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Smart and Responsible Tourism: Innovations for a Sustainable Future
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Smart and Responsible Tourism: Innovations for a Sustainable Future

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 May 2026 | Viewed by 2597

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mateusz Naramski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economy and Informatics, Faculty of Organization and Management, The Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Interests: tourism; smart tourism; industrial heritage; cultural tourism; networking
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mateusz Trzeciak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economy and Informatics, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Interests: program management; project management; risk management; it projects; agile project management; scrum; teamwork; leadership and communication; business model; management of value; open innovation
Dr. Kinga Stecuła

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Interests: production engineering; technology; energy; production management; mining; renewables; human-machine relation; virtual reality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In an era of dynamic technological development, globalization, and easy access to transportation, travel has become fast, accessible, and increasingly affordable. The world is becoming increasingly open, and national borders are becoming easier for the average person to cross. On the one hand, this opens up great opportunities for discovering new places, cultures, and experiences, but on the other, it leads to negative environmental impacts, including an increased carbon footprint and an increased risk of tourists degrading infrastructure, heritage, monuments, and natural resources.

Referring to these challenges, there is a lot of theoretical and practical research conducted to develop various solutions, methods, and approaches related to responsible modern tourism. Therefore, we invite researchers and practitioners to publish scientific articles on smart and responsible tourism, which are based on innovations focused on environmental care, the protection of places visited, and a sustainable approach. We encourage you to submit papers on topics connected with the use of innovations and modern technologies. These include, but are not limited to, the following: artificial intelligence, virtual reality, the Internet of Things, digital tools supporting tourists, Industry 4.0 solutions in tourism, ecological models of travel management, smart cities, and educating tourists on the aspects of environmental responsibility.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to present the latest research and best practices in innovative, smart, and responsible tourism solutions that support sustainable development and minimize the negative impact of travel on the natural environment and destinations.

Dr. Mateusz Naramski
Dr. Mateusz Trzeciak
Dr. Kinga Stecuła
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • smart tourism
  • sustainable tourism
  • responsible tourism
  • IoT in tourism
  • VR in tourism
  • IT in tourism
  • AI in tourism
  • digital tools
  • tourism innovations
  • eco-friendly travel

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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35 pages, 4671 KB  
Article
Virtual Reality for Innovative and Responsible Tourism
by Mateusz Naramski and Kinga Stecuła
Sustainability 2025, 17(22), 10233; https://doi.org/10.3390/su172210233 - 15 Nov 2025
Viewed by 983
Abstract
The article discusses the use of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for responsible tourism. Practical research was conducted in a group of 215 participants using VR headsets (Meta Quest Pro and HTC VIVE). Volunteers participated in a VR session using the Google [...] Read more.
The article discusses the use of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for responsible tourism. Practical research was conducted in a group of 215 participants using VR headsets (Meta Quest Pro and HTC VIVE). Volunteers participated in a VR session using the Google Earth VR application. They visited two locations of their choice. The first was a place they had previously visited in real life, while the other was a location they had not visited but would like to. Participants completed a survey before and after the VR experience. In the survey, participants rated, among others, their level of satisfaction, willingness to visit given locations, and emotions accompanying the experience. The authors conducted a statistical analysis of the survey results. The scientific goal of the article was primarily to present a proposal for the use of virtual reality as an innovative tool supporting responsible tourism. The results confirmed a positive reception of VR experiences: average satisfaction ratings exceeded 4.0 on a 5-point scale, and positive emotions (most often +1 and +2 on a scale from −2 to +2) dominated among participants. Higher emotional valence was significantly correlated with satisfaction (ρ ≈ 0.434, p < 0.001) and with increased willingness to visit destinations (ρ ≈ 0.306, p < 0.001). Statistically significant differences were noticed in satisfaction level with visiting new places among groups of respondents with different tourism type preferences (people who prefer cultural or health tourism reported noticeably higher satisfaction with the VR experience than other respondents). The authors also conducted a discussion on how VR technology can be a tool supporting responsible tourism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart and Responsible Tourism: Innovations for a Sustainable Future)
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26 pages, 32504 KB  
Article
Smart Tourism Landmark Recognition: A Multi-Threshold Enhancement and Selective Ensemble Approach Using YOLO11
by Ulugbek Hudayberdiev, Junyeong Lee and Odil Fayzullaev
Sustainability 2025, 17(17), 8081; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17178081 - 8 Sep 2025
Viewed by 1132
Abstract
Automated landmark recognition represents a cornerstone technology for advancing smart tourism systems, cultural heritage documentation, and enhanced visitor experiences. Contemporary deep learning methodologies have substantially transformed the accuracy and computational efficiency of destination classification tasks. Addressing critical gaps in existing approaches, we introduce [...] Read more.
Automated landmark recognition represents a cornerstone technology for advancing smart tourism systems, cultural heritage documentation, and enhanced visitor experiences. Contemporary deep learning methodologies have substantially transformed the accuracy and computational efficiency of destination classification tasks. Addressing critical gaps in existing approaches, we introduce an enhanced Samarkand_v2 dataset encompassing twelve distinct historical landmark categories with comprehensive environmental variability. Our methodology incorporates a systematic multi-threshold pixel intensification strategy, applying graduated enhancement transformations at intensity levels of 100, 150, and 225 to accentuate diverse architectural characteristics spanning from fine-grained textural elements to prominent reflective components. Four independent YOLO11 architectures were trained using original imagery alongside systematically enhanced variants, with optimal epoch preservation based on validation performance criteria. A key innovation lies in our intelligent selective ensemble mechanism that conducts exhaustive evaluation of model combinations, identifying optimal configurations through data-driven selection rather than conventional uniform weighting schemes. Experimental validation demonstrates substantial performance gains over established baseline architectures and traditional ensemble approaches, achieving exceptional metrics: 99.24% accuracy, 99.36% precision, 99.40% recall, and 99.36% F1-score. Rigorous statistical analysis via paired t-tests validates the significance of enhancement strategies, particularly demonstrating effectiveness of lower-threshold transformations in capturing architectural nuances. The framework exhibits remarkable resilience across challenging conditions including illumination variations, structural occlusions, and inter-class architectural similarities. These achievements establish the methodology’s substantial potential for practical smart tourism deployment, automated heritage preservation initiatives, and real-time mobile landmark recognition systems, contributing significantly to the advancement of intelligent tourism technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart and Responsible Tourism: Innovations for a Sustainable Future)
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