SMART SPAIN Country trumpets tech in tourism
Spain is not short of public or private sector initiatives that exemplify its dedication to fostering a culture of technological innovation. Kate Harden-England reports
Spain’s government is investing heavily in digital transformation as a central part of its sustainable tourism strategy. The country is well placed to tackle
the technological challenges of the travel sector thanks to its division dedicated to innovation and tourism technology (SEGGITUR) and the Institute of Hotel Technology (ITH), which has more than 100 pilot projects. Many travel companies have even
opted for Spanish headquarters, with the likes of TUI Musement, Hotelbeds and Travel Compositor choosing to operate from Palma in Majorca, the new ‘Silicon Valley for travel tech’. Manuel Butler, the director of the
SŘËİĒšďǝTĺŭśĒšŨǝlƗçóǝĒİǝŨďóǝ¡XƺǝšËƉšƹǝ “Our aim is for Spain to be an incubator for new travel tech companies, and we are proud of Spain’s technology initiatives, which are an important part of our tourism transition to become more innovative and more sustainable.”
NATIONAL INITIATIVES This year, Spain introduced a law that requires all non-residential private car parks with more than 20 spaces to install one electric car charging point for every 40 parking spaces. Larger car parks with more
than a thousand spaces must also provide charging stations.
SŘËĒİǝËĨšĺǝæśĺŭĉďŨǝĒİŨĺǝóƖóçŨǝËǝ
Digital Nomad Visa, which is the çĺŭİŨśƉǛšǝƛśšŨǝšĒĉİĒƛçËİŨǝƂĒšËǝĈĺśǝ remote workers and freelancers.
REGIONAL INITIATIVES Valencia At the start of 2023, the Valencian Community Hotel Association (Hosbec) embarked on a data-driven project to gauge the sustainability of the region’s hotel industry and implement appropriate measures. The 50-plus hotels in the
association are using big data and machine learning to develop a real-time control panel that provides insights into their compliance and sustainability-related actions. New initiatives implemented in the
region also include experimentation with ËśŨĒƛçĒËĨǝĒİŨóĨĨĒĉóİçóǝǍ GǎǝËšǝƃóĨĨǝËšǝËǝ testing centre that aims to tackle urban issues such as mobility, sustainable ŨśËİšŘĺśŨǝËİíǝóİóśĉƉǝóƗçĒóİçƉƿǞ Valencia itself is keen to be
green. In 2019, Valencia became the ƛśšŨǝçĒŨƉǝĒİǝŨďóǝƃĺśĨíǝŨĺǝƂóśĒĈƉǝËİíǝ certify the carbon footprint of all tourist activity in the city. It hopes to be carbon neutral by 2023. The European Commission
has also chosen Valencia as European Green Capital 2024.
Canary Islands Last September, six hotels in Tenerife successfully converted approximately 90 tonnes of organic waste into 14 tonnes of ‘A+’ compost. This high-quality compost will be used at
organic farms across the Canary Islands as part of the ‘Circular Tourist Communities’ project, which is a collaboration between local hotel association Ashotel and the Canary Islands Association of Farmers and Ranchers.
TRANSPORT INITIATIVES Rail Raül Blanco Díaz, the president of Spain’s national train company Renfe, says it invested more than €245 million in digitalisation and cybersecurity between 2018 and 2023. The company’s TrenLab accelerator
supports startups and innovation projects. It has helped set up 17 startups since its launch in 2018. State-owned railway company
Renfe has also developed a series of Digital Competence Centres. These are expected to have created 625 jobs and have made a contribution to Spain’s GDP of more than €18 million in 2023. Aviation Innovation has played a major role at low-cost airline Vueling since its inception in 2004. One of owner
24 — OCTOBER 2023 —
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