The local public entities making up the Centre of Excellence in Tourism Innovation have inked a framework agreement which cements this public-private initiative’s commitment to promoting innovation, sustainability and the competitiveness of tourism destinations and businesses across Catalonia and unlocking the role of tourism as a driving force in other economic sectors.
The agreement firms up the goal of addressing shared challenges by pooling information and experiences in the Centre of Excellence in Tourism Innovation. This joint initiative seeks to enhance partnerships and synergies in tourism innovation between businesses, destinations and related sectors including the third sector, universities and other stakeholders to craft a tourism ecosystem which is better able to innovate and generate value.
The agreement was signed by the local public entities involved in the CoE representing the whole of Catalonia, the tourist boards of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona provincial councils, the local authorities of Barcelona and Vila-seca where the CoE has its sites, and the Eurecat technology centre which is its promoter. The CoE is backed by the Directorate General for Tourism of the Government of Catalonia and is supported by industry-leading businesses across the tourism value chain.
“Public-private partnership is crucial in the tourism industry to generate operational synergies which enable us to achieve common research, knowledge, innovation and sustainability goals,” pointed out Mercè Escrichs, head of the Tourism Knowledge, Quality and Competitiveness Unit in the Catalan Government’s Directorate General of Tourism. “We will get the best results by working together and right now we need to devise a roadmap for the recovery of this industry which is pivotal for Catalonia’s economy.”
“The CoE in Tourism is the opportunity generated by public and private actors to press tourism research and innovation forward in Catalonia, to achieve a smart and digitalised destination and improve tourism supply and demand,” argued Juan Luis Ruiz, Barcelona Provincial Council Deputy Member for Tourism.
“Tourism calls for ongoing analysis, especially in today’s situation,” noted Xavier Marcé, Barcelona City Council’s Cabinet Officer for Tourism and Creative Industries. “Innovation is crucial to building good destination management, and it’s not just about technology as innovation also means changing the way we do things. Barcelona is mindful of and committed to a tourist industry which creates jobs and is a driver of social and local cohesion.”
“We are delighted to be part of the preeminent Catalan hub for fostering tourism innovation and new knowhow in tourism and leisure to make destinations, businesses and resources in the tourism industry more competitive and sustainable,” said Miquel Noguer, chair of Girona Provincial Council’s Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board. “A tourism intelligence system involving the leading public players in Catalonia and significant numbers of business stakeholders enables us to unlock projects of common interest and help to shape the country’s new tourism model.”
“At Tarragona Provincial Council’s Tourist Board, we believe that technology is one of the main vectors of change in the tourism industry,” commented Meritxell Roigé, chair of Tarragona Provincial Council’s Tourist Board. “So we are stepping up our use of online tools to promote tourism on the Costa Daurada and in Terres de l’Ebre in order to make the area more competitive, spur technological development and improve productivity.”
“Vila-seca’s role as a pacesetter in spearheading innovative and quality tourism is crucial as we host the Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia (CEICS) which brings together Eurecat and the URV’s geography and tourism programmes,” added Cristina Cid, Cabinet Officer for Innovation and Tourism at Vila-seca Town Council. “This framework agreement is a further step forward and a fresh commitment by all the institutions involved to team up and move towards sustainable and innovative tourism which will become a driving force for society.”
“We are confident that the CoE in Tourism Innovation will be a great help in meeting many of the new challenges that the industry as a whole is currently facing, particularly in the Pyrenees and Terres de Lleida,” said Rosa Pujol, deputy chair of Lleida Provincial Council’s Tourist Board. “These challenges are bound up with the Board’s Strategic Plan 2019-2022 which is building its new sustainable management model for tourism development in the region on four main strands: excellence, social responsibility, ecology and innovation.”
Bilateral agreements are also being signed with businesses which are CoE members and with private promoters. They include Turisme de Barcelona, the Catalan Tourist Board, Aquarium Barcelona, Advanced Leisure Services, Avant Grup, Avoris, Baqueira/Beret, Best Hotels, CaixaBank, CONFECAT, Fira de Barcelona, La Pedrera-Casa Milà, Guitart Hotels, La Roca Village, MedPlaya, Oh!Tels, PortAventura World, Roc Roi and Càmping Resort Sangulí Salou.
The CoE in Tourism Innovation was publicly unveiled on 30 January 2020. Actions in its first year included setting up the Tourism and Covid-19 Resource Centre, a website for the tourism industry which compiles resources to help deal with the turmoil brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the industry’s challenges in recovering from the health crisis. Two working groups have also been set up to drive forward data analytics and talent management as strategic areas for tourism. There has additionally been a webinar on cybersecurity in the tourism industry given by Juan Caubet, the director of Eurecat’s IT&OT Security Unit, and the workshop ‘Rethinking hospitality and leisure venues in the post-Covid era’ led by experts from the CENFIM interior furnishings and hotel contract cluster.
