The Smart Destinations Network held an extraordinary meeting today, led by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, to analyse the situation the tourism sector is experiencing due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Almost 100 representatives from 73 destinations across the whole of Spain participated in the meeting, including mayors, local government presidents, heads of advertising bodies and tourism experts.
Isabel Oliver noted that “This situation is forcing us to reinvent the way we travel, relate to each other or enjoy leisure, and we must therefore reflect on the future, on what travel will look like, what customers will expect and what we will provide.”
For this reason, the Secretary of State insisted that “The Smart Destinations Network is now more relevant than ever. This initiative, created to improve tourism management, is going to become essential for tackling life after this crisis.”
The representatives of the different destinations analysed the situation the sector is passing through and agreed on the need to have a national recovery plan for the tourism sector that includes specific measures and plans for tourism sub-sectors.
All the destinations agreed that tourism is going to be different and that we need to know what tourists are looking for now, how they will want to travel and many other questions which we will need to answer.
The Chairman of SEGITTUR, Enrique Martínez Marín, stated that “The Smart Destinations Network is a two-way instrument of communication with destinations” and explained that they are working to adapt the Smart Destination methodology to the current circumstances, while forming work groups within the Network to focus on more specific topics.
The destinations participating in the meeting included Almería, Ayamonte, Badajoz, Benicàssim, Benidorm, Bilbao, Cáceres, Calpe, Castelldefels, Castropol, Castro Urdiales, Conil de la Frontera, El Ejido, Finestrat, Jaca, Lloret de Mar, Lorca, Málaga, Marbella, Murcia, Ourense, Palma de Mallorca, Peñíscola, Plasencia, Ronda, Roquetas, Salou, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, San Sebastián and Santa Susanna,
as well as Santander, Sanxenxo, Torremolinos, Tudela, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Vinarós, Puerto de la Cruz, Granada, Palencia, Ourense, Gijón, the Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol, Lanzarote, Invattur, Soprodevaje, the Society for the Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities (FEMP).
