Setúbal was chosen to integrate the final list of 50 destinations of the “Smart Tourism Destinations” program, promoting access to tourism products and services through digital innovation, after the evaluation of five hundred applications submitted by European cities.
The European Commission's initiative enables the chosen cities, such as Setúbal, to be part of a training program for the implementation of innovative digital solutions with a view to developing a more sustainable and accessible tourism, in which cultural and creative heritage is assumed as fundamental resources to improve the tourist experience.
The “Smart Tourism Destinations” project focuses mainly on how these cities will work with data related to the tourism sector, involving a wide range of stakeholders, ranging from public decision-makers, through the private sector and even universities. .
The main axes of this European initiative are the adoption of new technologies for better data management, the promotion of sustainability with smart, responsible and sustainable tourism, the assessment and resolution of challenges with the development of solutions and new approaches and, finally, increased collaboration between different tourist destinations.
This promotion of dialogue between “smart destinations” aims to deepen the management and reuse of data to facilitate the sharing of good practices and, thus, contribute to the implementation of a knowledge base that guides the future of strategic urban tourism policies.
Setúbal was chosen after submitting an application/“Call for EU destination managers” in 2021, whose main selection criteria focused on location, transport networks and axes, heritage, equipment and tourist attractions, the development of sustainable initiatives in the field of tourism and also in inclusion and accessibility and in the policy and strategic vision for the destination.
Source: Municipality of Setúbal