The European Commission selects Benidorm as a finalist for the ‘Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025’ award

The destination Benidorm has been selected as a finalist for the ‘European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025’ award, sponsored by the European Commission and given to the city which demonstrates an exceptional commitment to shaping the future of sustainable and innovative tourism. Benidorm has been selected along with six other European cities: Aveiro (Portugal), Jurmala (Latvia), Liepãja (Latvia), Nea Propontida (Greece), Panevézys (Lithuania) and Sliven (Bulgaria).

Under the umbrella of Smart Tourism, the European Commission has launched two competitions; the European Capital and the Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism to promote smart tourism in the European Union, strengthen and connecting destinations and facilitating the exchange of good practices.

Initially, there were supposed to be four finalists for the Smart Tourism Green Pioneer award, but the candidates impressed the panel of experts and the European Commission decided to extend the list of finalists to seven, as some candidates had obtained the same score during the evaluation process.

Benidorm will present its proposal on 27 November in Brussels to a European jury appointed by the European Commission. At this presentation, the town will have to explain why the destination should win this award, the winner of which will be announced that same afternoon. The winning destination will position itself as a pioneer in tourism sustainability committed to the objectives of the European Green Deal and will receive expert support in communication and branding at the European Union level throughout the next year.

To reach the final, the aspiring cities presented their proposals to a group of experts who were in charge of evaluating and scoring them. Those that achieved the highest scores are the ones that have moved on to the next phase.

The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, expressed his “great satisfaction” with the selection of the city and stated that “this confirms the commitment we began in 2015 in favour of sustainability and smart tourism”. Pérez considered “a tremendous success” that Benidorm “is among the European cities distinguished for their sustainable and green policies framed in a model of smart tourist destination”.

In this sense, the Mayor has referred to the fact that Benidorm was the first municipality in the world recognised as a Smart Tourist Destination “was just one more step on the path that leads us to be a completely sustainable city, aligned with the SDGs and committed to the environment”. Pérez has indicated that all the policies undertaken by his government “have had the goal of continuing to be pioneers in tourism and sustainability and we have demonstrated this with facts” among which he has cited the efficiency in water management, the creation of new parks and large green areas such as El Moralet or Sèquia Mare, total accessibility in the streets, the almost 120 kilometres of bicycle lanes “and a long etcetera that has placed us as leaders in this matter and has provided us with numerous national and international recognitions”.

The mayor has also pointed out that being a finalist for this award or being the winner of it “will serve as an inspiration for other European destinations and will lead to raising the profile of the city as a first-class destination, which it already is, attracting visitors and promoting sustainable economic growth”.

The ‘European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism’ award is the successor to the ‘European Destinations of Excellence’ competition that the European Commission established in 2007 to reward emerging and non-traditional sustainable tourist destinations in Europe. The Italian town of Grosseto has been selected as a European Green Pioneer for Smart Tourism 2024.