Toni Pérez exposes Benidorm DTI model in Montevideo as an example of governance

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, is attending work sessions in Montevideo (Uruguay) that under the title “Methodology and management tools of Smart Tourist Destinations” has convened the State Society for Innovation Management and Tourism Technologies SA of Spain (SEGITTUR) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) within the framework of its Interconnected Plan. They are aimed at staff of tourism administrations in Latin America with proven experience in destination management and in the design and implementation of public policies in tourism, especially in the field of development of the smart destination model, new technologies and digital transformation . They are especially focused on governance models and implementation of public-private collaboration initiatives.

Five work panels focused on digital and model training, governance and standardization, sustainability and accessibility, technology and innovation and on the challenges of destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean have been programmed.

SEGITTUR carries the weight of presentations and within the Governance chapter it is Benidorm who exposes its experience as the world's first certified Smart Tourist Destination and European capital of Sun and Beach.

Toni Pérez will explain the urban planning model of vertical management with maximum sustainability and with 16.5 million overnight stays. It will insist on the advantages of standardization from the technological and management points of view, as well as on the importance of creating a Tourism Intelligence System with a management body and master plan that leads to an effective implementation in the fields of accessibility, sustainability , technology, innovation and governance, where strategic plans are key.

As practical examples, Toni Pérez will exhibit the management of the Smart Office of the City Council, with examples of E-Administration that are certified; the management of the Integral Water Cycle, with Hidraqua; the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan; issues of prevention and resolution of incidents that affect the normal functioning of the city; the systems implemented for the Local Police and their drones, the Smart Wifi and all the milestones achieved with this process.

The panel of speakers these days is made up of the main staff of SEGITTUR, with Enrique Martínez Marín in charge, general director of the Institute of Tourism Quality of Spain, and first level technicians of the UNE Standardization Program and the INVAT.TUR as well as the Nebrija and Deusto universities.

On the Latin American side, it is made up of those responsible for the World Tourism Organization for the Americas, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Ministry of Tourism of Uruguay, the Undersecretary of Tourism of Chile, the Tourism Entities of Buenos Aires and the Intendencia de Montevideo, Stable Network of Accessible Tourism in Latin America, the consulting firm GRINNcr and the Costa Rican National University Pedro Enriquez.

The four major regional challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean - increasing the benefits generated by tourism, strengthening the value chain, environmental management and governance challenges - will be addressed at the proposal of the UNWTO Secretary General himself , Zurab Pololikashvili. And the one chosen to carry out this issue has been SEGITTUR, which, in its commitment to DTIs, brings to Benidorm the experience of Benidorm and its intelligent tourism management model, widely tested, as the most effective to face the great challenges to which the tourism of that region faces. Developing strategies aimed at improving tourism sustainability and governance is the key to tomorrow's tourism.