Indonesia’s tourism sector faces unprecedented transformation through smart tourism integration, yet limited attention has been paid to regional synergies in developing country contexts. This study integrates human capital theory with regional synergy models to examine smart tourism implementation across the Joglosemar corridor (Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang), addressing a critical gap in the understanding of technology-tourism integration at the regional level. Through qualitative research with 15 key stakeholders using in-depth interviews, observations, and document analyses, this study identifies complementary specializations across three cities: Yogyakarta’s cultural smart tourism innovation hub, Solo’s heritage digitalization expertise, and Semarang’s holistic smart city integration. The findings reveal critical human capital gaps, fragmented institutional coordination and missed synergy opportunities. This study proposes a novel Smart Tourism Synergy Model that integrates infrastructural, human capital, and institutional dimensions with adaptive learning mechanisms and establishes the Central Java Smart Tourism Collaborative Network to accelerate sustainable digital tourism growth. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how regional complementarity in developing economies can overcome the limitations of individual cities through systematic coordination.
Octafian et al. (Wed,) studied this question.