infos

Yesterday, January 30, at 7:30 p.m., in the Can Saleta municipal building, a public hearing was held on the Calella Smart Tourism Destination project. The presentation was given by Calella DTI project manager, Ferran Muñoz, and Vivential Value partner-director Rafael Gonzalez. About fifty people attended and representatives of the different political groups in the city also participated.

During the presentation it was explained that this model began to be developed in 2017 and it was divided into three phases: benchmarking, diagnosis and recommendation. In addition, a Calella action plan was created to become a smart tourist destination. In 2018, the focus was on tourists, analyzing more than 73,000 online reviews and more than 300 accommodations, restaurants and attractions. In 2019, the focus was placed on the processes by creating the technical office of DTI involving 12 departments of the City Council and carrying out 54 municipal actions in terms of Smart City and Destination. This 2020 wants to put the focus on the data by creating the Tourism Intelligence System.

In the turn of the representatives of the political parties, all agreed on the need to become a smart tourism destination to improve the experience of our visitors and at the same time the quality of life of our citizens. On the part of Guillermo Gomis (Cs Calella), he stressed that "becoming a smart tourism destination is a priority for Calella since the data helps us to have a better tourism." On the other hand, Xavier Noguès (CUP Calella), considers that his party "sees with good eyes DTI always under the umbrella of Smart City". Josep Torres (PSC Calella) explained that "we are facing a transformation and are working since 2016 on smart tourism." Also, Sebastián Tejada (Calella En Comú) explained that his party believes that "an improvement in the life of citizens should be based on a good reputation as a city, improved the urban environment, health, the scenario where tourist life happens." Xavier Ponsdomènech (ERC Calella) also considers that "first we’ve to have an orderly city for our citizens so that those who come to visit us also feel at ease". Finally, the Mayor of Calella, Montserrat Candini (Junts per Calella), stressed that "an intelligent destination is to the extent that it is able to use the right tools to be efficient and effective. We avoid identifying intelligent territory with technology. Technology is a tool in itself, not an objective."