Spain to host 2024 Tourism Innovation Awards

Winners to be announced at Tourism Innovation Summit in Seville

The Tourism Innovation Summit which returns to Seville, Spain for its fifth edition will once again hold the industry’s prestigious Tourism Innovation Awards.

The theme for the annual TIS summit, which is to be held from October 23-25, is ‘Elevating the Travel Industry with Tech’.

The Tourism Innovation Awards are all about recognising entities, projects and initiatives that are committed to innovation, technology and digitization to drive the tourism sector towards a more efficient, competitive and sustainable future, always putting the traveller at the centre.

Director of TIS, Silvia Avilés acknowledged that with the tourism and travel sector growing at a rate of 5.8 percent annually in the next 10 years, there is more and more innovation, new business models and digital tools that are transforming tourism management as we conceived it until now.

“Recognising the best cases is key to fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the global tourism community,” she said. 

“In this sense, we inspire other industry professionals and organisations to think differently, streamline processes and, above all, to improve the traveller experience towards much more sustainable, authentic, intelligent and memorable proposals, which is what they are demanding".

This year the Tourism Innovation Awards will have six categories, some of them slightly modified.

One of them is the Excellence in Customer Experience Award, which seeks to recognise those projects or innovations that have gone above and beyond in creating memorable, meaningful and truly extraordinary experiences for travellers around the world.

The most disruptive solutions that use AI or data analytics to drive innovation and optimise operations in tourism businesses will also be highlighted with the Best Innovation in AI and Data Analytics Award. 

The Digital Innovation Excellence Award will recognise organisations that have demonstrated remarkable creativity and effectiveness in leveraging digital tools to improve services, optimise operations and elevate customer experiences.

In addition, the Sustainable Leadership Award will recognise initiatives or organisations that have integrated sustainable practices into their operations, minimise their environmental footprint and positively impacted local communities and cultures. In the Emerging Business Model Award category, recognition will go to pioneering projects that seamlessly integrate sustainability, technology and customer-centric principles, driving positive transformation and setting new standards for the sector. 

Finally, and new this year, the Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award will recognize organisations or initiatives that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within the tourism sector.

Nominations are open now. All interested organisations can submit their candidature until September 6, 2024.