Tenerife manages to renew its national certification as a Smart Tourist Destination (DTI). The Island is the first territory in the state to obtain this distinction again, which it received for the first time on November 30, 2020. The company Sociedad Mercantil Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas (Segittur), integrated into the structure of the Secretary of State for Tourism, resolved the evaluation with a degree of compliance that exceeds 80%, the same percentage as on the previous occasion. The analysis began in October of last year. The condition will be in force until January 2025 and, in the words of the insular president, Pedro Martín, “ratifies our commitment and the way of working.”
Pedro Martín assures that, “more than ever, if Tenerife wants to continue being a serious, mature and leading tourist destination, capable of satisfying the requirements of increasingly aware, responsible and demanding visitors, this is the way to go”.
Sustainable
The insular director of Tourism, Laura Castro, points out that the certificate will be valid until January 31, 2025 and values the commitment of the insular Corporation for the intelligent and sustainable development of the destination. “In fact, Castro emphasizes, in 2022 we signed an agreement with Segittur to coordinate the process of adapting the certification to the entire island territory.” In this sense, one of the fundamental factors is “support for innovation and digitization of the Island as a whole.”
The CEO of Turismo de Tenerife, David Pérez, for his part, shows his “satisfaction at reaching this milestone, after an exhaustive audit that first values public-private collaboration.”
Likewise, Pérez adds, “our commitment to governance is reflected, a pillar of the strategy we carry out and positions us as a leading destination in the field of digitization and innovation.” Pérez also highlights the “excellent” relationship with the Secretary of State for Tourism.
In this regard, the counselor assures: “We work hand in hand with Segittur and Turespaña – the autonomous state body in charge of promoting Spain abroad as a tourist destination -“.
proactive
David Pérez highlights that “our proactivity places us as one of the leading tourism management entities in the country.” The analysis carried out by the Segittur team took into account factors such as sustainability, governance, technology, innovation and the accessibility of the island territory. With regard to innovation, the entity valued the work of Turismo de Tenerife in the development of new services, through technological tools, for communication with the traveler, such as the award-winning virtual assistant GOIO.
Technological
In relation to technology, Segittur assesses compliance with the requirements linked to tourism knowledge, with consolidated data intelligence by the Tenerife Tourism Research department. In governance, the provision of services through the public-private participation model stands out; in sustainability, the Tenerife Reset Plan, and in accessibility, the Accessibility Map of the island.
Inter-administrative
The renewal of the DTI distinctive of the island has been possible thanks to the collaboration between Turismo de Tenerife, the rest of the areas of the Cabildo, the business sector and the University of La Laguna (ULL).
Currently, Tenerife is part of the group of destinations –six nationals and one in Latin America– that leads excellence in terms of implementation of the Smart Tourist Destination model, placing itself at the forefront of tourism development in this area.
