Role of smart destination in hospitality enterprises sustainability: an empirical study on booking channels management and revenues

This paper draws on the literature on innovation in tourism industry to investigate how the promotional tools developed by destinations – websites for information and booking, apps, e-commerce websites, tourist cards, BI and CRM software – may contribute to long-term development of accommodations in the territory. It is assessed by analysing impacts on booking channels, direct and intermediated (both online and offline), and revenue. Hypotheses are tested with a generalized linear model and an ordered logistic regression on data retrieved from 1,226 accommodations distributed in the Italian territory. Empirical results evidence the contribution of smart destinations in increasing the competitiveness of the tourism firms in the same area.