A total of 14 small and medium-sized tourism companies in the province of Tarragona will be chosen to improve their business skills and to incorporate innovative digital solutions that allow them to transition to more resilient, sustainable, and circular operating models, within the framework of the European project RESETTING, coordinated by the technology center Eurecat.
In the province of Tarragona, the partners of the project are the Business Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of the Province of Tarragona (FEHT) and the ICT Cluster Association Catalunya Sud (Cluster TICSUD). It also counts on the support of the Diputació de Tarragona.
At the European level, the RESETTING project will provide with a financial endowment of more than half a million euros a total of 60 small and medium-sized companies in the tourism value chain, located in five European countries – Spain, Portugal, Italy, Albania, and Greece. It aims to boost their technological and sustainable development.
Ignacio de las Cuevas, head of Global Partnerships and Tourism Innovation at Eurecat’s Technology Consulting Department, said “the testing and integration of new digital solutions will help reduce unnecessary burdens, improve the quality of the tourism experience and decarbonize the sector.”
“It is a pride that international projects as powerful as this are implemented in our territory and, thus, SMEs in the tourism sector can benefit from them directly,” said the president of the Business Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of the province of Tarragona, Berta Cabré, who added that “all companies in the region know that digitization, sustainability and the use of innovative technologies are three of the keys to our sector, not of the future, but the present. I am sure that the SMEs that will participate in RESETTING will be driven towards new horizons, it is a great opportunity.”
The objective of the project is to facilitate more inclusive economic growth for SMEs and the tourism sector, as well as for the destination and its residents.
In this sense, the deputy delegate of European Projects and Region of Knowledge of the Diputació de Tarragona, Pere Granados, said that “the Diputació de Tarragona has been a facilitating agent of this project, which contributes to making the South Catalonia Region a true region of knowledge where its management generates opportunities for local communities, individuals and businesses.”
RESETTING, which will run until June 2024, is a project based on co-creation and innovation. It seeks to join the companies with the common goals of restarting tourism with innovation and aligned with the digital and ecological transition.
The president of Cluster TIC Catalunya Sud, Pablo Mazón, highlighted the key role of technology in this project. “We will offer companies the technological tools and training to carry out this much-needed digital transformation towards a more competitive and sustainable model. We want to help the tourism sector in this change and make a difference,” he said.
This transnational project, led by Eurecat and funded by the European Union’s EISMEA Agency under the COSME call, involves 8 partners that promote collaboration between knowledge institutions, business associations, and public organizations to stimulate innovation in tourism sector and relaunch smart and sustainable tourism business models in Europe.