2024-03-07 02:06:57
Today, the European Commission launched the competitions for European Capital of Smart Tourism and European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025. Tourist destinations from all over Europe are invited to present their innovative practices for smart and sustainable tourism and become leading examples in European tourism.
As the third largest eco-system in the EU, tourism plays a crucial role in economic growth and job creation. The Smart Tourism initiative recognizes cities implementing new digital tools and practices such as equal opportunities and access for tourists, sustainable development and support for creative industries and local talent. Through these competitions, the European Commission promotes and rewards the future of smart and sustainable tourism in Europe.
To compete for the titles in 2025, cities must demonstrate their innovative tourism practices and submit their applications through an online form. Applications will first be evaluated by a jury of independent experts. In the second stage, the selected cities will be asked to present their application to the European jury. The European jury will select two winners, “European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025” and “European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025”, which will be announced in the month of November 2024.
Both competitions are open to both EU and non-EU cities participating in the Single Market[1] – the former COSME1 programme.
European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025 – Smart gets you further
The competition “European Capital of Smart Tourism” is a proven success. “European Capital of Smart Tourism for 2025.” is the sixth edition of the competition. Dublin was chosen as the smart capital for 2024. Paphos and Seville are the 2023 capitals, Bordeaux and Valencia are chosen as the 2022 capitals, Gothenburg and Malaga are the 2020 capitals, and Helsinki and Lyon won the first competition and jointly held the titles in 2019. After 2024, the winner of the “European Capital of Smart Tourism” competition can only be one due to a change in the rules of the competition, while in the past editions two winners were determined per year.
The European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025 will benefit from communication and branding support in 2025 that will tell the story of the outstanding smart and innovative practices that have made it stand out from the crowd and win. This will include the production of a promotional video, a large hashtag sculpture that will be prominently placed, various promotional activities and visibility at EU and international level. In addition, the winner will have the opportunity to join the growing and active network of smart destinations that have been shortlisted in previous editions of the competition, to share good practices and knowledge with them.
Cities with a population of more than 100,000 people can participate in the “European Capital of Smart Tourism” competition. For more information, see the Guide for Applicants for European Capital of Smart Tourism.
European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025 – Green leads the way
The European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism competition is the successor to the European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) competition, which was first introduced by the European Commission in 2007 to recognize non-traditional, emerging sustainable tourism destinations in Europe.
The competition is based on the principle of promoting the development of sustainable tourism in smaller destinations, which brings benefits to the economy, the planet and people. The award of the title “European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025” will allow the winning city to serve as an inspiration to other tourist destinations in Europe, improve its profile as a quality tourist destination, attract visitors and generate economic growth in a sustainable way.
The Green Pioneer competition is open to cities with a population between 25,000 and 100,000 people. For more information, see