Tourism is one of Spain's key economic drivers. In 2022, it accounted for 11.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exceeding €155 billion, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This figure grew to €188 billion and 12.8% of GDP in 2023, according to Exceltur, an association of companies in the sector. Furthermore, Spain is a very popular destination among foreigners, ranking second in the world and continuing to grow: a record number of international visitors is expected in 2024, reaching 95 million.

In this context, the State Secretariat for Tourism (SETUR), aligned with European policies, is developing initiatives aimed at creating new technological tools for the Smart Tourist Destinations Network, through SEGITTUR (State-owned company for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies), the body responsible for promoting innovation (R&D&I) in this industry. To this end, it works with both the public and private sectors, promoting:

More competitive and sustainable management models.
The management and creation of smart destinations.
The export of Spanish technology to the rest of the world.
All of these are activities where data—and the knowledge that can be extracted from it—plays a major role. In this post, we will review some of the actions that SEGITTUR is carrying out to promote data sharing and open access, as well as its reuse. The goal is to help not only with decision-making, but also with the development of innovative products and services that will continue to position our country at the forefront of global tourism.

Dataestur, an open data portal
Dataestur is a website that gathers open data on national tourism in a single environment. Users can find figures from various public and private sources.

The data is structured into six categories:

General: International tourist arrivals, tourist spending, resident tourism survey, World Tourism Barometer, broadband coverage data, etc.
Economy: Tourism revenue, contribution to GDP, tourism employment (job seekers, unemployment, and contracts), etc.
Transportation: air passengers, scheduled air capacity, passenger traffic by ports, trains and roads, etc.
Accommodation: hotel occupancy, accommodation prices and profitability indicators of the hotel sector, etc.
Sustainability: air quality, nature protection, climatological values, water quality in bathing areas, etc.
Knowledge: active listening reports, visitor behavior and perception, scientific tourism journals, etc.
The data is available for download via API.

Dataestur is part of a more ambitious project in which data analysis forms the basis for improving tourist knowledge, through actions with a wide scope, such as those we will see below.

Development of a Smart Destination Platform (PID)
As part of the milestones set by Next Generation funds and corresponding to the development of the Digital Transformation Plan for Tourist Destinations, the State Secretariat for Tourism, through SEGITTUR, is developing a Smart Destination Platform (PID). This is a platform-node that gathers the supply of tourism services and facilitates interoperability between public and private operators. Thanks to this platform, services can be provided to integrate and link data from both public and private sources.

Some of the challenges facing the Spanish tourism ecosystem that the PID addresses are:

Strengthening the integration and development of the tourism ecosystem (academia, entrepreneurs, businesses, etc.) around data intelligence and ensuring technological alignment, interoperability, and a common language.
Promoting the use of the data economy to improve the generation, aggregation, and sharing of knowledge in the Spanish tourism sector, driving its digital transformation.
Contributing to the effective management of tourist flows and tourist hotspots within urban areas, improving responses to citizens' concerns and providing real-time information for tourism management.
To generate a significant impact on tourists, residents, and businesses, as well as other stakeholders, by strengthening the “sustainable tourism country” brand throughout the entire travel cycle (before, during, and after).
To establish a framework for reaching consensus on objectives and metrics that promote sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint in the tourism industry, fostering sustainable practices and the integration of clean technologies.
Objectives of the Smart Destination Platform (PID), mentioned above.

Figure 1. Objectives of the Smart Destination Platform (PID).

New Use Cases and Implementation Methodologies
To advance the harmonization of data management, up to 25 use cases have been defined that allow the various verticals of the sector to work in a coordinated manner. These verticals include areas such as wine tourism, thermal tourism, beach management, hotels as data providers, impact indicators, cruises, sports tourism, etc.

To implement these use cases, a 5-step methodology is followed to align sector practices with a more structured, data-driven approach:

Identify the public problems to be solved.
Identify which data is needed to solve them.
Model the data to define common nomenclature, definitions, and relationships.
Define which technology must be deployed to capture or generate that data.
Analyze which intervention capabilities, both public and private, are needed to solve the problem.
Driving interoperability through a common ontology and a data space
As a result of defining the 25 use cases, a tourism ontology has been created that is expected to serve as a global reference. The ontology aims to generate a significant impact on the tourism sector, offering a series of benefits:

Interoperability: the ontology is essential for establishing a homogeneous data structure and enabling global interoperability, which facilitates information integration and data exchange between platforms and countries. By providing a common language, definitions, and a unified conceptual structure, data can be comparable and usable anywhere in the world. Tourist destinations and the business fabric can communicate more effectively and agilely, driving closer collaboration.
Digital transformation: by fostering the development of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, tourism companies and the innovative or academic ecosystem can analyze large volumes of data more efficiently. This is mainly due to the quality of the available information and the fact that systems better understand the context in which they operate.
Tourism competitiveness: aligned with the previous point, implementing this ontology helps eliminate inequalities in the use and application of technology within the sector. By facilitating access to advanced digital tools, both public institutions and private companies can make more informed and strategic decisions. This not only raises the quality of services offered, but also boosts the productivity and competitiveness of Spain’s tourism sector in an increasingly demanding global market.
Tourist experience: thanks to the ontology, it is possible to offer recommendations tailored to each traveler’s individual preferences. This is achieved through more precise profiling based on demographic and behavioral characteristics, as well as on specific motivations related to different types of tourism. By personalizing offers and services, customer satisfaction improves before, during, and after the trip, and stronger loyalty to destinations is fostered.
Governance: the ontological model is designed to evolve and adapt as new use cases emerge in response to changing market demands. SEGITTUR is actively working to establish a governance model that promotes effective collaboration between public and private institutions, as well as with the technology sector.
In addition, to solve complex problems that require data sharing from different sources, the Open Innovation Platform (PIA) has been created: a data space that facilitates collaboration among different actors in the tourism ecosystem, both public and private. This platform enables secure and efficient data sharing, strengthening data-driven decision-making. The PIA promotes a collaborative environment where open and private data are shared to create joint solutions that address specific sector challenges, such as sustainability, personalization of the tourist experience, or environmental impact management.

Driving consensus
SEGITTUR is also carrying out various initiatives to achieve the necessary consensus in the collection, management, and analysis of tourism-related data, through collaboration between public and private actors. To this end, in 2021 the Promoting Body of the Smart Destination Platform was created, which plays a fundamental role by bringing together diverse stakeholders to coordinate efforts and agree on major lines and guidelines in the field of tourism data.

In summary, Spain is advancing in the collection, management, and analysis of tourism data by coordinating public and private actors, using advanced methodologies and tools such as the creation of ontologies, use cases, and collaborative platforms like the PIA that ensure efficient and consensus-based management of the sector.

All of this is not only modernizing Spain’s tourism sector, but is also laying the foundations for a smarter, more connected, and more efficient future. With its focus on interoperability, digital transformation, and experience personalization, Spain is positioning itself as a leader in tourism innovation, ready to face the technological challenges of tomorrow.