EU guide on data for  tourism destinations 2
EU guide on data for tourism destinations This document was prepared for the European Commission -
DG GROW by 
Smart Tourism Destinations
SI2.843962
PresentedbyPwCEUServicesEESV,IntelleraConsulting,CARSAandtheUniversityofMalagatothe
EuropeanCommission,Directorate-GeneralforInternalMarket,Industry,EntrepreneurshipandSMEs
Thiscontentisforgeneralinformationpurposesonly,andshouldnotbeusedasasubstituteforconsultationwithprofessionaladvisors.AccordingtotheEuropeanCommission,smarttourism
"respondstonewchallengesanddemandsinafast-
changingsector,includingtheevolutionofdigitaltools,
productsandservices,equalopportunityandaccessforall
visitors,sustainabledevelopmentofthelocalarea,and
supporttocreativeindustries,localtalentandheritage". EU guide on data for tourism destinations Abilitytocollect,curateandre-usetouristicdatain
accordancewithacoherentstrategicplan.Thegoalistohelp
peopleandorganizationsinmakingdecisionsandtaking
actionsthatmaximisethebenefittotheorganization. Tourism data management
Destination Management 
Organisation (DMO)
Tourism accessibility Tourism sustainability
Organisationwhichcoordinatesthemanyconstituent
elementsofthetourismecosystem;contributingtothe
destinationdevelopmentconsideringresidentsand
stakeholdersinterestsandwellbeing.TheDMOmayprovide
visitorservicesandthenecessaryinformationstructureto
marketthedestinationinamostdemocraticway. Theabilityoftourismandtraveltobeaccessibletoall
people,irrespectivelyofage,socialconditionsorofanytype
ofdisability-temporaryorpermanent.Includesaccessibility
inthephysicalenvironment,intransportation,information
andcommunicationsandotherfacilitiesandservices. Theabilityofatourismecosystemofpreservingitsnatural
andculturalresources,promotingthewellbeingoflocal
communities,mitigatingtheseasonalityofdemand,limiting
theenvironmentalimpactoftourism-relatedactivities,
supportingaccessibilityandimprovingthequalityof
tourismjobs. Integrationofglobalandcurrentdataanalyticstoinform
thedecisionmakingprocessforthetourismsector.The
purposeistoreduceuncertaintybyusinginformation
obtainedfromamanydatasources,eveninrealtime. Travel intelligence
Open Data
Informationcollected,producedorpaidforbythepublic
bodiesandmadefreelyavailableforre-useforanypurpose. Itisbuiltaroundthekeypillarsoftheinternalmarket:free
flowofdata,transparencyandfaircompetition. Tourism ecosystems
Therangeofstakeholdersinvolvedinthetourismsector.It
includesnotonlypublicadministrationandprivate
businesses,butalsoinnovationlabs/hubs,universitiesand
researchcentres,innovationaccelerators/incubatorsand
localinhabitants. Smart environments
Smartenvironmentsuseambienttechnologies(sensors,
telecomsnetworks,IoTandAIs)toprovidesustainable
resourceefficienciesandnewinsightsintooperationsfrom
complexdatatofirmsandtheirstakeholders. Key definitions Main trends in the tourism sector Three megatrends to predict the evolution of data use for tourism
EU guide on data for tourism destinations Smartdestinationsarecontinuouslyevolvingintheir provisionofservicestotourists,followingsocio- demographic,cultural,technological,environmentaland politicalchangesthataffectallareasofsociety.Beingaware ofandunderstandingthesedevelopmentsinthetourism sectoriskeytoplantourismdevelopmentstrategies, especiallyintheattemptofadoptingsmarttourism approacheswhichrequirenotonlyinvestmentin technologiesbutalsoculturalchangesinDMOandacross theentiretourismecosystemsotoallowthetransitionfrom 3Stourism("sea,sun,andsand")to3Etourism("education, entertainment,andexperience").Onthemediumterm,evolutionsofcurrenttechnologies combinedwiththestructuraladoptionofnewtechnologies
thatarenowreachingthenecessarymaturitystage,will
makesmarttourismincreasinglypossibleandaccessiblefor
bothDMOsandend-users.InternetofThings(IoT),for
instance,willreachanewstageofdevelopment,notonly
becauseofthecostofsensors,devicesandrelatedsoftware
isprogressivelydecreasing,butalsobecauseofthehigher
complementarityandinteroperabilityofthesystems
involved.Inthiscontext,increaseddatainteroperability,
coupledwithimproveddataprivacyandsecurity,willfoster
widespreaddatasharingandre-use.Cybersecuritywill
becomeincreasinglyimportantforbothdestinationsand
usersandtechnologysolutionsproviderswillneedtoadapt
tonewregulatoryconstraintsandguidelines.Atthesame
time,furtherdevelopmentinmachinelearningandneural
networksareexpectedtounlockthepotentialofother
technologiesalsointhetourismsector.Anexampleofthis
isAugmentedReality(AR),currentlymostlylimitedtothe
gamingsector,butwithhugepossibleapplicationsalsoin
thetourismindustry,toofferincreasinglyimmersiveand
dynamicexperiences.Whilewehavemadeeveryattempttoensurethattheinformationcontainedinthisdocumenthasbeenobtainedfromreliablesources,PwC,Intellera
Consulting,CARSAandtheUniversityofMalagaarenotresponsibleforanyerrorsoromissions,orfortheresultsobtainedfromtheuseofthisinformation.All
informationinthisdocumentisprovided"asis",withnoguaranteeofcompleteness,accuracy,timelinessoroftheresultsobtainedfromtheuseofthis
