Four projects on smart tourism presented by students of the Degree in Tourism and the Double Degree in Tourism and Business Management and Administration (TADE) have been awarded within the teaching innovation project Politur, led by Professor Rosa Roig from the Department of Applied Economics at the Universitat de València.
In this year’s edition of Politur, the first prize for TADE students went to the project ‘Wave no waste’ by Gemma Camarillas, Esther Company, Pablo García and Belén González. The second prize went to the project ‘Descobrint el Cabanyal’ by Lola Giner, Claudia Lloret, Jana Mora, Carmen Pastor and Aitana Torrente. Within the Degree in Tourism, the first prize went to the project ‘Alimentos amigables (veggie’s)’ by Dania Beldjoudi, Carla Barberà, Andrea Estrella and Vera Prado. The second prize went to ‘Projecte Malvarrosa, gestió de multituds’ by Miguel Andrés Llinares, Rocío García, Leyre Martínez and Iván García.
These proposals were shown in the Faculty of Economics to the heads of tourism of the Valencia City Council, the Provincial Council of Valencia and Visit València Convention Bureau.
These final year students identified the shortcomings of the current tourism model in accordance with the parameters of the Smart Tourism Destination from the perspective of social, economic and environmental sustainability, accessibility in the city of Valencia, governance and technology. Each of the projects is a solution to a challenge identified by the students in one of the tourism sectors. Therefore, each project is a tourism product that expands Valencia’s offer through the creation of cutting-edge technological infrastructures that improve the tourist experience while increasing the well-being of the resident population by protecting the environment and local culture and generating local wealth.
The Smart Tourism Destination paradigm places the tourist and the resident at the centre of the tourism ecosystem, making tourism a driver of smart socio-economic development that has a positive impact on the tourist destination. In fact, there is a vision that responds to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda behind each proposal. The projects focused on accessibility in cities, enhancement of local zero-kilometre gastronomy, promotion of local commerce, sustainable tourist mobility, diversification of the tourist offer, and social sustainability, among other issues addressing the major challenges of the Valencian tourist ecosystem.
The presentation of the projects was attended by Francisco Muñoz Murgui, Dean of the Faculty of Economics; María José Vivó, Head of the Tourism Service of the Valencia City Council; María José Guillem, Head of Valencia Tourism at the Provincial Council of Valencia; and Amaya Ráez, specialist of Visit València Convention Bureau, together with professors Rosa Roig and Santiago Luzuriaga from the Department of Applied Economics.
