model. The results provided the following: (1) a multidimensional analysis of Popayán’s image in the context of sustainable marketing; (2) an assessment of how the city’s image responds to current branding challenges, using the adapted AHPI-UCCG model; and (3) a proposal for a context-sensitive investment agenda aligned with sustainability objectives. These results support the development of a personalised strategy for Popayán and demonstrate the potential of this approach to inform analyses of other Creative Cities of Gastronomy, while recognising the unique symbolic role of Popayán as the foundational case.

The relationship between cinema and literature is permanent from film’s beginnings, with film adaptations stealing fire from great works. This paper analyses the relationship between film and tourism, focusing on the role of Brazilian literature’s influences in this context. Storytelling as a tool and the relevance of “travel with a purpose” are additional subjects discussed in relation to this type of tourism. This is an exploratory study that uses textual analysis (word clouds and similarity analysis). The textual corpus is formed by the synopsis of films based on Brazilian literature (n=25). The results show new clues for the understanding of a promising market niche in audiovisual tourism in Brazil: Literary Film Tourism (LCT in Brazilian).