Experts point to secure and confidential data sharing as the key to maintaining leadership in tourism innovation

Experts in tourism innovation have pointed out today in Benidorm that the sharing of data securely and confidentially will be key to maintaining leadership. This is one of the conclusions reached during the first discussion table of Digital Tourist 2022, a congress organized by Ametic, an entity that encompasses the digital technology industry in Spain.

This first table, entitled 'From the Intelligent Platform of Destinations to a new data ecosystem', has brought together the director of Territories and Phygital Tourism of Minsait, Alberto Bernal; Joan Antoni Malonda, tourism business delegate at GMV's Secure e-Solutions; the vice president of government engagement of Mastercard, Daniel Nieto; and the general secretary of the RECI, Javier Ridruejo. A table moderated by the vice president of the Smart Cities Commission of Ametic, John Mora, and the whose starting point was the Intelligent Platform of Destinations promoted by the Ministry of Tourism and whose objective is to accelerate the digitization process of the operations carried out by destinations and companies in favour of increasingly connected tourists.

During the debate, the experts addressed the advantages that the sharing of data and experiences, linked to digitization, can bring both destinations and tourism companies, and pointed out that technology is developing tools that make it possible for the transfer of information to be done safely and respecting the privacy and confidentiality regulations.

Malonda has assured that "we must lose the fear" of sharing information and data, understood as "a federated network" in which "each one is sovereign to decide what to share and to whom"; and he has stressed that "cybersecurity" and "technology" make it possible for this transfer of information to be done in the ideal conditions of privacy and confidentiality.

Both the GMV representative and the general secretary of the RECI have indicated that the Next Generation Renewal Funds constitute "an opportunity" to launch "ideas" and initiatives in the fields of technology, digitization and tourism innovation. Some fundamental areas in "the redefinition of the tourism paradigm" to which more and more countries and destinations are joining, as Nieto has confirmed, who has stressed that "if we want to continue being a leader in tourism innovation we have to move twice as fast".

For his part, the director of Territories and Phygital Tourism of Minsait has stressed that "Spain continues to be" the "most competitive and also the smartest and most sustainable" destination, with "a tourism model, the DTI, which is very appreciated in the rest of the world. A model that is based on the UNE 178501 standard and that Benidorm was the first to comply with, thus becoming the first certified Smart Tourist Destination in the world.