Palma is one of ten cities on the shortlist to be named European Capital of Smart Tourism 2019. This new initiative was launched by the European Commission in order to showcase outstanding achievements by destinations in the European Union in four areas: sustainability; accessibility; digitalisation; cultural heritage and creativity.
There will be two winning cities and these will be announced in Brussels on 7 November as part of European Tourism Day. The two cities will receive: expert communication and branding support for a year; tailor-made promotional actions to boost visitor numbers; a promotional video; a purpose-built sculpture for the city centre.
There are three Spanish cities on the list. Malaga and Valencia are the other two. The remaining seven are: Brussels, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Lyon, Nantes, Poznan and Tallin.
The expert jury which has been sifting through the applicant cities - there were 38 candidates in all from nineteen countries - has highlighted the following about Palma. There is much more than sun and beach tourism. It is a modern, accessible and sustainable city with great history and a cultural, artistic and culinary legacy which can be seen to be reflected in its tourism offer. The capital of the Balearics has over one hundred years experience of the tourism sector. It can be easily reached from the majority of European cities and each year there are some eleven million tourists from the whole continent.