Telefónica and Oviedo City Council are driving the implementation of a smart tourism platform in the city, a strategic step aimed at enhancing the visitor experience in religious, cultural, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), and urban tourism.
The initiative is built on Thinking City, Telefónica’s urban intelligence platform, designed to integrate advanced interoperability, analytics, and smart data management capabilities for urban and tourism environments. Thinking City brings together tourism, cultural, and urban data from various municipal sources and national platforms, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) that will enable the monitoring of tourism activity, visitor flows, and the digital evolution of the route.
In addition, Telefónica’s platform deployed in Oviedo is connected to SEGITTUR’s Smart Destination Platform (PID), allowing Oviedo City Council to align with Spain’s national smart tourism destination strategy and leverage the shared capabilities of the state-driven digital tourism ecosystem.
The project will also contribute to the digitalisation of the local tourism ecosystem by promoting and facilitating the adoption of digital technologies among the city’s business community, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector. The goal is to improve their competitiveness, operational efficiency, and ability to deliver a better visitor experience while generating greater economic activity, thereby strengthening Oviedo’s tourism business network.
Another key objective of the initiative is to reinforce Oviedo’s positioning as the Origin of the Camino Primitivo, the oldest pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, which stretches from Oviedo to Santiago through the mountainous interior of Asturias and Galicia.
Through this project, Oviedo City Council and Telefónica will implement a new tourism management model based on technology and data intelligence.
Oviedo marks the beginning of the Camino Primitivo, the oldest of the Camino de Santiago routes. It is the route’s historical starting point, from which the pilgrimage continues westward through Asturias. The initiative will digitally transform the origin of the Camino Primitivo through the deployment of an intelligent infrastructure capable of integrating information and connecting services, optimising the experience of both tourists and pilgrims while supporting the sustainable management of municipal services.
A Connected City
The project will also provide pilgrims with access to technical and heritage resources related to the Camino Primitivo through new digital content and services, including information points, recommendations, and connected experiences.
With this tourism management model, Oviedo will become a more connected, efficient, and sustainable city, capable of transforming data into practical tools that improve decision-making, anticipate needs, and continuously evolve services, driving ongoing destination improvement.
The experience of both pilgrims and visitors will be enhanced through a more integrated view of the city’s tourism ecosystem, combining heritage, innovation, and new digital capabilities.
Alfredo García Quintana, Councillor for Hospitality, Tourism and Conferences at Oviedo City Council, stated: “‘Oviedo, Origin of the Camino’ represents an opportunity to consolidate the leadership of the city where the Camino Primitivo begins and to continue advancing towards a sustainable, accessible, and innovative tourism model that is rooted in the destination’s unique identity while preparing us for the future challenges of the sector.”
Paula Beirán, Telefónica’s Director for Asturias, added: “As Telefónica pursues its commitment to becoming the best gateway for citizens to access digital technologies, building open and interoperable platforms is essential. These innovative tools, incorporated into new services for public administrations, enable destinations to progressively evolve towards smart tourism models capable of integrating data, services, and advanced management capabilities under a unified territorial vision.”
Through this initiative, Oviedo strengthens its commitment to tourism digitalisation and positions itself as one of the destinations leading the transition towards a new generation of smart destinations based on interoperability, intelligence, and data governance.
