A Cyber-Physical-Social System (CPSS) is a novel paradigm of cyber-physical and cyber-social systems with a highly inhomogeneous and distributed nature integrating dynamic stochastic hybrid systems including computation, communication, sensing and actuation, and social systems.Their usage can be traced to homes such as smart homes, manufacturers in Industry 5.0, critical infrastructures, smart cities, medicines, healthcare systems, and many other examples. They can simplify and speed up tasks and provide a higher level of control and accessibility. In this study, we provide a systematic review of the definition of CPSS,and an uniform definition of CPSS. We propose a novel taxonomy to define CPSS to help future researches and system designing. The CPSS taxonomy aims to provide a comprehensive and understating of CPSS characteristics and aspects from system-to-system point of view. Furthermore, we discuss about social integration in CPSS and their relationships with CPS. We mention issues and opportunities in CPSS in the designing and implementing phases.

The enhancement of cultural heritage for tourism can greatly benefit from the opportunities offered by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), promoting greater interaction and integration between all stakeholders and service providers. In recent years, ICT applications and platforms have tended to provide a platform to translate the strategic goals and performance metrics of cultural heritage tourism into comprehensive services tailored to stakeholders’ needs by participating stakeholders. A successful co-designed platform integrates explicit services—requiring specialized software tools—and implicit services, facilitating evaluation processes. This adaptability ensures continuous improvement and alignment with evolving strategies and business objectives. As part of the European project, the development of the TExTOUR open ICT platform marks a significant advancement in leveraging technology within cultural tourism. It exemplifies the creation of a sustainable and adaptable framework, co-designed specifically to support and amplify the strategic objectives of cultural heritage tourism. This approach not only fosters better engagement and management within the sector but also sets a new standard for innovation in cultural tourism practices.

The paper discusses the intersection of Cultural Tourism and topics that emerged during the IMPACTOUR project's lifespan. It showcases innovative approaches to managing Cultural Tourism and emphasizes essential trends related to tools and data. The paper also introduces the IMPACTOUR methodology and tool, which enhances the crucial role of Cultural Tourism stakeholders and offers a forward-looking perspective.

Cultural tourism (CT) has emerged as a critical driver of destination competitiveness; however, stakeholders struggle to balance heritage preservation, sustainable growth, and visitor management. Current decision making often lacks the practical information required to assess the multi-dimensional impacts of CT and to align strategies with sustainability goals. This paper presents a user-centred digital decision support system (DSS) developed under the European project IMPACTOUR. The methodological contribution is a procedure that uncovers links among strategies, actions, and performance indicators, conditioned on destination characteristics, by leveraging hierarchical multi-criteria analysis to weight sustainability domains. Co-designed with stakeholders, it integrates social and technological components and uses triangulated data to prioritise strategies and evaluate impacts. The visual interface offers a smart dashboard that supports strategic decision making and displays related key performance indicators, enabling stakeholders to monitor outcomes against predefined sustainability objectives. Pilot implementations in several European regions demonstrate the tool’s efficacy in fostering data-driven planning to achieve a balanced approach between tourism and liveability. While the system is scalable, its current limits include regional specificity and data availability. Future work will incorporate AI-driven predictive analytics and adapt the DSS for application in non-European contexts, providing a replicable framework for advancing sustainable tourism policies in culturally rich destinations.