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7.7 Smart Destination Platform

Context and framework within which the initiative is developed

The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic completely disrupted the existing social and
economic dynamics of the world. In addition to the devastating consequences on the physical
integrity of part of the population, the pandemic also compromised the global economy, directly
affecting unemployment levels and the restructuring or extinction of a considerable part of the
productive framework.

In this context, the member states of the European Union quickly adopted a set of coordinated
emergency measures to protect the citizens' health and palliate the economic collapse. Under
these measures, a drastic economic and social effect was noticed in the European Union countries
as a whole, directly influencing the business activities of cities.

The unprecedented context in which the COVID-19 crisis immersed us, motivated the need to
quickly react by adopting urgent and categorical measures to, not only cushion the effects of the
pandemic and impulse an early economic recovery, but also to lay the foundations for development
in the coming years.

Aware of the singular moment in which the world found itself, the European Council agreed to the
launch of the Next Generation EU as the innovative approach required for the transformation of
its member states. The central axis of this instrument was the Resilience and Recovery Mechanism,
through which European countries would cope with the economic and social effects and, at the
same time, begin a transition towards ecological and digital models aiming at principles such as
sustainability and resilience.

Based on the above, the Spanish Government elaborated the Recovery, Transformation and
Resilience Plan (PRTR) “España Puede”, which includes ten tractor policies or levers that will have a
direct impact over those productive sectors with a greater capacity for transforming the economic
and social structures.

Clearly, one of these ten policies of great scope orbits around the competitiveness of the industrial
and SME sectors, putting their modernization and digitalization in the forefront, along with the
recovery of the tourism sector and the promotion and encouragement of Spain as an entrepreneurial
country.

To achieve these objectives, the Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism (SETUR), through SEGITTUR,
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launched the Smart Destination Project, which boosts tourism development in tourism destinations
through a model based on five concepts: governance, innovation, technology, sustainability and
accessibility.

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