The new ICT-Tourism cluster: 253 million in business and 1,700 workers
The group of companies and agents in the sector was born with the aim of improving competitiveness and boosting the internationalization of this segment of activity, which has been severely affected by the pandemic. Among the first actions to be carried out is grouped participation in the World Travel Market in London.
Various companies, startups, entities, and technology centers have created the new TIC-Turisme cluster, under the auspices of the Department of Business through the agency for competitiveness Acció and the Generalitat's Directorate General of Tourism. In total,there are 24 agents who act in various areas of the tourism sector, significantly affected by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. In total, the companies, technology centers, and agents that are part of the clusterthey bill 253 million euros and employ 1,700 workers directly linked to the application of information technologies in their businesses.The objective of this initiative --which began to take shape three years ago-- is to improve the competitiveness of the sector so that it recovers its role as an economic driver for Catalonia, from whichrepresented 12% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 14% of employment before the outbreak of Covid-19.To contribute to this recovery, the sector must incorporate new emerging technologies such as Big Data or Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), theblockchainand cybersecurity. And, in this sense, the cluster will work to seek synergies among its members and to attract and generate talent as fundamental elements to transform the productive model.Among the first actions, beyond designing an internationalization plan for the cluster, is the grouped participation in the World Travel Market in London, the main fair in the tourism sector in Europe. On the other hand, the new cluster also aims to generate shared value by creating a pilot program to help companies in the sector develop strategies to create economic, social, and environmental value.
Founding members
Among the 24 founding partners of TIC-Turisme are companies such as Vueling, the Catalonia Hotels chain and the software company Amadeus. In addition to the firms Prestige Software, The Hotels Network, Voxel, Beroni, GNA Hotel Solutions, SIRT, The Net Revenue, Sekuenz, Efimatica, Persapia, James & Rita, Tourknife, Engisoft, Vivential Value, eMascaró and Diskover Catalonia.
Also included in the cluster are the Gremi d'Hotels de Barcelona ---which represents some 400 tourist accommodations in Barcelona--- and online agencies such as Viajes para ti, as well as the CETT (Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy of the UB), and the technological centers CoE in Tourism Innovation d'Eurecat or Institut Químic de Sarrià.
The tourism ecosystem is made up of some 78,000 companies in Catalonia, which drive other complementary sectors such as commerce or restoration, among many others.
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