Gerard Macià | Eurecat

Gerard Macià has a degree in Tourism with a specialisation in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) from the University of Lleida and technical expertise in Commercial Management and Marketing. He has more than five years of experience in managing and developing marketing and social media projects, mainly in the tourism and food and drink sectors, working for brands such as Lleida Tourism or the Lleida Wine Route and for companies such as La Boscana restaurant, which has a Michelin star. He is currently a digital product designer and promoter of the Operational Platform of the family tourism PECT at Eurecat technology centre’s Department of Tourism Innovation. In 2016, he undertook a one-year trip to go around the world, which he considers an experiential Master’s programme for absorbing the lessons that can only be learned by travelling.

The thinning of tourist flows with smart recommendations for family tourism

One of the current challenges of tourist destinations is the management of tourist spaces with a greater concentration of tourists at certain specific moments, committed to balanced, responsible and sustainable tourism. The “Platform” project works in the Costa Daurada and Terres de l’Ebre in a technological management tool based on artificial intelligence and gamification within the family tourism PECT, led by Tarragona Provincial Council and its tourist board and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The solution focuses on improving the experience of the families that will visit the destination and in which they will recommend activities based on the influx in real time to the beaches or the status of their car parks. It also takes into account the weather forecast and solar radiation and even uses gamification techniques to decentralise family tourism from the busiest points.