Knowledge transfer in smart tourism destinations: Analyzing the effects of a network structure

In academia, as well in the industry, there is currently an increasing interest in the concept of smart tourism destinations. Specifically, there is widespread recognition of the role that ICTs, the Internet of Things and Cloud Computing play in providing instruments and platforms to facilitate the dissemination of information and knowledge among stakeholders, thus enhancing innovation and destination competitiveness. Despite that, not much research exists that aims at understanding the processes of information and knowledge transfer, sharing, and conversion in smart tourism destinations. This paper seeks to deepen the scientific debate around this topic by applying a network analytic approach to the cases of three tourism destinations. Findings reveal that effective knowledge-based destination management studies should consider both the virtual and the real components of the network structure of the destination. Contributions to the body of knowledge and managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are given. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.