Identifying Factors Affecting the Development of Smart Tourism in Aras Free Zone

Smart tourism is a newly emerging concept that highlights the growing reliance of tourism destinations on advanced information and communication technologies. Given the importance of this topic, this study aims to identify the factors influencing the development of smart tourism in the Azad region. The research adopts a descriptive-exploratory approach, with the statistical population comprising experts familiar with the development of smart tourism and the Aras Free Zone. Using the snowball sampling method, 10 experts were selected as the research sample. Structural-Interpretive Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that out of 33 initially identified factors, 22 were finalized as the key contributors to smart tourism development. Among these, six critical factors were identified: budget allocation, regional tourism potential, tourist needs assessment, e-government infrastructure, policymaking, and planning. These factors were deemed most influential in driving the development of smart tourism in the Aras Free Zone.