Santus Kumar Deb, PhD, is a Professor and ex-Chairman of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is currently serving as a research fellow at INTI International University, Malaysia. He is also serving as Head of Research at the Center for Tourism Studies (CTS), an international network of scholars who share a vision of producing and promoting social change in and through tourism practice, research, and education. Dr. Deb has served as a member of the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB), Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism of the People Republic of Bangladesh. A regular reviewer of the outcome-based education curriculum on tourism of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, Dr. Deb has written two books and has edited a soon-to-be-published book, Tourism and Hospitality Management: A Modern Fusion of Sectors (Bentham Science). He is also currently serving as associate editor and guest editor for several reputed journals and magazines. He has published more than 35 articles, among which 21 are in Scopus-indexed journals. He is supervising many PhD and MPhil students and has delivered speeches as a keynote speaker at many international conferences around the world. He has won many awards for his research work. His area of research interest include smart tourism, digital marketing, community-based tourism, crisis management, and event management.

• Preface 1. Tourism 4.0: The Integration of Digital Technologies and the Transformative Nature of the Continuous Changes in the Tourism Industry 2. Applications of IoT (Internet of Things) in the Travel and Tourism Industry 3. Technological Innovation for Smart Tourism: Focus on the Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) 4. Big Data and Smart Tourism: Transforming the Travel Industry 4. Emergence of AI Chatbots in Smart Tourism: A 24/7 Travel Agent 5. Smart Tourism and Ecotourism Destinations: A Conceptual Framework of Eco-Smart Destinations 6. Promoting Smart Tourism Using Digital Marketing and QR Codes 7. The Transformative Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Hospitality and Tourism 8. Effects of Smart Tourism on Destination Development: A Sustainable Approach 9. Emergence of a Constructed Environment for Smarter Tourism: A Critical Reflection 10.Smart Tourism as the Next Level of Empowering Citizen Engagement 11. Impact of Generative AI on Hospitality Employees Mental Health: Identifying Key Issues and Addressing Challenges 13. Smart Hotel Leading with Innovative Service Excellence 14. Value Creation Through Smart Tourism Service Management 15. Empowering Sustainable Economic Growth: Smart Tourist e-Safety Technologies and Their Role in Propelling the Tourism Industry 16. The Future of Blockchain in the Restaurant Industry: Opinions and Perspectives 17. Smart Tourism and Crisis Recovery: A Strategic Response to Challenges Index