in: Handbook of Research on Digital Communications, Internet of Things, and the Future of Cultural Tourism, Lídia Oliveira, Editor, IGI Global, Pennsylvania, pp.411-429, 2022
New technological requirements and needs of today’s world are forcing cities to transform into smart
cities and smart destinations in tourism cases. Smart destinations are focused on enhancing the tourist
experience while also supporting the decision-making process, sustaining effective usage of resources,
and maintaining sustainability. Big data has started to act as a reliable resource that assists these
processes and offers alternative solution methods. Improvements in the usage of big data within the
framework of smart destination management systems will also provide new insights and understandings
about heritage sites and their management. Istanbul and the Sultanahmet region, which were included
in the UNESCO World Heritage List, form the main domain of this chapter. This research aims to reveal
any significant differences between Istanbul Wi-Fi data, Sultanahmet Wi-Fi data, and Istanbul Arrivals
data. Kruskal-Wallis Test was conducted for comparing these data sets for 28 countries, and recommendations are presented.