In a groundbreaking collaboration, our Tourism of Tomorrow Lab (ToTLab) department and its esteemed Spanish premium members - Turismo Andaluz, Basquetur, Catalonia, Navarra and Valencia Region - have taken significant strides towards a data-driven European tourism policy at the Tourism Innovation Summit 2023 (TIS).
This momentous event, which brought together experts and stakeholders from the tourism sector, offered a platform to discuss and shape the future of sustainable tourism in Europe.

ToTLab is the NECSTouR Department led by Andalucía Lab Turismo Andaluz, which specializes in providing personalized coaching to regional authorities on measuring sustainability for management decision-making. At TIS 2023, the ToTLab Spanish premium members led discussions on the challenges and opportunities associated with developing and implementing sustainable tourism indicator frameworks, with the goal of modernizing and enhancing the sector's sustainability.

Here are some key highlights from TIS 2023:

Advancing Sustainable Tourism Indicators

The Spanish premium members of ToTLab engaged with other European regions to address the challenges and opportunities in developing sustainable tourism indicator frameworks. These discussions contributed to the evolution of the EU Technical Support Instrument for Spain, a project supported by the OECD aimed at establishing a common set of indicators for measuring and monitoring tourism sustainability. The Spanish members also shared their plans to pilot the draft indicators, paving the way for a more sustainable tourism sector in Europe.
Read More

Insights from Industry Experts

Ms Ana Moniche Bermejo, ToTLab senior expert from Turismo Andaluz, presented significant European and international developments, governance structures, and policy initiatives that are shaping effective tools for measuring tourism sustainability and enabling sustainable public policies in the Mediterranean.
Mr Tomaso Comazzi from NECSTouR offered an overview of cooperation and funding opportunities for the European tourism sector, in partnership with the Interreg-MED Community4Tourism Project (C4T).
Mr Josep Rodriguez from the Barcelona Provice - member of NECSTouR and C4T Coordinator - presented the Tourism cooperation in the European transnational programmes and the Interreg Euro-MED Sustainable Tourism Mission.
Read More

The Future of European Data Space for Tourism

ToTLab's Lead data scientist, Mr Daniel Iglesias Gonsálvez, moderated a session dedicated to exploring the future of the European Tourism Data Space. Ms Dolores Ordoñez from AnySolution SL shared the outcomes of one year of work on the DATES Tourism Data Space Project, outlining governance and business models, and a roadmap for coordinating tourism ecosystem stakeholders and connecting data ecosystems at the EU level. Ms Misa Labarile from the European Commission introduced the vision behind the European Tourism Data Space and discussed upcoming steps. Mr Juan Jesús García Sánchez from Amadeus provided insights from the business industry perspective.
Read More

In addition to these insightful discussions, TIS 2023 was a platform for informal networking, inspiring debates on common challenges, benchmarking strategies, and planning for future initiatives. The event reinforced the commitment to promoting a data-driven shift towards sustainable destinations in Europe.