The Cigarral del Ángel, on the banks of the Tagus, was the space chosen for the celebration of the ABC and Segittur Forum: “The impact of digital transformation on tourism destinations and businesses”, which is already a classic in Toledo with its fourth edition. The mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velázquez, has passed through; the vice-president of the Provincial Council of Toledo, Soledad de Frutos; the general director of Tourism, Commerce and Crafts of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Ana Isabel Fernández; or the president of Segittur, Enrique Martínez Marín, a public company dedicated to the management of innovation and tourism technologies.
In addition, there was room for two round tables. One on “Projects benefiting from aid for the digitalization of tourism businesses”, with the presence of the managers of StayTick And Iralta; and another on the “Smart Platform: Destination Expectations”, where politicians from Oropesa, Toledo and Talavera de la Reina told the reality of their municipalities in terms of tourism.
Martínez Marín, from Segittur, explained how the national government’s recovery, transformation and resilience plan contributes to the digital transformation of the tourism sector. It is 3.4 billion euros from Europe to Spain that are distributed in aid to destinations and companies, with the aim of making the sector more efficient and competitive.
One of the big bets is the Smart Destination Platformwhich is the result of a collaboration between the public and private sectors, with leading technology companies, universities and local communities. Together, they have developed a tool that reflects needs and aspirations, with flexibility to adapt and evolve. According to Segittur, this platform represents a qualitative leap in tourism management, a project with which Spain wants to place itself at the forefront of tourist countries using digitalization to improve the experience and offer integrated services of value to the destination.
In reference to this Smart Destination Platform, “in a few days” the provisional resolution of a call for 96 million euros for destinations to launch linked platforms will be announced. 250 applications have been submitted throughout Spain and “we do not have enough money for all of them, although we have more money than ever,” Martínez Marín said.
“Courageous measures” in the city of Toledo to “improve coexistence”
In Toledo, it is no secret that “tourism is the first industry” to generate direct and indirect jobs. The mayor, Carlos Velázquez, said it, and it was later clarified by the deputy mayor, as well as by the Treasury advisor, Juan José Alcalde, who estimated its impact in “16 percent of the city’s GDP”. And the historic center is the neighborhood where the vast majority of those who come converge. So, combining this flow of people of all possible nationalities with the daily life of the inhabitants is the great challenge that the City Hall faces.
“We have decided not to throw in the towel for a living Casco,” said Velázquez in Cigarral del Ángel, ambitious in the goal of “attracting more neighbors.” Some of these “courageous measures” to try to make a neighborhood more livable have been the elimination of luggage in 100 streets or the facilitation of mobility by eliminating the single pivot. In addition, the city council also intends to allow new parking spaces. In this regard, the mayor recounted the anecdote that a neighbor from Alfileritos Street recently told him, who decided to buy a house only after finding a parking space.
Velázquez acknowledged that on weekends “it is even difficult to walk around Casco” due to the large number of tourists, which is why “we are working” on three projects that help to relieve congestion in the area and diversify the tourist offer to other areas of the city. These are: the digitalization of media with a virtual tourist office at the train station and the installation of screens on the Ronda del Granadal and Plaza Zocodover; the control of flows through digital devices to diversify tourist routes, along the lines of Christmas or the “Heritage Nights”; and finally, the promotion of intelligent, orderly and homogeneous signage.
In these three projects, the City Hall will invest nearly two million euros from the European fund “Next Generation”, on the proposal of the State. All with the ultimate aim of “improving coexistence between neighbors and visitors.”
Castilla-La Mancha will have its own space in the Fortnite video game
Ana Isabel Fernández, Director General of Tourism, Commerce and Crafts of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, spoke about the Strategic Tourism Plan 2024-2030, with a budget of 320 million euros and “agreed with the sector”, whose objectives are to generate “more employment, more overnight stays, extend the stay…”.
This comes from a year 2023 which was “the year of records”, with 2.9 million visitors and 5.7 million overnight stays in the region. Fernández also assured that “in the first seven months of 2024 the figures have already been exceeded” and recalled that in the last ten years 10,000 jobs have been created in the sector.
Finally, he mentioned “three projects that are already a reality”: a tourist web platform, which tracks the behavior of tourists; a data ecosystem available to hotels; and his own space in the Fortnite video game, where the user will be able to travel through emblematic places and where three historical figures from the region will appear.
Provincial Council highlights province’s ‘incredible variety’
Soledad de Frutos, vice-president of the Provincial Council of Toledo, delegate for Budget and Finance, explained that in the Provincial Administration “we work by and for the municipalities”, recognizing that “the Provincial Council needs to update itself” in the field of new technologies and “what” we are doing little by little.
Toledo has “18 tourist information points” spread throughout the territory, with tourism being for many municipalities “the main source of income”, in addition to serving “to combat depopulation”.
De Frutos also highlighted that “we have an incredible variety in different areas such as heritage, landscapes, typical products, gastronomy, festivals…”; In short, “a complete offer so that the visitor does not only stay in Toledo”.
