The ICT-Tourism Cluster has been launched in Barcelona, spearheaded by the Department of Business and Labor of the Government of Catalonia. Twenty-four companies, universities, technology centers, and organizations in the tourism sector—with a combined revenue of 253 million euros—have joined forces with the goal of improving the competitiveness of companies in the sector, promoting internationalization and talent recruitment, and accelerating the adoption of new technologies.
Ingrid Graells, our Commercial Director, will represent the association as Second Vice President, alongside First Vice President Cinta Massó of The Hotels Network and President Félix Navarro of Prestige Software.
The launch event, held on March 28 at the “La Pedrera” building in Barcelona, was presided over by Roger Torrent i Ramió, the Regional Minister of Business and Labor. The minister highlighted the potential of this cluster (the first to be created in Catalonia since 2015) “to drive the transformation of the tourism model, which we want to be more sustainable, more competitive, and adapted to the new global realities of the sector” and “the cluster stems from a public-private partnership resulting from the convergence of businesses in the fields of tourism and ICT, a market niche with high growth potential.” He added that “initiatives like this cluster should help us in the recovery of tourism, which has been severely shaken during the pandemic, and position us competitively for the future through elements we will work on with the utmost intensity in the areas of innovation, internationalization, talent, and the generation of shared value” and “Digitalization is the key to competitiveness for companies and is a priority to be developed; it is a fundamental element in the transformation of the production model.” “We are here to help the sector make this transition,” he concluded.
Another goal of the new Cluster is to make Catalonia a leader in tourism technology, as the sector is vital to the Catalan economy; prior to the pandemic, it accounted for 12% of GDP and 14% of employment. Some 78,000 companies make up the tourism ecosystem, driving other complementary sectors such as retail and the restaurant industry, among others.
The 24 founding members of the new ICT-Tourism cluster are Prestige Software, The Hotels Network, Voxel, Beroni, Amadeus, Vueling, CETT (the University of Barcelona’s School of Tourism, Hospitality, and Gastronomy), the Barcelona Hotel Association, Eurecat’s CoE in Tourism Innovation, GNA Hotel Solutions, SIRT, the IQS (Sarrià Chemical Institute), Catalonia Hotels, The Net Revenue, Sekuenz, Efimatica, Persapia, James & Rita, Tourknife, Engisoft, Vivential Value, eMascaró, Diskover Catalonia, and Viajes para ti.
The new ICT-Tourism cluster has been established after three years of work. Since 2019, an analysis of the sector has been conducted to understand its value chain, identify key players, and determine its main strategic challenges: incorporating innovative technologies into the sector, identifying international best practices, and attracting talent, as well as generating shared value by creating a pilot program to help companies in the sector develop strategies to create economic, social, and environmental value.
Over the coming months, we will be working on various activities to foster connections among members, with the aim of generating new projects and initiatives, such as developing an internationalization plan for the cluster in collaboration with ACCIÓ. This plan will include establishing connections with other clusters and participating as a group in Europe’s leading tourism trade show, the World Travel Market in London.
The growing digitization of tourism—driven by the introduction of new technologies, greater personalization and segmentation of services, the rise of responsible tourism, increased traveler awareness of sustainability, and the growing influence of tourists as influencers—provides the framework for the creation of the new cluster. The new entity will work to incorporate emerging technologies into the sector, such as big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, and cybersecurity, among others.
At Beroni, we are delighted to be part of the new ICT-Tourism Cluster, and we are dedicating all our efforts and technology to doing our part in integrating new technologies that will help boost the competitiveness and internationalization of Catalan tourism companies.
