This April, Calella has become a tourism innovation laboratory thanks to the co-creation workshop “Digitalize Calella”, promoted by the Tech Tourism Cluster with the direct collaboration of the Calella City Council. The aim of this session has been to work collaboratively to address four major challenges for the future of the destination, promoting applied innovation, shared knowledge and co-creation among professionals in the sector.

The challenges posed by the Calella City Council respond to a clear strategic vision towards a more sustainable, seasonalized and digital destination:

•   Economic sustainability: how to guarantee tourist activity throughout the year and break with strong seasonality.

•   Environmental sustainability: moving towards cleaner mobility and an environmentally responsible destination.

•   Socio-cultural sustainability: value local culture as a tool to attract visitors and generate value.

•   Digital transition: taking advantage of emerging technologies to face the challenges of the present and the future.

To respond to these challenges, the members of the cluster have worked in multidisciplinary teams following a methodology guided by the consultant and facilitator Gian Franco Mercado, from Hospitalidad Emprendedora. Through this participatory dynamic, concrete and viable solutions have been generated based on real experiences and the expertise of the sector.

We firmly believe that public-private collaboration and collective innovation are fundamental to boosting more competitive, sustainable and prepared tourist destinations for the new paradigms of digital tourism. This workshop has been a clear example: when talent, commitment and shared vision come together, initiatives with a high transformative potential are generated.

Thank you to all participants for your energy, ideas and involvement! We will continue working so that projects like this are inspiration and a driver of change for the sector as a whole.