The European Commission has announced the seven shortlisted cities for the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2022 competition.
The seven cities are (in alpabetical order): Bordeaux (France), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), Florence (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Palma (Spain), Valencia (Spain).
The European Capital of Smart Tourism initiative recognises outstanding achievements by European cities as tourism destinations in four categories: sustainability, accessibility, digitalisation as well as cultural heritage and creativity.
This EU initiative aims to promote smart tourism in the EU, network and strengthen destinations, and facilitate the exchange of best practices.
Find out more about each of the shortlisted destinations here.
Promoting innovation in European smart destinations
The 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism is the third edition of the competition.
The European Jury will select two winners, the European Capitals of Smart Tourism 2022.
Previous winners were Malaga and Gothenburg (2020) and Helsinki and Lyon (2019).
European Destinations of Excellence
Meanwhile, the European Commission has also released its shortlisted destinations for the European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) 2022 competition.
This initiative rewards the best achievements in sustainable tourism and green transition practices in smaller destinations across Europe.
Gürsu in Turkey and Middelfart and Thisted in Denmark convinced the panel of independent sustainability experts with their applications and were chosen ahead of 40 other applicant destinations.
Find out more about each of the shortlisted destinations here.
The European Jury will select one winner, the European Destination of Excellence 2022, which will be awarded in November 2021.
The winning destination will be positioned as a tourism sustainability pioneer committed to the European Green Deal objectives and will receive expert communication and branding support at the EU level throughout 2022.
