State Secretary for Tourism inaugurates 1st UNWTO World Conference on Smart Destinations

The event, organised by the WTO, together with the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda and the Regional Government of Murcia, gathers together, until Friday 17 February, public authorities, the business sector, civil society and local agents, technology centres and universities from around the world to analyse the tourism model for the 21st Century, a model based on innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability.

During her speech, Matilde Asián placed great emphasis on the fact that innovation and technology have changed the profile of travellers, who are increasingly better informed and connected to different platforms, and hence companies and operators in destinations must be well prepared to provide responses to their needs in a context in which accessibility and sustainability are key.

This goal has given rise to the concept of the smart tourist destination as a strategy for achieving more efficient and sustainable management and an increase in its profitability and economic competitiveness.

In its last term of office the government made a commitment to the transformation of the Spanish tourism model based on the development of this type of destination as a guarantee of the future of the sector. This has converted our country into a global pioneer in the development of smart destinations, not only in the definition and development of the model, but also in the implementation of a pilot project in various locations.

The State secretary also recalled that Spain headed up the standardisation of smart tourist destinations at a global level - Standard UNE178501 on the Management System of Smart Tourist Destinations - which it is testing in several destinations. Work is also being done on developing a new specific regulation to provide these destinations with indicators and tools that allow them to monitor their management.

Matilde Asián also stressed that a smart tourist destination generates positive effects in all sectors, since the cross-cutting nature of tourism has a domino effect in many areas which benefit from the developments made and opens the door to investments in many areas of direct and indirect influence, such as healthcare, mobility, energy, security and culture.

She also took the opportunity of her speech to promote the web page that Spain has set up with the aim of publicising the project in these destinations and announced that following the conference, a manifesto will be drawn up that will plot out the roadmap for tourism in the 21st Century.

Subjects discussed at conference

During the 1st World Conference on Smart Tourist Destinations, which can be followed on social media at #SDWC2017, more than 100 experts from some 20 countries will address issues such as the new digital tourism, destinations given the challenge of innovation, digital accessibility, the system of smart tourism, the role of entrepreneurs, tourism as a cornerstone of the region and a lever for the economic development and sustainable management of resources.