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European Capital and Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism

European Capital of Smart Tourism

The European Capital of Smart Tourism recognises outstanding achievements in smart tourism in European cities.

The value of Smart Tourism

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

 

About the award 

Tourism is the EU’s third largest socio-economic activity, representing around 10% of the EU’s GDP. The sector plays a crucial role in generating growth and jobs, but still holds untapped potential – especially in the area of smart tourism. Innovation, accessibility, and sustainability are the future of tourism, and the European Commission aims to keep European tourism ahead of the curve. 

For more examples and a more detailed description of each category and additional information, please refer to our Guide for Applicants.

Award categories - correct version

 

Award categories

The cornerstones of smart tourism are being defined by excellence of tourist destinations across the EU in the four award categories:

Accessibility

Accessibility includes services that are multilingual and digitally available to all travellers and visitors, regardless of their age, cultural background or their physical disability.

Sustainability

Being sustainable does not only mean to manage and protect your natural resources as a city, but to reduce seasonality impacts on the environment and to involve the local community.

Digitalisation

A digital city uses digital technologies to enhance all aspects of the tourism experience, enabling simpler access to services for all travellers, as well as to help local businesses to grow.

Cultural Heritage 

Protect and capitalise on the cultural heritage as well as local potential and its creative assets for the benefit of the tourism destination, the industry and the visiting tourists in general.

award categories
EC

 

Benefits – WHY APPLY? 

The winner of the title of European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025 will receive expert communication and branding support in promoting its destination in the media and online, a sculpture for their city centre, a promotional video representing its destination and smart tourism practices, and many other promotional actions from the EU that are designed to raise the profile of the city and boost visitor numbers.

1.
Recognised pioneer
Become a smart tourism thought leader and inspire others.
2.
Put on the map
Be the place to visit in 2025 and enjoy a boost to visitor numbers.
3.
Marketing boost
Win a year of expert communications and branding support for your city as a tourism destination.
4.
Networking opportunities
Meet and exchange new ideas with other EU cities, policy makers and industry leaders.
5.
Media profile
Benefit from a host of new promotional actions from the EU.
6.
Lead and inspire
Lead the conversation on sustainable practices in tourism and inspire other destinations.

Eligibility criteria

The competition is open to cities in EU Member States and non-EU countries that take part in the Single Market programme (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine), with populations of over 100,000. In countries where no city has more than 100,000 inhabitants, the largest city is eligible to apply. For smaller states with total population below 1 million, cities with 10,000 inhabitants are eligible to apply. Population size should be checked against the EUROSTAT.

How is the winner selected?

> Evaluation Step 1 

All submitted, admissible and eligible applications are evaluated against a set of established criteria by a panel of independent experts. The evaluation by the experts determines which cities are the best performers in each individual category. Moreover, on the basis of their evaluation, the Commission then establishes a short-list of a maximum of 4 cities which will proceed to the next evaluation step.

> Evaluation Step 2 

The shortlisted 4 cities will then be invited to present their case in front of a European Jury. Following these presentations, the European Jury selects the 2025 European Capital of Smart Tourism.

 

Download the Guide for Applicants

General publications29 February 2024
European Capital of Smart Tourism Guide for Applicants
ECOSTA Guide for Applicants
English
(3.63 MB - PDF)
Download

 

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