Selected composite indicators in the field of advanced technologies and the internet as a support of SMART Cities and their impact on Tourism

Abstract

The article discusses the possible relationships between the outbound tourism of the European Union countries and selected composite indicators from the social, economic and environmental areas. Three indicators have been selected, analyzed and evaluated. The choice of the indicators was based on their relation to the use of advanced technologies and the Internet and to their close interconnectedness with SMART cities. Namely following Indices were analyzed: the Social Progress Index, part of the Wellbeing of Nations Index – the Human Wellbeing Index and the Index of Quality of Life and Sustainable Development. The first part of the paper explains the different concepts of tourism, sustainable development, indices and statistics. Then three examined indicators are described. The core part is devoted to the research on the relationships between relative outbound tourism of individual European Union countries and the three indicators. The analysis is performed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The highest correlation between outbound tourism and three analyzed indices was reached in the Social Progress Index which was closely followed by the Index of Quality of life and Sustainable Development. In both cases we speak about strong dependence.