A government-enabled digital platform that unifies tourism-related services into one inclusive ecosystem—connecting visitors, local providers, and public agencies through a single interface.
The Saudi Tourism Authority
Tourism ecosystems in many countries remain highly fragmented. Visitors often need to navigate multiple disconnected platforms to access transport, attractions, accommodation, and local experiences. At the same time, governments frequently lack actionable insights into tourism activity, making it difficult to monitor sector performance, support economic recovery, or design effective policies. This fragmentation particularly affects small and community-based tourism providers. Many micro and small enterprises lack the digital tools, technical capacity, or market access required to participate in the formal tourism economy. As a result, tourism revenue is often concentrated among large operators, with local businesses accessing only a fraction of international visitor markets.
Tourist Smart Pass is a government-partnered digital platform that consolidates a country’s tourism services into a single, trusted digital ecosystem. Through one mobile interface, visitors can discover verified attractions, transportation options, and local experiences, while governments gain improved insights on tourism activities. Unlike purely commercial travel platforms, Tourist Smart Pass functions as part of an interconnected digital public infrastructure. Governments can formally onboard and verify tourism providers—including micro, small, and informal operators—allowing them to participate in the tourism market through a secure and trusted platform.
The platform is designed with user rights and data protection at its core. Users retain full control over their personal data through a structured consent workflow, with clear agreements specifying what information is accessed. The system follows a secure-by-design approach, using Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3) for data in transit and encryption at rest. Authentication is built on global standards (OpenID, SAML, OAuth 2.0) with password-less biometric login, supported by infrastructure-level protections, such as firewalls, network segmentation, and endpoint security.
Tourist Smart Pass enables small and community-based tourism providers to participate in the digital tourism economy. Through simplified digital onboarding and government-backed verification, the platform lowers technical and administrative barriers that often prevent micro and informal tourism operators from accessing online marketplaces. By connecting these providers to a broader tourism ecosystem, the solution expands market access, supports inclusive participation, and helps distribute tourism income more equitably across local communities.
Tourist Smart Pass was first deployed in collaboration with the Saudi Tourism Authority to support the digitalization and recovery of the tourism sector following COVID-19 disruptions. The platform enabled coordinated access to tourism services and improved onboarding of local providers into a unified digital marketplace and contributed to the post-pandemic rebound of the tourism sector.
Tourist Smart Pass is expanding into emerging tourism markets where the sector presents strong opportunities for inclusive economic growth despite fragmented digital infrastructure. Expansion efforts are currently focused on Fiji and Tanzania, with plans to pilot the solution in Zanzibar as a next step in extending its footprint across high-potential destinations. Future deployments will prioritize partnerships with governments and development actors in developing contexts to embed the platform within national tourism ecosystems, enabling broader participation from local communities and supporting more data-driven tourism planning.
