Today, SEGITTUR presented its “Seville Sierra Morena” project in Seville, through which it will drive the conversion of the municipalities of Alanís, Almadén de la Plata, Cazalla de la Sierra, Constantina, Guadalcanal, Las Navas de la Concepción, El Pedro, La Puebla de los Infantes, El Real de la Jara and San Nicolás del Puerto into a Smart Destination.
The project was presented by the Chairman of SEGITTUR, Enrique Martínez Marín, and the president of the Seville local government, Fernando Rodríguez Villalobos, together with the deputy Chair of Prodetur, Manuela Cabello, and was attended by the mayors of the ten municipalities.
The aim of the project is to establish the starting point and a future vision of the Sierra Morena mountain range in Seville as a Smart Destination. It consists of a comprehensive strategy to make the destination more competitive through a better use of its tourism resources. It also involves more efficient production and commercialisation processes and the use of sources of renewable energy, and the analysis and processing of data to make progress in decision-making, among other aspects. This strategy is part of a programme aimed at boosting the three aspects of sustainable development in the destination: environmental, economic and sociocultural.
For this, actions performed by the municipalities within the five Smart Destination categories (governance, innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability) will be identified. Once the diagnostic report has been produced, an action plan will be created, featuring the actions the municipalities need to take.
The Chairman of SEGITTUR highlighted the importance of the Seville Sierra Morena joining the Smart Destination project, because “It will allow them to improve their position as destinations, as they will gain a complete image of their situation which they can then use to implement public policies responding to the needs identified. Specifically, this initiative will contribute by making them more competitive.”
“One of the most important lessons we are learning from this crisis is that innovation and sustainable development are fundamental factors for economic recovery, particularly in an area as dynamic and ever-changing as tourism,” noted Villalobos. He stated that the project to turn local destinations into Smart Destinations would be beginning with the Seville Sierra Morena, “As it is one of the most attractive regions to our visitors, and yet has the most to do to tackle the demographic challenge.”
To carry out the project, different departments, the associative network, companies and citizens will be participating, as it is key to get to know not only what the tourism sector is doing, but also the actions of all the agents directly and indirectly related to it.
The project is expected to last some five months, with the expert visit to destinations taking place at the start of October.
