Methodological Framework of the Spanish Smart Tourism Destinations Model

The Spanish Smart Tourism Destinations model (DTI Model) has established itself as an indisputable benchmark in terms of public tourism policies, providing a strategic management tool that integrates the main challenges facing tourism destinations and offers guidelines for dealing with them. It is a model developed from the smart city concept, shifting its focus from the resident to the visitor, incorporating elements that go beyond the technological application, such as governance, technology, innovation, or accessibility. The chapter includes the work carried out over the years in terms of standardization, within the CTN178 Technical Standardization Committee, led by SEGITTUR, and which has allowed the publication of a good number of standards related to the Spanish Smart Tourism Destinations model. SEGITTUR’s DTI diagnostic methodology consists of 5 pillars (Governance, Innovation, Technology, Sustainability, and Accessibility), which represent the areas on which destinations must work and improve; these pillars are developed throughout 16 areas of action, explicitated into 97 requirements and 261 indicators, which allow the level of performance of the destination to be measured homogeneously and compared with other destinations. Finally, the chapter includes a mention of the relationship between the Spanish Smart Tourism Destinations model and the SDGs and presents the level of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at both national and international level.