Rosario Sánchez Grau: "Digitalisation will put Spain at the forefront of tourist destinations".
In her interview for FITUR NEWS, the Secretary of State for Tourism explains the importance of the call for 96 million euros in funding from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism for the development of smart technological platforms. She claims that this aid is part of an ambitious project that will place Spain at the forefront of tourism countries using digitalisation to improve the tourism experience and offer integrated services of value at the destination.
What is the importance of the funding scheme that the Ministry of Industry and Tourism has just launched for local public entities to deploy smart platforms?
This funding will play key role in the digitisation process of Spanish tourist destinations, as it will allow them to have a budget to implement projects that contribute to boosting their digital transformation. These grants are part of a more ambitious project: the Smart Destination Platform (SDP), which will place Spain at the forefront of tourist destinations using digitalisation to improve the tourism experience and offer integrated services of value at the destination.
What does this aid consist of?
This funding consists of 96 million euros to finance the development and implementation of smart destination platforms and/or specific modules, ensuring the interconnection and integration of the different platforms and solutions with the SDP. The beneficiary projects will be 100% subsidised and payment will be made in advance.
Who is eligible for the funding?
This aid is for destinations in the Smart Destinations Network, or those destinations that request it. There are three types of beneficiaries within the scheme: provincial councils, island councils, town councils and single-province autonomous communities.
Specifically, how will it drive the digital transformation of tourism in Spain?
The call aims to enable 50 destinations to benefit from the funding received, resulting in a series of digitised services for tourists and businesses in the sector, which have been deployed on a smart platform. With this, we hope to accelerate and catalyse the digitalisation process of the services of the different destinations, aligning them with their tourism strategy, which will allow progress to be made in the sustainability of the destination in terms of tourism.
What kind of projects can be financed with this funding?
A wide range of projects can be financed, from the implementation of new city platforms interconnected with the common services of the SDP, improvement of existing city platforms and integration with the common services of the SDP, development of optional functionalities: promotion and marketing, infrastructures and public services, environmental sustainability, tourism intelligence system, cases for use by tourism type, and any other digitalisation project.
What kind of expenditure is eligible for support?
With this funding, we aim to help destinations in their digital transformation processes, which includes expenses related to external and technical assistance, implementation of technologies (digitisation of assets or resources, adaptation of destination systems and content creation), staff training, communication and dissemination, works and other expenses.