Digital Tourist addresses from today the keys to tourism recovery through technological solutions

Starting today, and for two days, the Digital Tourist 2020 congress in Benidorm addresses the keys to tourism recovery and the transformation of Smart Tourist Destinations in the 'post Covid-19' era through the application of technological solutions. The congress, which takes place in a hybrid format - face-to-face and online - precisely due to the special circumstances generated by the pandemic, opened early in an event in which the mayor, Toni Pérez, participated, and was attended by the telematic intervention of the Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto; the president of AMETIC, Pedro Mier; the president of Alicante Provincial Council, Carlos Mazón; and the general director of Red.es, David Cierco. In person, the president of Segittur, Enrique Martínez, and the general director of Tourism of the Generalitat Valenciana, Herick Campos, also took part in the opening ceremony.

In his speech, the mayor thanked AMETIC - an entity that encompasses the digital technology industry of Spain and organizer of the congress - for once again choosing Benidorm for its Digital Tourist, and for opting for its development in hybrid mode which has allowed to overcome the limitations imposed by the pandemic and "reach more people".

Toni Pérez recalled that since the beginning of the pandemic, Benidorm's action has focused on guaranteeing health security and redirecting “its Smart Tourist Destination strategy to become a Smart + Safe Tourist Destination”. The mayor has indicated that "we knew how to make a clear diagnosis" of what the situation was and "of what destiny had to do" and acted accordingly, for example with the early closure of hotels promoted by Hosbec ahead of the state order . A decision, he remarked, that shows that "the sector bets before the health safety of its customers than for the economic".

The mayor has pointed out that as a result of "active listening" and the "analysis and diagnosis" of the situation during the pandemic, solutions have been adopted that affect society as a whole and by extension the tourism industry such as the 'Patty Recovery ',' Benidorm Beach Safety 'and' CitySentinel ', and which have led to the destination being “safe”.

Toni Pérez has opted for “active listening” at a “difficult” moment for the industry and which, in turn, entails “opportunities”, something that most of the participants in the opening ceremony agreed on.

After the inauguration, the work sessions began, focused on the analysis of all the key issues in the process in which DTIs are immersed: major DTI programs, applied resilience, security issues, flow management, support in tourism intelligence, cybersecurity, sustainability, applicable technology, World Heritage cities, smart tourism in Latin America and the debate on sustainable and inclusive urban development strategies (EDUSI).

The first of the work sessions, moderated by the president of the congress, Adolfo Borrero, has focused on the 'Great Digital Tourism Programs' and in it Enrique Martínez, Alejandro Banegas (Master Card), Enrique Serrano (MPT-Ametic) have participated ) and John Mora (Smart Tourism-AMETIC). Next, the program includes a discussion table on ‘Safe destination, safe tourist’, and one focused on ‘The data: pillar of tourism intelligence’, moderated by the manager of Visit Benidorm, Leire Bilbao. In the afternoon, the round tables will analyze the ‘Tourist flow management’, ‘Intelligent tourism in Latin America’, the ‘Tourist intelligence offices’ and the ‘Technology and protocols: resilience applied to tourism’.

This afternoon's day is completed, at 7.15 pm, with the delivery of the Digital Tourist Awards in its five categories: Innovation, Standardization, Sustainability, Data Economy and Smart Tourist Territory.

The activity will continue tomorrow Friday with another six discussion tables.

DTI network

Within the framework of this Digital Tourist, the Plenary Meeting of the Network of Smart Tourist Destinations, chaired by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, is also scheduled for today Thursday at 1:00 p.m., which it will also be attended by the mayor.