Dublin City Council’s Smart Tourism Programme has won a prestigious award at the Global Tourism Innovation Awards presented at the Tourism Innovation Summit taking place in Seville.
The Smart Tourism Programme for Dublin, the only Irish nomination amongst entries, took home the prize for best Digital and Innovation award. The Global Tourism Innovation Awards are organised by the Tourism Innovation Summit and recognise the implementation of innovative and disruptive business models in the tourism industry. They are one of the biggest awards in the international tourism industry. The prize is awarded to destinations which demonstrate best practices in tourism development and innovation. This is the first time an Irish nominee has received the award.
The Smart Tourism programme is a Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland initiative in partnership with Smart Dublin, Dublin City Council Culture Company and Dublin’s four Local Authorities. Dublin is one of the first European cities to prioritise a specific Smart Tourism programme supported by a full time programme manager. The goal of the Smart Tourism programme is to establish Dublin as world-leading ‘Smart Destination’ through innovative projects, research and partnerships.
Barry Rogers, Smart Tourism Programme Manager for Dublin who was presented with the award in Seville, said, “this award has firmly put Dublin on the map as a world leading innovative destination. It’s a testament to the real impact of our work and the power of collaboration.”
Head of Dublin at Fáilte Ireland, Liz Halpin said, “this award recognises the ambition of Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin and Dublin City Council Culture Company to capitalise on our city’s expertise and knowledge of cutting-edge technology to help to rebuild our tourism industry as more sustainable, accessible and innovative than ever before. The programme was designed to ensure Dublin can leverage new technology opportunities to help support its economic recovery as it recovers and rebuilds.”
Smart Tourism is a model for supporting innovation and driving positive transformation within destinations. It uses technology, data analysis and digitalisation to build more accessible, sustainable and equitable destinations, ultimately creating more inclusive prosperity for locals and better experiences for visitors.
The Smart Tourism programme identifies cutting-edge developments and technology trends in tourism and explores how Dublin can make the most of these new innovations. The programme is currently responsible for developing new tourism data and insights opportunities and leading the development of innovative digital tourism experiences in Dublin. The programme’s flagship technology project “Dublin Discovery Trails”, an immersive heritage trail app is due to be launched in January 2023.
The Tourism Innovation Summit held this week in Seville is one of the tourism industry’s leading innovation, technology and sustainability conferences. Over 6000 tourism delegates from around the world attended the conference which culminated in the awards ceremony in the Hotel Fernando, Seville.
In 2021, Dublin was also shortlisted for the European Capital of Smart Tourism, a designation which recognises outstanding achievements by European cities as tourism destinations in four categories: sustainability, accessibility, digitalisation as well as cultural heritage and creativity. This EU initiative aims to promote smart tourism in the EU, network and strengthen destinations, and facilitate the exchange of best practices.
Source: Dublin City Council
