Investment in Smart Tourism – for a sustainable destination

During 2020, Göteborg & Co and Gothenburg won the title European Capital of Smart Tourism. IMCG helped implement the programme during the year and to launch many new local, national and European collaborations – where all of them have a clear link to sustainability and digitalisation. This was to further strengthen Gothenburg's position as a smart destination – open for smart tourism.   

The assignment consisted of two parts. Initially, to compile Gothenburg's starting position prior to the investment in Smart Tourism as a strategy for developing a sustainable destination by 2021. The information was compiled as a basis for an external evaluation, which was also the application to the European competition European Capital of Smart Tourism. The application was submitted and, following a constructive evaluation by the international expert jury, Gothenburg City was awarded the role of European Capital of Smart Tourism during 2020.

During the compilation prior to the application, IMCG led the work with collecting information for the four areas for Smart Tourism:

• Sustainability
• Accessibility
• Digitalisation
• Cultural regeneration

IMCG assessed the relevance against the criteria set by the international external assessors on the jury. In another section of the application, a plan was developed for the year as the European Capital of Smart Tourism, as well as a plan to develop Göteborg & Co's activities to support more effectively destination development. Business development is referred to as the Hospitality Sector's Knowledge Hub and focused, during the assignment, on sustainability and digitalisation.

During the second part of the assignment, Göteborg & Co's business was developed at the same time as the Corona pandemic initially kicked the legs out from many operators in the hospitality sector. During the second half of 2020, however, hope in the future increased and many collaborations were initiated. The collaborations are local, national and European, all have a clear link to sustainability and help to strengthen further Gothenburg's position as a sustainable destination at the same time as the individual operators become more sustainable and better equipped to meet future challenges. The collaborations also aim to make visible the hospitality sector's role in smart cities and communities.

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