Benidorm, headquarters of the Smart Platform for Tourist Destinations

The President of the Government met today in Benidorm with representatives of the tourism sector to confirm that the Smart Platform for Tourist Destinations will be located in this city. The meeting was also attended by the Mayor of Benidorm, the Minister of Tourism, the President of the Generalitat, the Regional Secretary for Tourism and senior representatives of the sector at the state and regional levels.
Pedro Sánchez made the announcement at the end of his first speech, highlighting that “Benidorm has understood the importance of digitization”, that “things are being done well in the city”, as well as in the province and the Community, and that “Benidorm reinforces this commitment to digital transformation ”.
Toni Pérez recalled the work "in permanent contact and loyalty with the Ministry, Segittur, the Generalitat and the Autonomous Secretariat" on a subject that, as Minister Maroto pointed out last June, "was born in Benidorm, after a Digital Tourist, presented in 2021, in the following one, and now it is being formalized ”in a destination that is at the forefront of these processes. Benidorm would thus be strengthened, said Pérez, "as the Spanish capital of Tourist Intelligence."
For the mayor of Benidorm this is one more milestone in the transit that began "five years ago when Benidorm began the certification process as the world's first Smart Tourist Destination, under the 178501 standard" consolidating a small city of 70,000 inhabitants "that it is a powerhouse as it ranks third in terms of regulated accommodation overnight stays ”.
Pérez defended before Sánchez the work and the thrust of the tourism industry "which has suffered brutally and which is always there, always, contributing and being the industry that best redistributes the wealth generated." He recalled "the tremendous impact on the social" that the pandemic has left in the sector and encouraged "to deepen the concepts of temporality and seasonality", highlighting the positivity of initiatives such as the Spain Bond "and the Imserso, improved", programs that they encourage demand and serve, especially those who have suffered the most in recent months, our elders ”.
He insisted the mayor of Benidorm on the "continuous work and permanent loyalty" shown by Benidorm in all initiatives in this matter. Last June, he recalled, for the Minister of Tourism, Benidorm was and is "the bulwark"; the destination that is at the forefront of this transformation process, highlighting that the city “inspires everyone to do much better”.
Based on all this, Toni Pérez told Sánchez that "Benidorm and the sector are technologically and touristically prepared to become the great showcase of the Platform and be the international benchmark for it."
For the mayor of Benidorm, public-private and public-public collaborations are key, such as this one, where, he pointed out, Benidorm “is an excellent space to house it”. The accountant, "having reached this implementation phase," said Pérez, "we reset it and started working."
And in this sense, he pointed out the two possibilities of physical location space: the expansion on municipal land annexed to Invattur or the most preferred option "in the Cultural Center of Avenida de Europa, on its south face, the area that leads to Ibiza Street. ”; a wing of the building that, he said, “by size and location would be the most suitable to host the Smart Destination Platform”.
Toni Pérez thanked Benidorm for confirming it to host the Smart Platform for Tourist Destinations and encouraged the president to visit the city: "Benidorm is always open, it is a safe destination and offers happiness."