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In 2020, there were 2 winners of the European Capitals of Smart Tourism. These are destinations, who were able to set trends and truly be examples of destinations that can adapt to the digital needs of the modern climate. Nick discusses with them what it is exactly that won them their individual accolades and the future in a post-pandemic industry.

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Gothenburg & Co.

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Gothenburg is the story of a smaller destination paving the way for smart cities. For 20 years the strategy for them has been to make effective partnerships to expand opportunities.

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Gothenburg is a destination that inhabits a diverse group of people, accommodating for 43 different languages and averaging 5.5 million bed nights.

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They won their place as one of the European Capitals of Smart Tourism thanks to their sustainability-driven efforts, e.g. their 800km of bike lanes and ensuring that 95% of hotel rooms are environmentally certified. Through their win they've been given a platform to share their success in more than a few ways:

1. The Smart Tourism Conference – where city representatives were allowed to discuss smart tourism strategy
2. 101 Sustainable Ideas - a website developed to gather innovative information as a source of inspiration. The list is ever-growing and has paved the way for many destinations and their strategies
3. Digital Think Tank – In June, alongside West Sweden and the IT industry, Gothenburg made a space for discussing how new technology can contribute to the tourism industry and what opportunities can come from implementing them to our "new normal". This workshop carried on throughout the year

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Visit Göteborg & Co for more

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City of Málaga

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For years Málaga has looked towards sustaining itself in all senses of the word. As time has passed they have been innovators in strategy with the visitor experience in mind.

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Málaga was the first city in Spain to wirelessly charge its system of electric buses while driving, this feat amongst 8 fully accessible urban beaches, 40 museum spaces, and 48.6km2 of protected natural areas caught the UN's attention.

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Public LED lighting, bike hire stations for 40km worth of bike lanes, smart watering systems for green areas as well as the Air Quality Sectoral Plan are just several examples of their initiatives that won Málaga their award. Since then, they have released a plan of action and held up their causes throughout the year.

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Some initiatives of note are:

1. The Málaga Ciudad Segura programme – an effort to reactivate tourism in a responsible, secure way. They provided weekly antigen tests to workers in the affected sectors and gave certification to businesses to highlight them as a safe place to visit because the workers are being looked after.
2. The Málaga WorkBay initiative – an effort to promote remote working as a way to attract new businesses and employees while supporting the hospitality sector. The scheme itself involves advice and counselling in a variety of languages for anyone working in Málaga.
3. Málaga worked to develop an innovative smartphone app designed to facilitate safer travel in collaboration with UNWTO and Wanderlust World. The app allows you to carry all necessary documents for travel (passport, identification etc.) to avoid mishandling this important paperwork. Another app was developed to monitor beach capacity, hazards, and water temperature.

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Visit European Commission for more.