• The international tourism challenge has now entered its final phase, with six companies setting up in the offices of the technology hub to carry out the pilot tests.

Alicante, 26 July 2022 – The open innovation challenge Tourism District, promoted by the Generalitat Valenciana through the Conselleria de Innovación and Digital District, has now entered its final phase with the installation in the offices of the technology hub of six of the first startups that have been finalists.

From now on, these companies will proceed to complete the development of their innovation projects in situ and will carry out pilot tests specifically designed to be implemented in the tourism sector of the Region of Valencia and other national and international markets.

Last year, Digital District launched three open innovation programmes, focused on Tourism, Health and Climate Change prevention, as a strategy to attract talent and projects within and beyond our borders.

This commitment has also promoted the exchange of technological knowledge between companies and the rest of the actors involved in the project, and has given international visibility to the Valencian ecosystem within their respective sectors.

In the specific case of the Tourism District programme, developed by the Globaldit-barrabes.biz joint venture, the aim has been to empower all players in the tourism sector thanks to data, promoting more sustainable tourism to reduce the impact on tourist destinations and helping to digitise and optimise the value chain of travel agencies.

The first phases of the programme involved the definition of four specific challenges – Mastercard, Pangea, Nateevo and ForwardKeys – designed in collaboration with the respective Big Four corporations, and the pre-selection of a total of 506 companies from around the world specialised in the sector, of which 87 registered for the programme.

Profile of the registered companies

Specifically, 38% of all the applications contacted were foreign, 87% of them from the European Union. As for the division by sector, 45% of the registered applications corresponded to companies specialised in tourism, including 14% focused on the travel sector and 11% on smart cities.

The companies and start-ups that could provide the best response to the challenges set out among the candidates were selected, until the definition of the finalist projects, which in the coming months must implement pilot projects to test the solutions and evaluate their impact.

The first 6 startups to set up in Distrito Digital, to start developing their projects are:

  • Eventcase: Technology company to promote events in the tourism sector.
  • Vanyou: Camper caravan rental platform.
  • Inteligencia turística: Tourism consultancy and DTI certification company.
  • Optimizadata: Company specialised in technological solutions for tourism marketing and data management.
  • Silverblock: NFT and Blockchain company in the cultural and event sector.
  • Touristinnovacion360, S.L, Company specialised in virtual and augmented reality for the tourism sector.

Other international startups that have also taken part in the Tourism challenge and that will develop their projects in the technology hub are expected to move into Distrito Digital after the summer.