Benidorm brings together professionals from all areas of tourism at an event on innovation organised by Smart Travel News

Benidorm City Hall auditorium hosted this Thursday an event for tourism professionals organised by Smart Travel News, the first online media outlet in Spanish specialising in innovation and technology for the tourism sector, which has chosen the city as the venue for its first ‘Roadshow’ which aims to tour different parts of the country to talk about technology, digital transformation, data management, sustainability or digitalisation in the hotel industry, among others.

The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, welcomed all those attending this event and stressed that for the city “hosting these meetings of professionals at the highest level, especially in the run-up to World Tourism Day –which is celebrated tomorrow–, is a great opportunity. In Benidorm we are always eager to learn, to compare models and experiences, to find out more details and, above all, to know more. Everything seems little to us to be able to apply it in favour of our main industry and those who live and enjoy Benidorm: residents, visitors and tourists”.

During his welcoming remarks, the mayor argued that “in a world in constant transformation such as tourism, movement is demonstrated by transforming as we continually do here in Benidorm”. He also recalled that the city was “the first smart tourist destination certified in the world with the UNE 178501 standard” and that, in addition, “it is a great example of sustainability in its three aspects: environmental, with examples such as the RTVE ‘Reduce your footprint’ programme; economic, since we contribute 1.1% of the regional GDP, according to SEGITTUR data; and social, because we are the only city in the Valencian Community with a single-digit unemployment rate”.

After the mayor welcomed the participants, the next event in the programme was led by the manager of the Visit Benidorm Tourism Foundation, Leire Bilbao, who was interviewed by the CEO of Sien Consulting, Mariano Torres, on ‘Benidorm: everything that defines the first Spanish smart tourist destination’. In this conversation, the head of the public-private entity in charge of tourism promotion recounted the data management practiced in the city, has recalled how this knowledge allowed to face the pandemic and post-pandemic of covid-19 in better conditions than other destinations; the investments that have been carried out during the recovery phase or why, unlike other destinations, in Benidorm 'tourismophilia' is practiced as opposed to 'tourismophobia'.

The 'Roadshow' of Smart Travel News has also had other speakers from the public and private sectors throughout the morning. Among them the director of Tourism Innovation of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, Olivia Estrella; the president of Hosbec, Fede Fuster; the founder of Smart Travel News, Juan Daniel Núñez; the CEO of Port Hotels, Daniel Fernández, among others. Along with the entire team, Santiago Cañizares, sports commentator and former player of the Spanish National Football Team, also participated, closing the event with a lecture entitled ‘The seven capital virtues’.