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Benidorm hosts the first smart space that measures tourist traffic in real time and displays its offerings with an AI robot.

 

• The city seeks to consolidate its position as a conference destination after closing 2024 with more than 3,000 100% MICE hotel rooms and an increase of more than 30% in events and meetings.
• With 'Xato Cube', Benidorm is once again at the forefront of innovation, after being certified in 2018 as the world's first DTI

Benidorm inaugurates the first smart space that will measure visitor traffic and city activity in real time, as well as showcase its tourist offerings through an AI robot. This was the launch of the "Xato Cube" pilot project, launched by Restaurante el Xato and Inteligencia Turística (IT), which aims to attract MICE, gastronomic, and blue-collar tourism in the Marina Baixa region. 

An event attended by the Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez; the Director of Tourism Innovation at Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, Olivia Estrella; the General Manager of Xato, José Cano; the Councilor for Innovation of Benidorm, Aida García Mayor; the Councilors for Tourism of Altea and La Nucia, Xelo González and Mª Jesús Jumilla; and Celia Romero, CEO of IT, to showcase and test the new physical-digital platform that integrates immersive technology and an intelligent robot capable of recommending personalized experiences based on the tourist's needs and profile. 

In fact, the city is seeking to consolidate its position as a destination for events and conferences after closing 2024 with more than 3,000 100% MICE hotel rooms and an increase of more than 30% in the volume of meetings and events compared to the previous year, according to data provided by the City Council. Gastronomy also closed on the rise, accounting for 30% of spending in the destination and now the third most popular destination, behind only sun and beach and active tourism.  

The objective, as explained during the event, is to position and improve the destination's international competitiveness through AI, taking into account that the flow of attendees at conferences and trade fairs seeks, in their free time, to discover the city, its culture, and its gastronomy. At the same time, it offers Benidorm something that sets it apart from other competing destinations, offering unique visitor experiences and contributing to the preservation of the coastline and marine biodiversity: blue tourism. 

In fact, analysing data in use in real time will reduce impacts and improve the overall visitor experience by recommending alternative, sustainable, and regenerative tourism options that simultaneously positively impact the destination and its residents. 

The Smart Cube will be located in Benidorm City Hall until mid-July, taking advantage of the high tourist occupancy rate at this time. During this time, the consulting firm in charge of its implementation, Inteligencia Turística, will organize various guided tours and boot camps for industry entrepreneurs and tourists. The goal is to explain the potential of this tool and showcase the city's full range of services, beyond its beaches, as well as the metrics obtained from the data-sharing spaces.

In September, it will be transferred to La Nucia for the same purpose, and shortly afterward to Colombia, where initial contacts have been made with several universities to import this tourism technology there. 

The mayor of Benidorm stated that "innovation is one of the pillars of our strategy as a destination and as a city, and from that perspective, we constantly promote, collaborate, and reach out to projects and alliances that promote the development of this area and contribute to our positioning and visibility." 

In this case, "we also created a region by linking the Benidorm brand to one of the Marina Baixa's century-old companies, El Xato, a long-standing leader in gastronomy and now also in innovation; while we also used this technological solution to showcase our MICE, Blue Tourism, and gastronomic offerings." 

For the Director of Tourism Innovation at Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, "innovation is the path to competitiveness." Olivia Estrella highlighted how "at Turisme, through Invattur, we work alongside destinations and companies to promote this culture and apply technology to advance smart and collaborative tourism management. Xato Cube is an example of this path, because it shows how a company, the restaurant "El Xato," along with three destinations, are moving forward together to open up new opportunities for tourism in the Marina Baixa thanks to innovation."

This ambitious project, financed by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism with European funds "Last Milla" and awarded to the Michelin-starred restaurant El Xato and which has the support of the three municipalities of the Marina Baixa: Altea, Benidorm and La Nucía, the Alicante Provincial Council and Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, marks a before and after in the tourism sector at the regional and national level, Romero and Cano have highlighted.

As both emphasised, it goes beyond being a showcase for the destination, as it transforms the way we understand, manage, and enjoy tourism, turning destinations into benchmarks in tourism innovation by connecting technology, sustainability, and unique experiences for the 21st-century traveler.

Technical characteristics

The Smart Cube measures 4.5, 3.5, and 3.5 meters. The exterior is covered with a large-format image of Benidorm and is fully accessible. 

Inside, cutting-edge technologies will be used to display its contents. In addition to the first specialized AI agent adapted to multiple languages, visitors will view and interact within the cube through various audiovisual platforms. 

It is also the first real-time tourism data sharing demonstrator in Spain, where visitors, residents, businesses, and administrations can interactively access all the information about Benidorm and destinations in the Marina Baixa. 

This will increase interoperability to improve tourism planning, enhance business competitiveness, and optimize public resources, as it combines data, previously hosted and sourced from different regional sources and platforms, into a single tool. 

This places Benidorm once again at the forefront of innovation, having been certified as the world's first Smart Tourism Destination in 2018. It has also been recognized with the 'European Green Pioneer for Smart Tourism 2025' distinction, an award sponsored by the European Commission that recognises the city's commitment to shaping the future of sustainable and innovative tourism.