INTEGRATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTO SMART CITY STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN TOURISM

Authors

  • Nevenka Popović Šević Associate professor, University Business Academy in Novi Sad, Faculty of Contemporary Arts, Svetozara Miletića 12, Belgrade, Serbia Author

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence (AI), Smart cities, Serbia, Sustainable Tourism, Urban planning, AI-driven innovations

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of artificial intelligence in the development of smart city tourism, with particular emphasis on the opportunities and challenges of its application in Serbia. The aim of the study is to examine the direct application of AI in the tourism industry of smart cities, the key barriers to its implementation, and future directions for development. The paper is based on a systematic review of relevant scientific literature, as well as strategic and institutional documents related to the development of smart cities, tourism, and artificial intelligence in Serbia. The results indicate that AI has significant potential in the areas of personalization of tourism services, visitor flow management, smart mobility, cultural heritage preservation, and sustainable resource management. At the same time, the study identifies obstacles related to underdeveloped digital infrastructure, limited data availability, high implementation costs, and insufficiently developed institutional capacities. The successful application of AI in smart city tourism in Serbia requires an integrated, strategic, and sustainable approach, supported by stronger cross-sectoral cooperation and technological modernization.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Aliyah, L., Pangilinan, G., Chakim, M., & Saputra, D. (2023). Examining the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things on Smart Tourism Destinations: A Comprehensive Study. Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), 5(2sp), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.34306/att.v5i2sp.332

2. Alonso Almeida, M. del M. (2019). Robots, inteligencia artificial y realidad virtual: una aproximación en el sector del turismo. Cuadernos De Turismo, 1(44), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.6018/turismo.44.404711

3. Belli, L., Cilfone, A., & Davoli, L. (2020). IoT-enabled smart sustainable cities: challenges and approaches Smart Cities. 2020; 3(3):1039-1071. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities3030052

4. Bernardo, E., Sousa, N., & Kastenholz, E. (2023). Souvenirs in tourism studies: A bibliometric retrospective and future research agenda. Tourism and Hospitality Management. 29, 249–264. https://doi.org/ 10.20867/thm.29.2.10

5. Bradić-Martinović, A., Lazić, M., & Petković, G. (2023). Innovations in the Serbian Tourism Sector - Policies and Recommendations. New Directions in the Creation of Innovation Policy of the European Union - Implications for Serbia and the Region. Belgrade: Institute of Economic Sciences. p. 65-84

6. Buhalis, D., & Leung, R. (2018). Smart hospitality—Interconnectivity and interoperability towards an ecosystem. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 71, 41–50. httpps://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.11.011

7. Buhalis, D., & Karatay, N. (2022). Mixed Reality (MR) for Generation Z in Cultural Heritage Tourism Towards Metaverse. In: Stienmetz, J.L., Ferrer-Rosell, B., Massimo, D. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2022. ENTER 2022. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94751-4_2

8. Buonincontri, P., & Micera, R. (2016). The experience co-creation in smart tourism destinations: a multiple case analysis of European destinations, Information Technology & Tourism., vol. 16, pp. 285–315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-016-0060-5

9. Cambra-Fierro, J. J., López-Pérez, M. E., Melero-Polo, I., Pérez, L., & Tejada-Tejada, M. (2024). Smart innovations for sustainable cities: Insights from a public-private innovation ecosystem. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 31(3), 1654–1666. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2660

10. Cheng, X., Chen, Y., & Kim, S. C. (2025). A tourist review mining framework for the sustainability features of world natural heritage based on AI large models. Current Issues in Tourism, 28(11), 1701-1709. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2025.2456070

11. Chien, S., Ding, Y., & Wei, C. (2022). AI-based prediction for tourism demand management: A machine learning approach. Journal of Travel Research, 61(5), 1237-1251. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875221105169

12. Dašić, D., Kostadinović, G., & Ilievska Kostadinović, M. (2024). Cultural tourism and its impact on the economic development of local communities. Management Horizons, 4(1). https://hm.edu.rs/index.php/hm/article/view/11

13. Čolić, R. (2015). Integrated Urban Development Strategy as an Instrument for Supporting Urban Governance, Serbian Architectural Journal SAJ, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 317-342. https://doi.org/10.5937/SAJ1503317Q

14. Flores-Crespo, P.; Bermudez-Edo, M.; Garrido, J.L. (2022). Smart tourism in villages: Challenges and the Alpujarra case study. Procedia Computer Science, 204, 663–670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.08.080

