On Thursday 21st January, in the Feria Internacional del Turismo de Madrid, FITUR, the Val d’Aran will receive its recognition as Smart Destination (SD) by the addition to its present and future tourism model of the four competitive factors in the fields of innovation, technology, sustainability and accessibility.
In a process of analysis and diagnosis that started last June, the Sociedad Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas (SEGITTUR) identified these four variables that define a SD, after which he produced a recommendations report integrated the new Val d’Aran Tourism Plan 2016-2020 which will be presented to the tourism sector of the valley next February.
For the conselhèra de Turismo y Desarrollo Económico de Aran,, Anna Diaz, “A Smart Destination is an innovative destination, which works to consolidate its technology infrastructure, ensuring sustainable development of the territory and that facilitates interaction and integration with visitors and the environment increasing the quality of their experience. ”
In this regard, the accreditation as SD reaches the previous Val d’Aran Tourism Plan, through which it have developed different lines of work that have led it to obtain other certifications such as the sustainable destination Biosphere, granted by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council of the United Nations Foundation and its recognition as a finalist in the Destination Leadership awarded by the National Geographic Society and the ITB Berlin. “The Val d’Aran is moving towards a new model of tourism development based on the principles of sustainability, cultural diversity and social responsibility,” declared the conselhèra.
That of the Val d’Aran has been one of the pilot projects developed by SEGITTUR, whose report also sets out the sources of funding to facilitate the implementation of actions, from the Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo on behalf of the Plan Nacional de Ciudades Inteligentes, Emprendetur and the FOMIT, as well as the European Union through the FEDER.