Good practice:

Smart Tourist Destination, by Turismo de Tenerife

The Canary Islands have always had good tourism figures. However, this situation has changed due to the COVID-19 crisis, the change in tourist behaviour due to the influence of new technologies, etc. So, tourist destinations have to adapt to the new reality. The problem addressed is the need for the tourism sector of a technological boost. More than a problem, it is an opportunity to improve the quality of life and social wellbeing of its inhabitants and visitors (main beneficiaries of the practice).
The practice is the holistic vision, while the example of implementation is the Puerto de La Cruz initiative. The Culture Area of Puerto de la Cruz City Council, and the Tenerife Tourism Innovation and Digital Talent Department promote a cultural and creative ecosystem, a “Creative Hub”.
To reach its objectives, Tenerife as Smart Destination will support local companies in the digital transformation through a Smart Office, whose main task is to create a strategy map with the steps to follow in forthcoming years, to support SMEs with tools (there are no tools yet, but these will depend on the individual business support and what each company needs) and knowledge (linked to Innovation, Technology, and Internationalisation for the Tourism sector).
Main stakeholders: The Council and the Tourist office of Tenerife, the town hall of Puerto de La Cruz (in charge of executing the implementation), the CIDIHUB (technology), hotels, and all tourist companies (to be modernised).

To set up and to run the economic-strategic plan for the reactivation of the sector, you will need a budget of more than 23M€. The reactivation plan (11,5M€) is divided into axis like digital transformation, tourist intelligence, and research (307.700 €).

The Spanish tourism administration (SEGITTUR) has promoted the Smart Destination project. The transformation of a destination is based on a methodology that works on governance, innovation, technology, sustainability, and accessibility. Tenerife is, as of 2020, the first Spanish island to become a Smart Tourism Destination, after being evaluated (a diagnosis of 400 items) by SEGITTUR with the methodology, and having obtained a degree of compliance that exceeds 80%.

Tenerife Smart Destination is a successful example of the Smart Destination Strategy implementation. In terms of technology, the island of Tenerife is committed to the intensive use of ICT in the management of public services and the intelligent development of the island.
One of the Technology and Innovation lines is the Technology Lab, where a VR case of use in Puerto de la Cruz is a good idea of innovative tourist use of Digital Realities that public authorities could implement themselves in sites of cultural interest, outdoor itineraries, etc. and because of the territorial context with some DIGITOURIMS partners, characterized by high peripherality, Smart Tourist Destination represents a good best practice.