Spain To Host The Prestigious 9th Amt Smart Destinations Awards At Fitur 2026, Recognizing Innovation In Global Tourism Technologies

Published on October 16, 2025

Spain, a state synonymous pinch rich | culture, history, and innovation, is group to play big to 1 of nan astir anticipated events successful nan world tourism industry— nan 9th AMT Smart Destinations Awards. This prestigious arena will return spot during FITUR 2026, held from January 21 to 25 astatine IFEMA Madrid, celebrating groundbreaking technological advancements shaping nan early of smart tourism destinations (STDs). The awards admit outstanding solutions that leverage integer translator to heighten destination management, tourism experiences, biology sustainability, and innovative promotion strategies. As nan tourism assemblage progressively relies connected smart technologies to optimize visitant engagement, sustainability efforts, and operational efficiency, these awards are important successful promoting and sharing champion practices. The AMT Smart Destinations Awards radiance a spotlight connected nan leaders driving integer alteration and ensuring that tourism destinations germinate successful alignment pinch technological innovation.

Key Highlights of nan AMT Smart Destinations Awards 2026

• Event Dates: January 21-25, 2026 astatine IFEMA Madrid
• Location: TechYDestino wrong FITURTECHY’s Knowledge Hub, Hall 12
• Application Deadline: November 16, 2025
• Award Categories: 5 chopped categories (Integrated Destination Management, Interaction pinch Tourists and Citizens, Environmental Sustainability, Destination Promotion & Marketing, Innovative Destination Project)
• Jury Composition: Industry leaders and tourism experts from organizations for illustration INVAT-TUR, SEGITTUR, FITUR, and ITH
• Opportunity for Participants: Access to business acceleration done mentorDay tourism acceleration program

AMT Smart Destinations Awards: An Overview

The AMT Smart Destinations Awards service arsenic a benchmark for excellence successful nan tourism sector, highlighting nan integration of exertion and invention into destination development. This initiative, organized by nan Alliance of Sun and Beach Tourism (AMT) and nan Spanish Hotel Technological Institute (ITH), seeks to admit nan captious domiciled that smart tourism plays successful enhancing some nan operational and experiential aspects of travel. With nan increasing value of integer translator successful nan tourism industry, these awards underscore nan committedness to fostering exertion solutions that make tourism much efficient, sustainable, and engaging.

Categories of nan AMT Smart Destinations Awards

The awards are divided into 5 cardinal categories that bespeak nan astir impactful areas of smart tourism development. Each class is designed to admit projects and initiatives that push nan boundaries of what is imaginable successful tourism innovation.

1. Integrated Destination Management
   This class focuses connected technological solutions that amended nan guidance of tourism destinations by streamlining operations, enhancing communication, and facilitating data-driven decision-making. The purpose is to create a seamless acquisition for visitors while ensuring sustainability and operational ratio for section authorities.
2. Interaction pinch Tourists and Citizens
   Recognizing platforms aliases devices that facilitate engagement betwixt visitors and locals, this class highlights innovations that foster deeper connections and heighten nan wide visitant experience. Whether done integer accusation systems, mobile apps, aliases immersive experiences, these projects attraction connected enhancing real-time connection and interaction.
3. Environmental Sustainability
   The sustainability of tourism is captious to its future. This class awards projects that trim nan biology effect of tourism destinations, from energy-saving initiatives to discarded simplification programs, and different greenish innovations that thief sphere nan earthy beauty and resources of a destination.
4. Destination Promotion and Marketing
   In a highly competitory world market, effective trading and promotion are essential. This class recognizes solutions that usage exertion to create unsocial trading strategies, integer campaigns, and promotional devices that scope a wide assemblage while enhancing destination visibility and appeal.
5. Innovative Destination Project
   Exclusively for nationalist aliases backstage tourism entities, this class focuses connected operational projects that importantly toggle shape a destination’s infrastructure, services, aliases visitant experience. These projects must show innovative concepts that tin beryllium replicated crossed different destinations to thrust affirmative alteration connected a larger scale.

Submission Process and Participation

Applications for nan 9th AMT Smart Destinations Awards are unfastened to some backstage companies and nationalist entities progressive successful tourism. Submissions tin beryllium made straight done nan charismatic awards website. Entries whitethorn beryllium submitted by either nan owners of nan solutions aliases those who person successfully implemented them wrong a destination.

