- In all the autonomous communities, a total of 327 projects are beneficiaries of about 70 million euros of the second call for “Last Mile” grants.
- International tourists will spend more than 59 billion euros on their trips to Spain this summer, 22% more than last year.
- During the months of June, July, August and September it is expected that 41 million international tourists will arrive in our country, 13% more than in the same period of 2023.
- Jordi Hereu: “The increase in spending, above the number of visitors, reaffirms the leadership of the tourism model and pushes us to continue working on the strategy for sustainable and inclusive tourism that contributes to the preservation of destinations and the improvement of the quality of life of workers and residents”
July 11, 2024.- The Government allocates 14,680,208 euros to the Community of Madrid in the second call for grants for “Ultima Milla” digitization projects in companies in the tourism sector, aimed at promoting the digitization of tourism SMEs, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and financed with European Next Generation funds.
The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, during his visit to the headquarters of the State Society for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR), announced that in all the autonomous communities a total of 327 projects are beneficiaries of about 70 million euros of this second call for “Last Mile” grants.
The digitalization of the tourism sector is key to continue attracting increasingly hyper-connected tourists with stays of greater added value. It is also one of the areas where Spain has a wider margin for improvement, according to the indicators of tourism competitiveness measured by the World Economic Forum. For this reason, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan devotes a preferential attention to the digitalization of companies and tourist destinations.
The number of companies benefiting from this second call has risen to 394, as some projects require the joint participation of two or more entities. Catalonia, Madrid and the Valencian Community are the autonomies where companies have received the most aid.
Within the grants, there are three lines of financing: Line 1, aimed at projects incorporating emerging or newly developed technologies with medium low technological risk; and line 2, for demonstration projects of tested technologies such as Big Data, cybersecurity, mobile applications, with low technological risk.
For line 1, 6 projects have been approved - 3 related to data space and another 3 for the digitalization of the sector - and 5.6 million euros have been granted. And in the second line aimed at projects for the implementation and adoption of new technologies that incorporate tested technologies, 16 projects have been approved, to which 4.7 million euros have been granted.
The third type of projects financed by this aid are the implementation, by SMEs, of tested technologies related to sensorization, visitor safety, tourism demand, infrastructure equipment, etc. In this line, which is the only one 100% eligible, 305 projects have been approved, to which 59.1 million euros have been granted.
International tourists
This summer, international tourist spending will grow by 22% compared to the previous year to exceed 59 billion euros, according to the forecasts prepared by Turespaña based on a time-series model. Also, the number of visitors will increase by 13% in year-on-year rates to exceed 41 million tourists.
The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, who has also advanced these forecasts in his visit to the headquarters of SEGITTUR, has pointed out that “the attractiveness of Spain is confirmed month after month”.
Hereu has highlighted that the expense of the tourists who visit us is an injection of prosperity in Spain, due to the important contribution it makes to both GDP growth and employment. “The increase in spending, over and above the number of visitors, reaffirms the leadership of the tourism model and pushes us to continue working on the strategy for sustainable and inclusive tourism that contributes to the preservation of destinations and the improvement of the quality of life of workers and residents,” he stressed.
In this regard, the minister has stressed the importance of defending the social, environmental and economic sustainability of the tourism sector. “In addition, tourism, as a generator of quality employment, contributes to the better redistribution of the benefit that its impact entails for the Spanish economy. We must continue to manage together with the regional governments and the tourism industry as a whole, improve governance and invest so that these billions of euros are distributed in a balanced way throughout the Spanish geography throughout the year for the benefit of the entire country,” he added.