Deploytour
Deploytour is a project co-funded by the EU's Digital Europe Programme, with support from two European Commission departments responsible for internal market and digital policy. It is a strategic initiative to strengthen the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the tourism sector by creating a trusted, shared European space for tourism data.
What is the goal of this research?
Deploytour builds technical foundations for a shared European tourism data space, tested via five pilots on visitor management, sustainability and emerging trends. It will draft shared data-use rules and grow the network of data-sharing organisations. An EU-wide interministerial committee will produce policy recommendations and a strategy for using the results. By improving access to tourism data, the project boosts productivity, sustainability and skills, helping destinations match visitor expectations and predict busy periods, through a partnership of 43 organisations from 13 countries.
What method was employed?
Deploytour tests the European Tourism Data Space through five pilots: the Alpine region (Austria-Slovenia), the Balearic Islands, Andalusia and the Canary Islands (Spain), the Paris region (France), Syros Island (Greece), and Lapland (Finland). Each pilot tackles a different challenge, from sustainability to supporting small businesses, feeding practical requirements into the data space's design. The project has also drawn up an ethics charter for responsible data and AI use, defined a first technical architecture, and set out roles and responsibilities for managing the data space.
What findings did we uncover?
So far, the project has published its ethics guidelines, designed the first version of the technical set-up, and built an early working version of the data space. It has also agreed who is responsible for what in managing the system. Progress reports on the five pilots show they are moving forward as planned. Since the pilots are still running, the real-world results and benefits will follow as the project continues.
Who is the Project Team?
Nina Nesterova, Ivar Neelis, Eke Eijgelaar, Elisa van den Heuvel, Carlos Santos, Jens Hagen, Elavendan Rajendran, Suryashree Aniyan
What is the timeline of this project?
October 2024 – September 2027
Who is our main collaborating partner?
Led by Any Solution, as part of a wider partnership of 43 organisations
Who is our funding partner?
The European Health and Digital Executive Agency, through the Digital Europe Programme
Want to read more?
Go to the website of this research project.
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