Smart move by Murcia, Costa Blanca

THE director of Murcia’s Tourism Institute (ITREM) Juan Francisco Martinez Carrasco recently visited Benidorm town hall’s Smart Office. Martinez Carrasco was accompanied by Belen Hidalgo Ferrer from ITREM’s Innovation Office who also wanted to learn more about the benefits of becoming a Smart Tourism Destination. Celia Romero, Benidorm’s Smart Office coordinator, and Leire Bilbao from the Visit Benidorm Foundation, showed the visitors how the Smart Office functions by exploring, connecting, validating and transferring data. This assists internal coordination and permits greater public-private sector collaboration, promotes innovation and processes tourist intelligence more effectively and decisively, they explained.
Martinez Carrasco and Hidalgo Ferrer later met Benidorm’s mayor Toni Perez and the town hall’s Innovation councillor, Aida Garcia Mayor, who discussed specific aspects of the Smart Office, including the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals.
“It is gratifying to see interest in the work that Benidorm is carrying out and the possibility of putting it into practice in other destinations,” the mayor said.
“Benidorm wants to set a national and international benchmark for Smart Tourist Destinations and is willing to collaborate to the full with others wishing to follow suit,” Perez added.