Dublin City Council is delighted to announce that Dublin City has been shortlisted for the 2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism award. It is the second time Dublin has been shortlisted for the designation. Last year Dublin City Council also won the prestigious Tourism Innovation Award in Seville.
The shortlist was announced this morning by the European Commission.
From a pool of 30 candidates spanning 17 countries, the selected finalists for the European Capital of Smart Tourism are in alphabetical order, Bremerhaven (Germany), Cork (Ireland), Dublin (Ireland), Genoa (Italy), Helsingborg (Sweden), and San Sebastián (Spain).
The European Capital of Smart Tourism recognises best practice and innovative tourism practices in European cities. Dublin is one of the first European cities to prioritise a specific Smart Tourism programme. Since 2020, Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin and Dublin City Council Culture Company have been working in partnership on Dublin’s first Smart Tourism Programme, with the aim of making the city a smart tourism destination, using the city’s expertise in technology to deliver a superior tourism experience.
Head of Dublin City’s Tourism Unit, Barry Rogers said: “This shortlisting is a real recognition of many years of consistent collaboration and work across Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin and Dublin City Council Culture Company. This designation specifically recognises cities who are striving to be more digitally advanced, sustainable, accessible and more equitable for locals. Dublin being shortlisted amongst these other leading destinations is a welcome benchmark of our own progress to date and provides many more opportunities for innovation and collaboration going forward. We very much look forward to representing Dublin in Brussels in our bid to become the 2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism”
Dublin’s Smart Tourism Initiative is a Dublin City Council programme, made in partnership with Smart Dublin and Dublin City Council Culture Company. The programme is led and governed by the Dublin City Tourism Unit and is underpinned by the Innovation pillar of the new Dublin City Council Tourism Strategy 2023-2028 which states: We recognise the enormous opportunity to blend our expertise in technology, culture and tourism to build a more future facing offer in Dublin. We will be a test-bed for innovation within the tourism industry in Dublin, ultimately creating more and better experiences for visitors.
The goal of the Smart Tourism programme is to establish Dublin as a world-leading ‘Smart Destination’ through innovation, research and partnerships. The programme is responsible for the development of cutting edge visitor experiences such as the new Dublin Discovery Trails App. Last year Dublin City Council received the Digital and Innovation award at the Tourism Innovation Summit in Seville for its development of the Smart Tourism programme.
You can access a brief profile of each of the shortlisted cities here.
The European Capital of Smart Tourism award will be granted to the city that demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to shaping the future of sustainable and innovative tourism. The award also aims to foster networking and the fortification of destinations while facilitating the exchange of best practices in this field.
Following this stage, the finalists will be invited to present their proposals to a European Jury, tasked with selecting the 2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism. The chosen city will receive extensive support in communication and branding. This includes the creation of a promotional video, installation of a hashtag sculpture for public exhibition in the city, and the implementation of tailored promotional campaigns aimed at boosting visibility at both the EU and global levels, ultimately resulting in an increase in the number of visitors.
The competition welcomed participation from cities within the European Union and non-EU countries that are eligible to the Single Market programme. An impartial panel of experts conducted a thorough evaluation of the applications, and those applicants who achieved the highest cumulative score across all categories successfully advanced.