Cuban tourist authorities want the island to become the first Smart Tourist Destination (DTI) certified in the Caribbean, and for this they have the experience acquired by the town of Benidorm, in Spain.
This was expressed by Ramón Pomés, director of Development of the company sightseeing Cubanacán, during a meeting with Toni Pérez, the mayor of that Spanish city, reviewed by the Efe agency.
Sources from the City Council cited by the outlet point out that the Cuban delegation expressed its interest in the successful model implemented by the authorities of that city serving as a basis for complying with the standards of the DTI denomination in various Cuban tourist poles, including the spa of Varadero.
For the Cuban representation, “Benidorm is the best laboratory; a success story” and according to Pomés, the island follows the standardization process implemented by the leading Spanish company in tourism and innovation Segittur to acquire the aforementioned category.
A DTI is characterized by being an innovative and consolidated site on a cutting-edge technological infrastructure, which guarantees the sustainable development of the tourist territory. In addition, it is accessible to everyone, facilitates visitor interaction and integration with the environment, increases the quality of their experience at the destination and improves the resident’s quality of life, according to the information collected on the Segittur website.
The mayor has expressed his satisfaction that Cuba chose Benidorm as a benchmark, since the process carried out in the Mediterranean city “has been a very elaborate job, in which from the outset it was designed to be scalable: everything we could do had to be scalable and serve for other destinations”.
Pomés has highlighted that the experience of Benidorm (sun and beach tourism) is considered essential for Cuba. His challenge is “to return to the rhythm of 2019, more than to the numbers”, and “to innovate in the line that the Benidorm destination is following”, which he has described as “the most effective model”.
The Cuban manager has also asked the Benidorm City Council for an “exchange of experiences” that contemplates the training of personnel in the Smart Office, participating with the University of Matanzas in training sessions in Cuba itself, Efe highlights.
In the same sense, it also emerged that within the framework of the Fitur 2023 International Tourism Fair, held between January 18 and 23 in Madrid, the Gran Caribe hotel group and the Segittur company signed a contract to convert Cayo Largo del Sur in the first DTI of Cuba, according to a note published by the official newspaper Granma.
The Cuban hotel chain Gran Caribe and SEGITTUR Spain officially sign a contract to transform #CayoLargo in the first Smart Tourist Destination #DTI of #Cuba and the #Caribbean #CubaUnica #Only #FITUR2023 pic.twitter.com/9XCEDDbbXT
— Ministry of Tourism (@MinturCuba) January 20, 2023
As the management company for these projects, Segittur proposes a first phase in which a comprehensive diagnosis is applied and an action plan is designed that is linked to the destination’s own strategy for its transformation into a Smart Tourist Destination.
After applying another monitoring stage in which the destination has the possibility of entering into a process of continuous improvement in order to guarantee its ability to face the challenges and transformations posed by the new global economic, social and technological environment.
Located in the west of Cuba, Cayo Largo is a tourist destination preferred by many travelers thanks to its excellent natural landscapes, which include marvelous beaches, the quality of its services and the numerous options for leisure, adventure and exploration that it offers, maintains the Granma.
Remember the publication that the spa is managed by the Canadian hotel chain Blue Diamond in collaboration with Gran Caribe. With the signing of the recently announced contract, the foundations of a new stage of development are laid that will contribute to the recognition of Cuba as an avant-garde option for trips to the Caribbean.
Efe/OnCuba
