Smart tourism in the Baltic states: current developments and trends

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare the current trends in development of the second largest cities in each Baltic state – Tartu (Estonia), Kaunas (Lithuania), and Daugavpils (Latvia) – as smart destinations, based on publicly available tourism information. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a case study employing a descriptive research method, and the authors reached their conclusions based on this material. Furthermore, the paper primarily focuses on literature and new research which deals with tourism in the 21st century, its innovations, changes, and trends. Findings: The levels and directions of development of Tartu, Kaunas, and Daugavpils as a smart tourism destination are different. Although all three are the second largest cities in each Baltic State, their initial historical development, availability of resources, locations, and strategic development of the country show differences in development. Tartu conforms to the standards in all four categories. However, the category of digitalization receives the most attention and contributes to the positive smart destination result in the other three categories. Comparatively, Daugavpils records fewer current achievements according to the STDC, although the authors believe that there is potential that can be seen in the strategic policy documents. However, judging by all four categories, Daugavpils, similarly to Kaunas, currently demonstrates the greatest achievements in the culture heritage and creativity category. Originality/value: This paper presents data and compares smart tourism development trends in the second largest cities in each Baltic country.