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The Smart Tourism initiative, a Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland programme, made in partnership with Smart Dublin, Dublin City Council Culture Company and Dublin's four local authorities, has won the Global Tourism Innovation award for best Digital and Innovation.
Dublin’s Smart Tourism Programme has won a prestigious award at the Global Tourism Innovation Awards which took place in Seville on November 3rd, 2022.
This is the first time an Irish nominee has received the award.
The Smart Tourism Programme for Dublin, the only Irish nomination amongst entries, took home the prize for best Digital and Innovation award. The programme is a Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland initiative, made in partnership with Smart Dublin and Dublin City Council Culture Company and with 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.
“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,” said Barry Rogers, Smart Tourism Programme Manager for Dublin who received the award in Seville.
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.
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 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 6,000 tourism delegates from around the world attended the conference which culminated in the awards ceremony on Thursday evening in the Hotel Fernando, Seville. Other categories in the awards included Best Customer Experience award, Best Innovation on AI and Data Analytics awards, Best Sustainable Tourism Project and Best New Business Model award. Other award winners included Vueling Airlines, Visit Finland, BioScore, Hotel Treats and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Casa Batllo.
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.
