Smart tourism destination, physical experience and rural tourism

The STD paradigm must consider the relevance of technology, not only as a management component, but also as an attribute of the tourist experience at the destination. The concept of physical experience is emerging as an important challenge for the design of each STD, and there may be relevant differences between types of destinations.This paper studies the STD/Physical binomial as the case of the chicken and the egg. It is based on field work in a rural destination, and builds a model that defines and values the concepts of Utility and Value of Technology for its visitors, integrating the main current technological applications in the STD.The results allow us to observe how mobile, online/ontime technology is a permanent part of the tourist behavior, and of the creation of a new type of personalized experience that.