International Tourists’ Perceptions of Smart Tourism Features in Small Island Developing Countries

Small islands in developing countries often face infrastructural limitations, environmental fragility, and heavy economic dependence on tourism, making smart and sustainable innovation crucial. This study investigates what international tourists value in a destination to perceive it as a “smart island,” applying the smart city paradigm to the context of small island developing countries. A structured survey was conducted with 420 international tourists from diverse nationalities, using a five-point Likert scale to assess the importance of smart tourism attributes. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, t-tests, and regression analyses were performed to identify significant predictors of overall satisfaction with smart tourism experiences. This study provides empirical evidence that international tourists primarily perceive destination smartness through core digital and infrastructural features rather than advanced technological sophistication. Real-time information systems emerged as the strongest predictor of perceived smartness, followed by free Wi-Fi access, sustainability-related technologies, and smart transport systems. The findings further reveal that demographic and cultural factors influence technology preferences, while immersive tools such as augmented reality play a secondary role. Overall, the results indicate that, in Small Island Developing Countries, smart tourism should be understood as a strategic approach to improving accessibility, connectivity, sustainability, and destination resilience rather than merely adopting high-end technologies.