UNWTO To Organize International Conference On Smart Destinations

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Mar, 2018 ) :The 2nd United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Conference on smart destinations will be held in Oviedo (Asturias, Spain) from the June 25 to 27.

The WTO member Pakistan representative will also participate in the conference on smart destinations in order to lead and shape new tourism models for the 21st century based on innovation, technology, sustainability and accessibility.

The World Conference on Smart Destinations is the annual gathering of international tourism experts, discussing the opportunities and challenges for the tourism sector, and destinations in particular, arising from the development, implementation and management of innovative products and services that are based on new technological solutions, said a press release.

Bringing together government representatives, private sector entities, researchers and academics, as well as technology centers, the event is an important platform for participants to share knowledge, build partnerships and advance in their understanding about the development and key elements of smart destinations.

Building upon the success of the previous year, the 2018 edition of the event will cover themes such as the digital transformation within destinations, technological solutions for impact monitoring, smart destination governance and the importance of new technologies for sustainable development.

Following the Research and Development Day, the conference will officially kick-off with several keynotes before panelists and participants will reflect upon the general themes as those mentioned above, discussing throughout various rounds of parallel roundtables more in depth the opportunities and challenges for tourism deriving from important digital trends such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning, the internet of Things (IoT), Location Intelligence (LI), Cloud Computing, Blockchain and Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR).

On June 25th, both academics and start-ups are then given the opportunity to share their latest research and innovative solutions in a sequence of short presentations, preparing the ground for the proceeding roundtable discussions the next two days.

Similar to other sectors, tourism is experiencing a significant transformation due to the technological advances in both the demand and supply side, creating many new opportunities as well challenges for all actors in the sector.

Smart destinations' are at the heart of sustainable development and contribute not only to advances in the tourism sector but also in societies at large. While the use of technology strengthens effectively evidence-based decision making, the prioritization of measures and anticipation of future scenarios at the destination level, it also allows the sector to better support and meet regional, national and international goals and visions such as the 2030 Development Agenda.