Stakeholders’ Synergies in Developing Smart Tourism Destination. A Phenomenographic Study

This study aims to investigate the stakeholders' synergies in realising smart tourism destination. This study uses a qualitative method with a phenomenography approach. We adopted stakeholders' theory to valued stakeholder roles and perception in pursuing sustainability, competitiveness and managing smart tourism destination in Wonosobo, Indonesia. In-depth interviews with five main stakeholders' namely local government, media, tourism business, tourism community, and travel bloggers followed by three phenomenography qualitative data analysis stages. The findings have revealed some obstacles in implementing smart tourism from stakeholders' perspectives, such as human resource's ability, stakeholders' synergy, and government support. This study has also revealed six factors: public system development, digital promotion, Internet infrastructure, public and private sectors partnership, and human resources development to support smart tourism. This study has proposed the strategic plan for the local government to support smart tourism destinations, namely: partnerships, government support, human resource’s ability, and tourism business competitiveness, that will lead to smart tourism destinations. This study has provided a framework and managerial implication accordingly

Business · Economics · Ecotourism · Human resources · Knowledge management · Local government · Management · Political science · Public relations · Stakeholder · Sustainability · Tourism · Tourism geography · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Public Administration · SMEs Development and Digital Marketing · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour · Marketing