• Submission Deadline: November 16, 2025
• Eligibility: Open to companies, municipalities, tourism boards, associations, foundations, and destination guidance organizations worldwide.

Once nan submission play concludes, nan shortlisted candidates will beryllium announced connected January 8, 2026. These finalists will past coming their solutions during nan techYdestinoforum, portion of FITURTECHY, wherever manufacture experts will measure and prime nan last winners. The selected projects will besides beryllium included successful an online catalog of exertion solutions disposable connected nan awards website.

The Role of Technology successful Smart Tourism Destinations

The AMT Smart Destinations Awards underscore nan expanding value of integer exertion successful nan tourism sector. Smart technologies, specified arsenic IoT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence, information analytics, and unreality computing, play a pivotal domiciled successful enhancing nan guidance and cognition of tourism destinations. These technologies alteration destinations to supply real-time information, personalized services, and improved visitant experiences.

As nan world’s tourism manufacture faces increasing challenges related to sustainability, overcrowding, and operational inefficiencies, nan request for smart destination solutions has ne'er been greater. By leveraging technology, tourism destinations tin go much sustainable, accessible, and resilient. This translator is not only beneficial to visitors but besides to section communities, businesses, and governments, which guidelines to summation from accrued ratio and greater economical opportunities.

The Importance of FITUR successful nan Tourism Industry

FITUR, 1 of nan world’s largest tourism waste and acquisition fairs, is an basal level for discussing nan early of travel, promoting world tourism, and showcasing innovations. Held annually successful Madrid, FITUR gathers manufacture leaders, policymakers, and innovators from crossed nan globe. It serves arsenic a hub for tourism professionals to stock insights, observe trends, and research nan latest technological advancements that are reshaping nan recreation and hospitality landscape.

FITURTECHY, a specialized conception wrong FITUR, focuses specifically connected technological innovations successful nan tourism sector. The techYdestino forum, wherever nan AMT Smart Destinations Awards will return place, is simply a cardinal characteristic of FITURTECHY, offering a level for showcasing nan latest successful destination guidance exertion and integer tourism solutions.

Past Winners and nan Impact of nan AMT Smart Destinations Awards

The 2025 version of nan AMT Smart Destinations Awards celebrated outstanding projects that demonstrated innovative uses of exertion successful tourism. Winners included OK Located for Integrated Destination Management, Freeplantour for Interaction pinch Tourists and Citizens, Murmuration for Environmental Sustainability, and Barceló Hotel Group for Destination Promotion and Marketing. Additionally, nan City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria won nan Innovative Destination Project class for its transformative initiatives successful nan destination.

These winners exemplify nan domiciled of smart technologies successful improving nan value and sustainability of tourism destinations. Each of these projects has group a benchmark for early developments successful tourism innovation, proving that exertion tin play a important domiciled successful shaping nan early of world travel.

Why Attend FITUR 2026?

Attending FITUR 2026 offers respective opportunities for tourism professionals to enactment up of nan curve. From nan AMT Smart Destinations Awards to nan techYdestino forum, participants will summation insights into nan latest technological advancements and their applications successful nan tourism sector. Whether you’re looking to web pinch manufacture leaders, observe cutting-edge solutions, aliases showcase your ain innovations, FITUR is nan spot to beryllium for anyone progressive successful nan early of tourism.

• Networking Opportunities: Connect pinch manufacture leaders, tech experts, and tourism professionals from astir nan world.
• Technology Showcase: Discover nan latest innovations successful smart tourism solutions and integer transformation.
• Business Acceleration: Apply for nan mentorDay tourism acceleration programme for support successful increasing your tourism-related business.

Conclusion

As Spain prepares to big nan 9th AMT Smart Destinations Awards during FITUR 2026, nan spotlight will beryllium connected nan innovative projects that are paving nan measurement for smarter, much sustainable tourism destinations. The awards not only observe nan achievements of nan tourism manufacture but besides animate nan adjacent procreation of solutions that will proceed to style nan world tourism landscape. The intersection of technology, sustainability, and tourism presents immense opportunities, and FITUR 2026 will undoubtedly service arsenic a cardinal milestone successful advancing these efforts.