The development of the smart tourism industry at the county level requires the identification of key influencing factors and their prioritization in accordance with the specific local conditions of each region. In the smart tourism paradigm, destination development is increasingly understood as a data-driven, governance-oriented, and decision-support process rather than merely infrastructure expansion. Therefore, identifying and prioritizing development drivers becomes a core component of smart destination management. The aim of this study was to identify, localize, and prioritize the driving factors of tourism industry development in Gonabad County, as well as to rank the tourism destinations of this county based on scientific indicators. This applied research adopts a mixed-methods approach and was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, using the meta-synthesis method and a systematic review of domestic and international studies, 34 sub-components were identified and classified into 7 main components. Subsequently, based on expert judgments and consensus within the research team, 23 factors relevant to the conditions of Gonabad County were selected and prioritized using the Importance–Performance Analysis model integrated with Group Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (IPA–G–FGAHP), and accordingly, short-term and long-term development-oriented scenarios for the tourism industry were formulated. In the third stage, employing the VIKOR multi-criteria decision-making method, 11 tourism destinations in four categories of natural, historical, religious, and urban attractions were evaluated and ranked based on 7 components and 17 indicators. The findings indicate that focusing on higher-priority driving factors and improving the components with the largest gaps between the current and desired conditions can provide a scientific and practical basis for smart, evidence-based planning and intelligent destination governance in Gonabad County.