From Smart Destinations to Caring Territories

Reflections from Digital Tourist 2026 in Benidorm

On 7 and 8 May 2026, I had the opportunity to participate in Digital Tourist 2026 in Benidorm, Spain — an event that brought together public leaders, technology providers, tourism experts and territorial innovators to explore the future of smart destinations.

I joined a panel moderated by Miguel Ángel Montero, President of AMETIC's Digital Health Commission, alongside Elisabeth González, Director of the Technical Tourism Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council, and José Estévez, Senior Project Manager of SEGITTUR's Smart Destination Platform.

The session began with a familiar set of questions: digitalisation, destination strategies, intelligent tourism and the role of data in improving territorial management.

But, as often happens in meaningful conversations, the discussion gradually moved towards a deeper question:

What does it really mean for a territory to be intelligent?

José Estévez offered a compelling view of how SEGITTUR's Smart Destination Platform represents a change of scale in tourism management. This is no longer only about collecting data for marketing or promotion. It is about building a public infrastructure capable of democratising access to territorial intelligence, including for smaller municipalities that do not have large technological teams or resources.

One of his reflections stayed with me: technology alone does not make destinations intelligent.

What matters is how technology is used to solve real problems, support better decisions and improve the way territories are governed.

Elisabeth González brought another essential perspective from the experience of the province of Barcelona. She shared figures that clearly show how the challenge is still more cultural and organisational than purely technological: many municipalities do not yet have a roadmap for tourism digitalisation; many lack dedicated tourism staff; and only a small proportion consider themselves to have an advanced level of digital maturity.

Her most important distinction was between digitalisation and tourism intelligence.

Digitalising is not the same as transforming.

Tourism intelligence requires a different way of governing. It means integrating tourism into wider municipal planning, using data to anticipate problems, manage flows, improve sustainability, support accessibility, and make better public decisions.

It was at this point that I introduced the perspective we are developing through the Lagos WellTech Summit 2026 and the concept of caring territories.

Perhaps the next step for smart destinations is not only to optimise the visitor experience.

Perhaps the next step is to actively contribute to human wellbeing, public health and quality of life.

For decades, we built health systems around the hospital: a person becomes ill, goes to hospital, receives treatment.

But another paradigm is now emerging.

How can we design territories that help people stay well before they need the hospital?

This is where the territory itself can become an actor in public health.

We are seeing growing interest in social prescribing, active ageing, access to nature, walking, community participation, physical activity, cultural engagement, rest, proximity, social connection, and reducing loneliness. These are not marginal issues. They are becoming central to how we think about prevention, wellbeing and healthier lives.

From this perspective, Benidorm is a fascinating case.

It is often caricatured as a symbol of mass tourism. Yet, beneath that surface, the city has developed a highly sophisticated capacity for territorial and tourism management based on data, accessibility and urban organisation.

Its vertical model concentrates services, accommodation, mobility, leisure, and beach access within short distances. For many senior visitors, this means autonomy, walkability, safety and an active social life.

It is not accidental that Benidorm has such high rates of repeat visits among senior tourists.

The conversation also highlighted another crucial point: territorial intelligence is not about collecting more data. It is about transforming data into better public policies.

Tools such as Benidorm's Smart Cube show how territories can begin to understand the use of beaches, visitor flows, mobility patterns and real-time behaviour in more sophisticated ways. But the deeper opportunity is not simply operational efficiency. It is the possibility of designing better places for both residents and visitors.

The most powerful moment of the panel came with Miguel Ángel Montero's final question:

How will we know whether this model has been successful?

The answers converged in a meaningful way.

Elisabeth González suggested that success will come when we no longer need to speak constantly about digitalisation because it will have become part of the natural DNA of public administration and territorial management.

José Estévez added a powerful idea: success will come when we stop talking about technology and simply start talking about people.

My own final reflection was perhaps more provocative.

Maybe in a few years, we will stop speaking only about smart destinations and start speaking more naturally about smart territories.

Territories that learn.
Territories that care.
Territories that integrate tourism, wellbeing, mobility, accessibility, health and public value.
Territories capable of generating a quality of life for residents and visitors alike.

Because perhaps the real objective of territorial intelligence is not simply to attract more tourists.

It is to build better places to live.

Watch the full recording