Thanks to companies such as the one installed at the University of Valencia Science Park, the Valencian Community leads the development of artificial intelligence at European level in the tourism industry. Of the 454 Smart Tourist Destinations in Spain, 103 are located in the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia
The company Deepsense, based at the University of Valencia Science Park (PCUV), organized in June, together with the Cluster of Innovative Companies for Tourism of the Valencian Community (Adestic) and the UV, the IV Dialogues with Innovation: Data and AI in Tourism, where top-level speakers from universities, private companies and tourism agents from different public administrations discussed the importance of attracting talent and the exposure of developments in the application of data analytics and AI in the sector.
The event, which took place in the Saló de Graus of the Higher Technical School of Engineering of the University of Valencia (ETSE-UV) on June 8, brought together speakers such as Quique García and Francisco Vaquer, co-founders of Deepsense, over two sessions and a round table; Emilio Soria, professor of the Department of Electronic Engineering and member of the IDAL research group; Rafael Magdalena, director of the School of Engineering of the UV (ETSE-UV); Miguel Angel Catalan, DTI project manager of the City of Finestrat; Leire Bilbao, manager of Visit Benidorm, or the director of Institutional Relations in SEGITTUR, Ramon Ferri.
Also taking part in the conference were the Director of Business Development at Tixalia and Experticket, David Zaragoza; the Director of Digitalization and Intelligence at Visit Valencia, Ricardo Millet; the Head of Data at ForwardKeys, Bruno Lechiguero; the agent for Innovation, Data Analysis and Big Data at HOSBEC, Jorge Ferrándiz; and the Director of Hosteltur, Carlos Hernández.
Speakers during Session I: Data management and platforms in the tourism destination. Photo: Deepsense
During the event, companies such as Deepsense emphasized the importance of data management and platforms in the tourist destination through the creation of public-private ecosystems that integrate and connect all actors, from public administration to sectorial companies to generate and exploit information and resources that allow the modernization of the Spanish tourism industry.
In this sense, the role of the Smart Destination Platform, an initiative developed by SEGITTUR, was vindicated and presented. A space for sharing data on the needs, behavior or demands of tourists between destinations and companies to make the supply of services more operational in real time during the visitor's stay.
During the event, companies such as Deepsense emphasized the importance of data management and platforms in the tourist destination through the creation of public-private ecosystems that integrate and connect all actors, from public administration to sectorial companies to generate and exploit information and resources that allow the modernization of the Spanish tourism industry
Project CitCom
In the same vein, the work being developed from the Valencian university environment through the CitCom project, promoted by the European Union and which aims to facilitate the implementation of tools to analyze data from destinations to assess the impact of tourism, both socially, economically and infrastructure. In addition to promoting the creation of infrastructures and servers with maximum computing power and data analysis to strengthen the capacity for research and experimentation in AI and avoid dependence on large technology companies in China and the United States, which are currently leading research.
This is a project that spans eleven countries interconnected by three central headquarters as a node in northern, central and southern Europe, in which Valencia leads along with Brussels and Copenhagen, making it one of the three European capitals of artificial intelligence over the next five years.
Deepsense highlights the relevance of the use and application of artificial intelligence as a key to strategic and operational decision making, such as the behavior of tourists in airline reservations or in their stay in the city
In this context, Deepsense presented examples on the use and application of artificial intelligence as a key technology for strategic and operational decision-making, such as the behavior of tourists in airline reservations or in their stay in the city through travel, purchases, payment methods and opinions, as well as predictive models on hotel demand and supply to optimally adjust the prices of accommodations.
Also, during the meeting, emphasis was placed on the importance of attracting and retaining technical talent in the tourism sector to be able to meet the technological challenges presented by the sector and to export and internationalize the tourism technology developed in the Valencian Community and Spain through Adestic.