information,andwithoutwarrantyofanykind,expressorimplied,including,butnotlimitedtowarrantiesofperformance,merchantabilityandfitnessfora
particularpurpose. InnoeventwillPwC,IntelleraConsulting,CARSAandtheUniversityofMalaga,itsrelatedpartnershipsorcorporations,orthepartners,agentsoremployees
thereofbeliabletoyouoranyoneelseforanydecisionmadeoractiontakeninrelianceontheinformationinthisdocumentorforanyconsequential,specialor
similardamages,evenifadvisedofthepossibilityofsuchdamages. TheprojecthasreceivedfundingfromtheEuropeanCommissionunderservicecontractpilotproject"SmartTourismDestinations"-GROW-2020-OP-0014-
NumberSI2.843962
Theinformationandviewssetoutinthisdocumentarethoseoftheauthor(s)anddonotnecessarilyreflecttheofficialopinionoftheCommission.The
Commissiondoesnotguaranteetheaccuracyofthedataincludedinthisstudy.NeithertheCommissionnoranypersonactingontheCommission'sbehalfmay
beheldresponsiblefortheusewhichmaybemadeoftheinformationcontainedtherein.1
EU guide on data for tourism destinations
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Allovertheworldtourismdestinationsarecontinuously
investinganddevelopingnewstrategiestoincreasetheir
appealtowardsprospectvisitorsandbettermanage
tourismflows.Tothisend,manydestinationmanagement
organisations(DMOs)decidedtopursuethestatusof
smartdestination,byfosteringinnovationandtheuptake
ofdata-drivensolutionstoenhancetheirownandlocal
stakeholdersofferandbusinessstructure,developingnew
andmoresustainableformsoftourism,whilebroadening
theirapproachto'destinationmanagement'.Thelatterhas
beenoftendonebycreatingsynergieswithwider'smart
city'programmes-e.g.,bysharingtechnologiesinitially
usedformobilitypurposesonly,adaptingthemalsoto
tourism-specificpurposesandgeneratingeconomiesof
scale-orbyestablishinglong-termpartnershipswiththe
privatesector.Onthelongterm,theparalleldevelopmentofdata
interoperability,AI-poweredsolutionsandbigdata
processingcapabilities,willallowtoincreasinglymakethe
tourismmanagementaccurateandefficientandtourism
experiencesseamlessandpersonalized.Blockchain-based
solutionshavethepotentialtoincreasethesecurityand
transparencyofdataandinformationsystems.The
metaversewillofferopportunitiesforimmersiveeducation
andentertainmentexperiences.Improveddatasecurity
systemscoupledwithamoreadvancedandencompassing
regulatoryframeworkaregoingtosupportthewidespread
embeddingofbiometricsandrecognitionsystemsinto
tourists'life.Developmentsinrobotics-combinedwithAI
forautonomousmovementorlanguageprocessing-are
alsoexpectedtoproducesomeimpactinthetourism
servicesandhospitalitysector.Onalongtime-horizon
conciergeandreceptiontaskscouldbeexecutedby
chatbotsandrobots,aswellasassistancetoe.g.,tourists
withlimitedmobilitycouldbeprovidedthroughrobotsor
autonomousvehiclesystems.4 Main trends in the tourism sector
EU guide on data for tourism destinations Megatrend 2 -Socio-demographic    
changes 
Anageingpopulationandprogressivelyhigherratesof
digitalliteracyrepresenttwodefiningdemographictrendsfor
thenext30years.Regardingageingpopulations,theshareof
olderindividualsinthetotalglobalpopulationisexpectedto
increasesignificantlyinthecomingdecades.Thesetrends
needtobetakenintoaccountbothfromtheperspectiveof
targettouristsandlabourmarket.Forexample,thefive
primarygenerationsalivetodayaretheBabyBoomers,born
intheperiod1946-1964;GenerationX,bornintheperiod
1965-1980;Millennials,bornintheperiod1981-1996;and
finally,GenerationZ,whichincludestheindividualsbornin
theperiod1997-2012.Inthiscontext,ontheshortrun,itcanbeobservedthat5G
and6Gmobilenetworkswillplayapivotalroleinaddressing
thegrowingdemandforspeed,coverageandqualityof
networksaswellastosupportbigdataandcloud-based
solutions,fedbyagrowingnumberofdatasetsgeneratedby
sensorsandIoTapplications.Bigdatasolutionsarealreadyin
useinseveraldestinationstosupportdecision-makingand
thiscentralityisexpectedtoincrease,alsoinlightofgrowing
awarenessofthebenefitsofdatasharingandtheadoption
ofcommonstandards.Destinations,ontheshortterm,will
alsohavetowidentheirabilitytoprocessdatacollected
throughvoluntarydatacaptureandrecommendation
systems.Suchdata-generallycollectedthroughonlineforms
orbeaconscommunicatingwithtourismapps-iscrucialto
designpredictiveandbehaviouralmodelsbasedonuser
profilesaswellastomakepersonalisedrecommendations.Why this EU guide
Table of content Asmarttourismdestinationisdefinedasadestinationwhere
differentstakeholders,eventuallyunderthecoordinationofa
DestinationManagementOrganisation,facilitateaccessto
tourismandhospitalityproducts,services,spaces,and
experiencesthroughICT-basedinnovativesolutions,making
tourismsustainableandaccessible,andfullyleveragingtheir
culturalheritageandcreativity.Thisentailsaddressingand
improvinglocalpopulations'qualityoflife,astheybenefit
fromasustainablesocio-economicdevelopmentandare
activelyinvolvedinthedigitalculturefosteredinthearea.Thisguideondatafortourismdestinationsmight
thereforeresultusefulforanytypeofdestinationwilling
toimprovethewaytheycollectandusedatafortourism
purposesandhopefullybecomeinspirationalforthose
cities,regions,orcountries,eagertostarttheirjourney
towardsbecomingsmarttourismdestinations.