The potential of smart ecosystems relies on interconnectivity and interoperability. Collaboration within a smart tourism destination remains challenging due to the lack of resources, the increasing knowledge gap about the contemporary ecosystems and the required skills and practices between destination stakeholders.

This conceptual study aims to identify ways to make the ecosystems understandable to all their stakeholders. It uses a combination of deductive and inductive reasoning to develop a theoretical framework and validate it accordingly.

The study proposes the principle of an explainable smart tourism ecosystem. It argues that smart destinations should initially be designed so that each stakeholder has access to relevant information that provides them with an understanding of the planned value formation process. Such an understanding would enable them to benefit from smart tourism destinations while minimising the risks of failure.