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ICT Applications in Smart Ecotourism Environments

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Smart Cities in the Mediterranean

Part of the book series: Progress in IS ((PROIS))

Abstract

Radical technological developments and their applications can largely contribute to a more effective management of challenges currently faced by our planet. Nevertheless, the light has up to now been shed on urban environments, mainly due to the rapidly evolving urbanization trends and related consequences; while the implications of Information and Communication Technologies (ΙCT) in rural areas and communities, although quite promising, are less explored. In the present paper, the focus is on that type of environments, and more specifically on the role ICT can play for the protection of valuable ecosystems that are forming the ground for ecotourism development. Ecotourism embraces the principles of Sustainable Tourism (ST), as an alternative tourism form that is largely concerned for the economic, social and, most importantly, environmental impacts of this sector. Preserving ecosystems’ values in ecotourism destinations imply the need for steadily monitoring ecotourism developments and associated impacts in such destinations, with ICT offering important tools for accomplishing such a task. In this respect the paper aims, by reviewing a range of the academic reports and literature, at deriving crucial aspects that need to be dealt with in a variety of ecotourism dimensions; and matching them with a range of relevant ICT-enabled tools and applications. The results of this conceptual paper reveal the key ICT-enabled tools/applications for managing ecotourism destinations, thus setting the ground for case-specific policy directions towards an environmentally-responsible ecotourism development.

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Abbreviations

CI:

Community Informatics

CMC:

Community Multimedia Centers

CRM:

Customer Relationship Management

CS:

Computer Simulation

DMS:

Destination Management System

DSS:

Decision Support Systems

EIAS:

Economic Impact Analysis Software

EMIS:

Environment Management Information System

ERP:

Enterprise Resource Planning

GPS:

Global Positioning System

ITS:

Intelligent Transport System

LBG:

Location Based Games

LBS:

Location Based Services

MCT:

Multipurpose Community Telecentres

SM:

Social Media

TIS:

Tourism Information System

VLE:

Virtual Learning Environment

VT:

Virtual Tourism

WCOCFS:

Weather Climate and Ocean Change forecasting Software

WLAN:

Wireless Local Area Networks

WOM:

Electronic Word Of Mouth

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, School of Business and Economics, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Ag. Spyridonos and Milou 1, Aigaleo Campus, 12210, Athens, Greece

    Vicky Katsoni

  2. Metsovion Interdisciplinary Research Center, National Technical University of Athens, Greece, Patission 42, 10682, Athens, Greece

    Natali Dologlou

Authors
  1. Vicky Katsoni
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  2. Natali Dologlou
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Correspondence to Vicky Katsoni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Geography and Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens, Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Athens, Greece

    Anastasia Stratigea

  2. KIOS Research Center, University of Cyprus, KIOS Research Center, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Elias Kyriakides

  3. CNE Business Development Ltd. , Limassol, Cyprus

    Chrysses Nicolaides

Appendix I

Appendix I

See Table 2

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Katsoni, V., Dologlou, N. (2017). ICT Applications in Smart Ecotourism Environments. In: Stratigea, A., Kyriakides, E., Nicolaides, C. (eds) Smart Cities in the Mediterranean. Progress in IS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54558-5_11

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