The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism is to work with Uruguay to implement the Smart Destinations model in the city of Montevideo via the State Company for Innovation Management and Tourism Technology (SEGITTUR).
SEGITTUR first exported the smart destination model to Latin America in 2016 in the Mexican city of Tequila.
Montevideo will be the seventh Ibero-American city making the commitment to becoming a smart destination applying the methodology developed by the Secretary of State for Tourism, through SEGITTUR.
This process represents a major challenge for a city like Montevideo on account of all the changes it entails, as being a smart destination is not only about technology and innovation, but also affects areas such as governance of the destination, sustainability and accessibility.
Montevideo is now taking its first steps down this path, with the support and collaboration of SEGITTUR. Cooperation between the public and private sectors and between companies and individuals will be key, including you all, as everyone’s work must be coordinated to benefit the destination.
Montevideo city council is trusting SEGITTUR due to its extensive experience with the project. The Secretary of State for Tourism’s smart destination methodology has been recognised by international bodies such as the World Tourism Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank.
To the Chairman of SEGITTUR, Enrique Martínez, “Joining this project will add value to Montevideo as a destination, with increased competitiveness thanks to a better use of its tourism resources, improved efficiency in production and commercialisation projects and a boost to the sustainable development of the destination, environmentally, economically and socio-culturally speaking. Overall, it will have long-term revitalising effects on the area.”
In the words of Montevideo’s Director of Tourism, Fernando Amado, “this mission, including the visit from the Chairman of SEGITTUR, represents a historic milestone for Montevideo, first of all because it implies the assumption of a formal commitment to work together, with a view to Montevideo consolidating its position as a DTI within the framework of the model required by SEGITTUR”. He also emphasised that it involves, both for Montevideo and Uruguay, a clear commitment to this tourism management model and the aspiration to becoming a regional leader.
The work will begin with the analysis of all the city’s information related to the five categories that make up the methodology: governance, innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability.
Following this, there will be a series of interviews with leaders from different areas of the local government, as well as with bodies directly and indirectly related to tourism, as the Smart Destination project aims to involve everyone, given that tourism is a very transversal sector.
All this work is based around the Secretary of State for Tourism’s Smart Destination methodology, which assesses over 200 indicators linked to the five categories Smart Destinations follow: governance, innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability
The results of the meetings and analysis of the information provided by all the agents involved will be used to assess the level to which Montevideo complies with each category. This will serve as the base for the diagnostic report and the action plan to turn it into a Smart Destination.
