The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has launched a subsidy programme worth €6 million, intended to promote the digitalisation of destinations within the Smart Destinations Network, with the aim of providing them with the technological tools needed to improve interaction with visitors, and with the tourism network that services them.
“Since its creation in October 2018, the Smart Destinations Network has aroused an enormous amount of interest, and has never ceased to grow, becoming a veritable ecosystem that reinforces the competitiveness of our tourism model. Many of its members are highly analogue destinations that have very significant needs in terms of digitalisation, and with this line of funding we are going to provide firm support for the digital transformation and modernisation of the local organisations that form part of the network”, explained the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés.
The rules and regulations for this initial call for proposals was published today in the Official State Gazette (BOE), and can be viewed in full via the following link: https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2022/01/12/pdfs/BOE-A-2022-483.pdf
Beneficiaries of the programme
The subsidies, based on a competitive call for proposals, are aimed at local organisations in destinations that are members of the Smart Destinations Network, or that present their application for membership at the same time as their proposal.
The grants may be awarded to projects focused on the modernisation of infrastructures, tools and digital solutions used by local entities in the management of tourism services. Particularly those that:
– Facilitate tourist access to their areas via new promotional strategies and support, with an emphasis on positioning as a secure destination.
– Improve communication, and access to resources and services for tourists at the destination, providing them with information of interest in real time, facilitating sales of tourism services through digital channels and tailoring the destination’s offering and services to people with physical or sensory disabilities, thanks to the use of ICTs.
– Develop ICT tools that optimise destination management.
– Promote public governance and access to technology through centralised procurement systems to meet technological needs and monitor competing destinations, together with tools for the management of environmental resources.
Local beneficiary organisations will be able to access subsidies of between €100,000 and €500,000, depending on the population of the destination they represent, and whether the application is being submitted on an individual or group basis.
Applications may be submitted over a period of one month from the date of the publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the next call for proposals. The Ministry has set up the following mailbox to answer queries from interested parties: consultas.ayudas@segittur.es
