The European Commission has awarded Helsinki as the new European Capital of Smart Tourism 2019.
“Helsinki, as a city, is committed to promoting sustainable development and is showing the way in this regard also with the tourism sector in Europe. Over the coming year we will formulate a sustainable tourism action plan that will further strengthen our role as a pioneer in this joint project,” said Pia Pakarinen, Deputy Mayor of Helsinki.
The Capital of Smart Tourism title was decided based on city image, accessibility, sustainable tourism, digitalisation in tourism services, cultural heritage an innovation.
“Helsinki is showing the way internationally. Helsinki’s success in this competition was made possible by our reinforced image as an attractive and functional city destination. In addition, our long-term work in offering and utilising open data become one of our leading success factors,” said Laura Aalto, CEO of Helsinki Marketing.
The award was shared with French city, Lyon, who also come on top of other finalists Brussels, Ljubljana, Lyon, Malaga, Nantes, Palma, Poznan, Tallinn and Valencia.
