The Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosario Sánchez, has presented the Mayor of Lloret de Mar, Adrià Lamelas, with the recognition that makes Lloret de Mar a Smart Tourism Destination after being assessed by the DTI methodology of the Secretary of State for Tourism, as part of the FITUR international trade fair.
The Mayor of Lloret explained that “this is a strategic milestone as Lloret de Mar has stood out in many areas and has positioned itself as a benchmark in terms of sustainability and accessibility”. Of the more than two hundred diagnoses carried out throughout Spain, only seven destinations have demonstrated that they meet more than 80% of the requirements and can be considered smart destinations: Lloret de Mar, Barcelona, Bilbao, Benidorm, Donostia-San Sebastián, Gijón-Xixón, and Santander. This recognition will be valid for the period 2024-2026, when Lloret will again have to pass the audit by the Secretary of State for Tourism.
The city of Lloret de Mar has been analysed in the 5 axes of the methodology (governance, innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability), where 97 requirements and 261 indicators have been analysed.
Lloret de Mar has achieved the best scores in the areas of sustainability, accessibility, governance and technology, while it is in innovation where it has the greatest room for improvement, as reflected in the diagnosis report drawn up by the State Society for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR).
Of all these, sustainability is Lloret de Mar’s strong point, with 100% compliance in 24 of 38 requirements. These include: management of the destination’s seasonal nature, legislation for natural and cultural heritage, marketing for sustainable tourism and protection of the local natural environment and its biodiversity, among others.
Accessibility is also another notable area in the city, as Lloret de Mar obtained the highest score in requirements such as: planning in terms of accessibility, encouraging user participation in improving accessibility, promoting the development of accessibility through technological/innovative solutions, and information and prior planning for users with different needs.
In terms of governance, Lloret de Mar scored 100% in the creation of the tourism product, the training programme in the local authority and in companies, the public-private and public-public partnership structures, and the monitoring of actions to promote tourism.
Lloret de Mar‘s degree of compliance is also high in many of the requirements of the technology axis, achieving 100% in cloud and edge computing solutions, sensorisation and management systems, tourism intelligence, traceability of promotional campaigns and smart signage, among others.
The analysis carried out by SEGITTUR during the diagnosis process also showed that Lloret de Mar stands out in terms of innovation, such as the promotion of open innovation, the development of innovative tourism products and services and process innovation.
Action plan
Among the areas for improvement, especially with regard to innovation, it is proposed to draw up an innovation strategy, promote innovation in tourism through calls for tenders, strengthen training in innovation for innovative staff, draw up a social innovation plan, carry out surveys on the perception of innovation in the destination and on the measurement of innovation in tourism companies.
The recommendations contained in this roadmap will help Lloret de Mar to continue to focus on those issues in which it already has extensive and successful experience. The city will also be able to reinforce its actions in the areas for improvement highlighted in the diagnosis report.
