10 cities competing for the 2020 European Capital of Smart Tourism title (FOTO)

Brussels (ots) -

Ten European cities have been shortlisted for the 2020 European
Capital of Smart Tourism (https://smarttourismcapital.eu/)
competition (presented in alphabetical order): Bratislava (Slovakia),
Breda (The Netherlands), Bremerhaven (Germany), Gothenburg (Sweden),
Karlsruhe (Germany), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Málaga (Spain), Nice
(France), Ravenna (Italy) and Torino (Italy). The finalist cities
were selected from a total of 35 applications from across 17 EU
Member States.

The European Capital of Smart Tourism was proposed as a
preparatory action by the European Parliament and is implemented by
the European Commission. It aims to promote smart tourism in the EU,
foster innovative, sustainable and inclusive tourism development, as
well as spread and facilitate the exchange of best practices. This EU
initiative recognises outstanding achievements by European cities as
tourism destinations in four categories: Accessibility,
Sustainability, Digitalisation as well as Cultural heritage and
creativity.

Last year, Helsinki and Lyon won the inaugural competition and the
two cities jointly hold the titles of European Capitals of Smart
Tourism in 2019.

This is the second edition of the competition to award two cities
as the European Capitals of Smart Tourism in 2020. The two winning
cities will benefit from communication and branding support for a
year. This will include; a promotional video, a purpose-built
sculpture for their city centres, as well as bespoke promotional
actions.

Moreover, four awards will also be handed out in recognition of
achievements in the individual categories of the competition
(Accessibility, Sustainability, Digitalisation and Cultural heritage
and creativity).

All winning cities will be announced and awarded at an Awards
Ceremony, which is taking place as part of the European Tourism Forum
in Helsinki on 9-10 October 2019.

Background

In the first stage of the competition, an independent panel of
experts evaluated the applications. All finalist cities demonstrated
excellence across the four competition categories combined.

In the second stage, representatives of the 10 finalist cities
will travel to Helsinki to present their candidatures and the
programme of activities planned for 2020 in front of the European
Jury. The European Jury will meet on 8 October 2019 and select two
cities to become European Capitals of Smart Tourism in 2020.

The selection of the most innovative projects, ideas and
initiatives, submitted by cities to the last year's competition can
be found in the Compendium of Best Practices
(https://smarttourismcapital.eu/best-practices/), the go-to guide to
smart tourism in the EU.

For all the latest news on the European Capital of Smart Tourism
(https://smarttourismcapital.eu/), sign up to our newsletter
(http://smarttourismcapital.eu/newsletter/), or follow us on Facebook
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Notes to Editors

1. The 2020 European Capital of Smart Tourism competition was open
to submissions from 26 February 2019 to 10 May 2019. Terms and
conditions are available at www.SmartTourismCapital.eu

2. Smart tourism responds to new challenges and demands in a
fast-changing sector, including the expectation of digital
information, products and services; equal opportunities and access
for all visitors; sustainable development of the local area; and
support to creative industries and local talent.

Contact:
European Capital of Smart Tourism Secretariat: Antigoni Avgeropoulou,
info@SmartTourismCapital.eu, +49 (0) 30 70 01 86 390

Original-Content von: European Capital of Smart Tourism, übermittelt durch news aktuell