In the face of strong competition from 35 applicant cities representing 17 EU countries, ICLEI Member Gothenburg (Sweden) was named the 2020 European Capital of Smart Tourism, alongside Malaga (Spain).

Each year, the European Commission uses this award to recognise two EU cities that have excelled in developing smart tourism across the categories of: accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation, and cultural heritage and creativity. The Commission also awards a winner in each of these categories. In addition to being named the European Capitals of Smart Tourism, Gothenburg also won the 2020 European smart tourism award in sustainability.

This win reinforces that the city is a global leader in sustainability. Gothenburg, for example, has been ranked number one in the Global Destination Sustainability Index for four years in a row.

The winners in the categories of accessibility, digitalisation, and cultural heritage and creativity were Breda (The Netherlands), ICLEI Member Ljubljana (Slovenia), and Karlsruhe (Germany), respectively.

Gothenburg and Malaga follow in the footsteps of the 2019 winners: ICLEI Member Helsinki (Finland), as well as Lyon (France). The applications for the 2019 award were recently used to compile a Compendium of Best Practices that serves to inspire best practices in smart tourism in cities across Europe.

For more information on the European Capital of Smart Tourism, click here.