15. Font, X., Torres-Delgado, A., Crabolu, G., Palomo Martinez, J., Kantenbacher, J., & Miller, G. (2023). The impact of sustainable tourism indicators on destination competitiveness: the European Tourism Indicator System. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 31(7). https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1910281

16. García-Madurga, M.-Á., & Grilló-Méndez, A.-J. (2023). Artificial intelligence in the tourism industry: An overview of reviews. Administrative Sciences, 13(8), 172. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci13080172

17. Gaur, L., Afaq, A., Singh, G., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2021). Role of artificial intelligence and robotics to foster the touchless travel during a pandemic: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(11), 4079–4098. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2020-1246

18. Gelter,J., Fuchs,M., & Lexhagen,M. (2022). Making sense of smart tourism destinations: A qualitative text analysis from Sweden, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management,Volume 23,100690, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2022.100690.

19. Gretzel, U., & Koo, C. (2021). Smart tourism cities: A duality of place where technology supports the convergence of touristic and resi-dential experiences. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 26(4), 352–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2021.1897636

20. Gretzel, U. (2022). The Smart DMO: A new step in the digital trans-formation of destination management organizations. European Journal of Tourism Research, 30, 3002–3002. https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v30i.2589

21. Harisanty D., Obille K., Anna & N., Purwanti E., & Retrialisca F. (2024). Cultural heritage preservation in the digital age, harnessing artificial intelligence for the future: a bibliometric analysis. Digital Library Perspectives, Vol. 40 No. 4 pp. 609–630. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-01-2024-0018

22. Hossain, M. S., Rahman, M. M., & Islam, M. S. (2020). Solar-powered systems for tourism destinations: A sustainable approach. Renewable Energy, 152, 366-373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.01.048

23. Ioannidis, S., & Kontis, A. P. (2023). Metaverse for tourists and tourism destinations. Information Technology & Tourism, 25(4), 483–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-023-00271-y

24. Ismaeel, A.G., Mary, J., Chelliah, A., Logeshwaran, J., Mahmood, S.N., Alani, S., Shather, A.H. (2023). Enhancing Traffic Intelligence in Smart Cities Using Sustainable Deep Radial Function. Sustainability, 15, 14441. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914441

25. Kassens-Noor, E., & Hintze, A. (2020). Cities of the Future? The Potential Impact of Artificial Intelligence. AI, 1, 192-197. https://doi.org/10.3390/ai1020012

26. Koo, C., Kwon, J., Chung, N., & Kim, J. (2023). Metaverse tourism: Conceptual framework and research propositions. Current Issues in Tourism, 26(20), 3268–3274. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2022.2122781

27. Kresović, D., & Vukmirović, D. (2025). Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Smart City Development: A Governance Perspective in Republic of Serbia. In: Reis, J.L., Gomes, L.M., Bogdanović, Z., Santos, J.P.M.d. (eds) Marketing and Smart Technologies. ICMarkTech 2024. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 438. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-3077-6_24

28. Li, Y., Hu, C., Huang, C., & Duan, L. (2017). The concept of smart tourism in the context of tourism information services. Tourism management, 58, 293-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.03.014

29. Loureiro, S. M. C., Al-Ansi, A., Ryu, H. B., Ariza-Montes, A., & Kim, H. S. (2022). Culture, heritage looting, and tourism: A text mining review approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 944250. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.944250

30. Lv, L., Chen, S., Liu, G. G., & Benckendorff, P. (2024). Enhancing customers’ life satisfaction through AI-powered personalized luxury recommendations in luxury tourism marketing. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 123, 103914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2024.103914

31. Majid, G. M., Tussyadiah, I., Kim, Y. R, & Pal, A. (2023). Intelligent automation for sustainable tourism: A systematic review. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 31(11), 2421–2440. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2023.2246681

32. Manfreda, A., & Mijač, T. (2024). Highlighting gaps in technology acceptance research: A call for integrating happiness and well-being into smart city development, Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9, 4, (100585), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100585,

33. Mora, L., Deakin, M., Zhang, X., Batty, M., Jong, M.D., Santi, P., & Appio, F.P. (Eds.). (2022). Sustainable Smart City Transitions: Theoretical Foundations, Sociotechnical Assemblage and Governance Mechanisms (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003205722

