The Spanish government is supporting the creation of a tourism innovation hub in Madrid to support sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
Due to open by the summer, it will develop solutions to support a sustainable and inclusive recovery for the global tourism sector through innovation, research and collaboration.
The Mastercard-backed initiative was ratified at Spanish tourism show Fitur by Spanish tourism minister Reyes Maroto and the card company’s European president Mark Barnett.
Maroto: said: “The Spanish government believes that now is the time for us to work together to build the future of our post-pandemic tourism model.
“We are going to stop measuring the success of the Spanish tourism model exclusively by the increase in the number of tourists – we must now go beyond this and focus on quality, profitability, innovation and sustainability, as well as social inclusion and territorial cohesion.
“There is no time to lose in taking up this challenge. And we all need to work together – the institutions and the private sector – strengthening our alliances and bringing other partners on board so that the Spanish tourism sector maintains its international leadership.”
Barnett said: “There has been a multi-trillion dollar impact on the global tourism industry over the past couple of years, but Mastercard is committed to enabling innovation and ensuring that technology is harnessed for a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable recovery.
“The tourism innovation hub will foster programs and build partnerships which will help the industry recover and drive more inclusive and sustainable tourism growth.
“Being located in Spain will allow us to leverage the expertise of a country intrinsically linked to tourism and the second most visited destination in the world.”
The move follows Spain revealing a €1.9 million three-year green tourism action plan in November.