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Malaga city, chosen European Capital of Smart Tourism 2020

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Malaga city, chosen European Capital of Smart Tourism 2020

On 9th October 2019, in Helsinki (Finland), the city of Malaga was named the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2020. Gothenburg was also chosen alongside Malaga. These awards are an initiative of the European Union based on a proposal by the European Parliament, which aims to promote the development of innovative tourism in European cities. The award was presented by Slawomir Tokarski, Director for Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing of the European Commission, and István Ujhelyi, Member of the European Parliament, and was accepted by Rosa Sánchez, the city's Councillor for Tourism and Promotion.

Malaga, which last year received an award in the category of accessibility, was the only Spanish city to achieve participation in this edition. In total, 35 cities from 17 European Union member states participated in this initiative, although only ten made it to the final: Bratislava, Breda, Bremerhaven, Gothenburg, Karlsruhe, Ljubljana, Nice, Ravenna and Turin, in addition to Malaga.

The title recognises the achievements of cities as tourist destinations in four areas: accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation and cultural heritage and creativity. The jury also recognised four candidates in the European Smart Tourism Award for the highest scores in each category. Thus, Breda (Netherlands) received an award in the accessibility category, Gothenburg (Sweden) in the sustainability category, Ljubljana (Slovenia) in the digitalisation category, and Karlsruhe (Germany) in the cultural heritage and creativity category.

Malaga City Council is committed to the development of smart tourism. Among the various different actions carried out, last February the General Protocol of Action for the participation, encouragement, support and promotion of the Smart Tourism Destination Network was signed. This action plan is an initiative focussed on improving the competitiveness of tourist destinations in a sustainable and accessible way, through models based on innovation.