34. Naled. (2024). Srbija u razvoj veštačke inteligencije ulaže 100 miliona evra do 2026. Retrieved from https://naled.rs/vest-srbija-u-razvoj-vestacke-inteligencije-ulaze-100-miliona-evra-do-2026-8731

35. Naled (2026). Retrieved from https://naled.rs/vest-pet-lokalnih-samouprava-ulazi-u-program-razvoja-pametnih-gradova-11677

36. Pagani, R.N., Rodrigues, J.F., Resende, D.N., Zammar, G., & Kovaleski, J.L. (2025). Smart Cities as Innovation Ecosystems: Role and Contribution of Citizen Engagement, and a Conceptual Framework, Human-Centred Technology Management for a Sustainable Future, 19-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72490-9_3

37. Pan, S., Zhou, W., Piramuthu, S., Giannikas, V., & Chen, C. (2021). Smart city for sustainable urban freight logistics. International Journal of Production Research, 59(7), 2079-2089. https://10.1080/00207543.2021.1893970

38. Pereira, F., Rocha, A., & Pinto, J. (2021). Predictive analytics in tourism: A review of applications and challenges. Tourism Management, 85, 104287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104287

39. Popović, A., Todorović, A., & Milijić, A. (2025). Artificial intelligence adoption and its influence on circular material use: An EU cross-country analysis. Economics of Sustainable Development, 9(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.5937/ESD2501001P

40. Popović Šević, N., Šević, A., Slijepčević, M., & Krstić, J. (2025). AI adoption in higher education: Exploring attitudes and perceived benefits between users and non-users. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 15(4), e202528. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/17246

41. Pucar, M., Nenkovic-Riznic, M. Petrovic, S., & Brankov B. (2016). The role of architects and urban planners in the formation of the concept and functioning of smart city. International conference on urban planning ICUP2016, ed. P. Mitkovic, (p.p. 269-279.). conference proceedings, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Nis,

42. Qi, X., & Li, X. (2022). Extraction Method of Tourism Sustainable Development Path under the Background of Artificial Intelligence + Smart City Construction. Journal of Interconnection Networks, 22. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219265921430271

43. Rahmadian, E., Feitosa, D., & Zwitter, A. (2022). A systematic literature review on the use of big data for sustainable tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(11), 1711–1730. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1974358

44. Singh S., Singh P.K., Ohri A., & Singh, R. (2022). Development of environmental decision support system for sustainable smart cities in India. Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy, 41(5):e13817. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.13817

45. Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije (2021). Retrieved from https://www.paragraf.rs/glasila/rs/sluzbeni-glasnik-republike-srbije-86-2021.html

46. Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije (2023). Retrieved from https://demo.paragraf.rs/demo/combined/Old/t/t2023_03/SG_023_2023_007.html

47. Stankov, U., Gretzel, U., & Vujičić, M. D. (2025). AI-powered smart-phones and phygital tourism experiences: Implications and future research directions. Information Technology & Tourism, 27, 307–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-025-00317-3

48. Stübinger J, & Schneider L. (2020). Understanding smart city—a data-driven literature review. Sustainability, 20(20):8460. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208460

49. Toli, A. M., & Murtagh, N. (2020). The concept of sustainability in smart city definitions. Frontiers in Built Environment, 6, 77. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2020.00077

50. Trisha, K.R. (2022). Chatbot Application for Tourism Using Deep Learning. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology. https://doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2022.44516

51. Tussyadiah, I. (2020). A review of research into automation in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on artificial intelligence and robotics in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 81, 102883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102883

52. Vujko, A., Knežević, M., & Arsić, M. (2025). The Future Is in Sustainable Urban Tourism: Technological Innovations, Emerging Mobility Systems and Their Role in Shaping Smart Cities. Urban Science. 9, 169. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci9050169

53. Xu, H., Liu, J., & Lee, C. (2021). Crowd management using AI: A review of predictive systems in tourism. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 12(2), 158-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2020-0176

54. Yang, F. X., & Wang, Y. (2023). Rethinking metaverse tourism: A tax-onomy and an agenda for future research. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 49(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480231163509

Downloads

Published

2026-06-08

How to Cite

Popović Šević, N. (2026). INTEGRATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTO SMART CITY STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN TOURISM. MANAGEMENT HORIZONS, 6(1), 37-62. https://hm.edu.rs/index.php/hm/article/view/55

Similar Articles

1-10 of 24

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.