The International Fair of Smart Destinations (FIDI 2024) arrives in Brazil, giving rise to a meeting where public officials, professionals and leading companies from around the world will share experiences and knowledge about the Smart Tourist Destination model. The event will be organized by the Cities of the Future Institute and the Ciudad de La Plata Foundation, and has the support of the Municipal Institute of Tourism of Curitiba and the Prefeitura of Curitiba, with the host city being the Ministry of Tourism of Brazil, and the Secretary of State of Tourism of Paraná, and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF); in addition to the sponsorship of the State Trade Federation, FECOMERCIO Paraná and the Brazilian Service to Support Micro and Small Businesses, SEBRAE Paraná.

FIDI 2024 will take place in Curitiba, on March 17, 18 and 19, 2024. It is worth mentioning that Curitiba was selected as the smartest city in the world within the framework of the Smart City Expo World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, ​​an event held during the month of last November.

Within the framework of FIDI 2024, the Training Course in Smart Tourist Destinations will be developed, certified by 6 universities of the Association of Montevideo Group Universities (AUGM), the Ibero-American Network of Smart Tourist Destinations and the ICF. This high-level training session will be free for 50 public officials from all over Latin America and will seek to disseminate among public managers linked to tourist territories, the management models of Intelligent Tourist Destinations (DTIs) as new approaches to destination management and planning. tourist.

In turn, FIDI Curitiba 2024 will host for the first time the delivery of the “IBERO-AMERICAN SMART TOURIST DESTINATIONS AWARDS”, an initiative created by the Ibero-American Network of Smart Tourist Destinations (DTI), with the purpose of motivating, promoting and recognizing the tourist destinations, companies, startups and institutions linked to tourism activity that exhibit projects that contribute to the transformation and development of DTIs. This proposal, unpublished for the

region, seeks to make visible the achievements around the construction of a path aimed at achieving more competitive, systematic, sustainable and inclusive tourism management.

Also, talks and conferences, stands, tourist experiences, thematic circuits and international dissertations will be shared. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the presence of Natalia Bayona (Executive Director of the UNWTO), Tatiana Turra President (Curitiba Municipal Tourism Institute), Enrique Martinez (President of SEGITTUR, Spain), Bárbara Blaudt Rangel (Director of Planejamento, Inteligência, Inovação e Competitividade no Turismo, Brazil), Leire Bilbao (Manager of the Tourism Promotion Entity VisitBenidorm, Spain), Adolfo Borrero Villalon (CEO of Aalto Consultores. President of Cactus Servicios Energéticas and leader in the Smartcities commission of AMETIC of Spain), Federico de Arteaga (DTI Tequila Inteligente Coordinator, Mexico), Ana Biasone (Expert in sustainable tourism development and public management of tourism, Argentina), Claudio Quintana (Doctor in Tourism and Master in Economics and Sustainable Tourism, Uruguay), Carlos Romero (Director of Research, Development and Innovation of SEGITTUR, Spain), Sebastián Slobayen (General Secretary of Interinstitutional Relations – UNNE Teaching, Argentina), Ana Clara Rucci (Teacher and researcher and Director of the Tourism Research Institute, Argentina), Alexandre Biz (DTI expert and teacher at AUGM, Brazil), Ledys Lopez (PhD in Tourism and Master in Urban-Regional Studies. Founder of the Ibero-American Network of DTI, Colombia), Oscar Suarez (Director of INPROTUR, Professor at UADE, UNLP and UNMdP, and Master in International Relations from the UNWTO, Argentina), among other international leaders of smart tourism.

THE FAIR IS INTEGRATED WITH THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

Under an innovative concept, FIDI CURITIBA 2024 promises a totally immersive experience, offering the chance to discover a world of possibilities. In this new edition, visitors will not only be able to immerse themselves in the fascinating universe of smart tourist destinations, but they will also have the unique opportunity to explore and enjoy the charming city of Curitiba, walking its streets and getting to know its main tourist attractions. In this way, the fair will take the experience to another level, based on a proposal that invites you to learn, share experiences, generate strategic ties and tour the city.      

The event will feature the “FIDI Circuits”, where you can access various proposals and actions linked to the DTI world. There, the “DTI STATIONS” will be located, which will be the strategic points distributed throughout the city, where DTI initiatives and good practices of Curitiba linked to the corresponding circuit will be announced.

The initiative will make it possible to explore the city with exclusive tour guides who will share Curitiba's best kept secrets. The starting point of the circuits will be the Curitiba Memorial, and then each participant will be able to choose which circuit to begin their adventure.

NEW EDITION OF THE FIDI: BIG NEWS

The International Fair for Smart Destinations (FIDI) had its first edition in virtual mode in November 2020 and brought together more than 30 thousand people from 56 different countries. There, leading tourism and technology companies and public officials from around the world shared experiences and knowledge about the smart destination model. On that occasion, the event was organized by the Cities of the Future Institute, the Regional Faculty of Buenos Aires of the National Technological University (UTN) and the company Big Joan, in charge of developing the innovative virtual platform, which provided participants with a unique experience.

FIDI 2020 provided a cycle of high-quality conferences, talks, a seminar and a workshop that was accredited by the National Technological University (UTN). During these training sessions, 406 speakers shared their experiences and knowledge, where the different and innovative alternatives that were presented in the world to reopen and reactivate tourism after the COVID 19 pandemic were exhibited, but in a sustainable and safe way.

In addition, more than 70 Argentine municipalities had their stands at FIDI 2020, where they exhibited their tourist attractions and technological developments. Other renowned destinations also participated, which are at the forefront of this intelligent management model, such as Tequila (Mexico), Montevideo (Uruguay), Medellín (Colombia), or Benidorm (Spain). Likewise, other innovative destinations such as NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, the Bahamas Islands and Florida were part of the event.

For this in-person edition of FIDI Curitiba 2024, new stands are expected, ideal for learning about the latest trends and connecting with companies and destinations that are transforming the tourism and technological panorama. In addition, talks and conferences will take place, with more than 30 international speakers, who will come to FIDI to provide the framework for a fundamental space that is offered with the objective of learning and inspiration.

Also, at the Fair there will be networking spaces to expand the network of contacts in environments specially designed to connect with people and representatives of the sector, along with top-level panels and exhibitions on the smart destinations model.

Additionally, within the framework of the FIDI Curitiba and Montevideo Turismo 360 events to be held in the months of March and June respectively, a DTI training course will be held, endorsed by the government of Curitiba, the government of Montevideo, the University of the Republic, the Federal University of Paraná, the National University of La Plata, the University of Mar del Plata, the University of the Northeast, the Cities of the Future Institute, Segittur and the Ibero-American Network of Smart Tourist Destinations.

Technology at FIDI    

As it could not be otherwise, FIDI 2024 will offer new features for technology lovers, in order to reflect the possibilities and tools to be implemented in destinations. In this way, the fair will have an “exclusive application”, from which FIDI attendees will be able to access the complete agenda, find out the schedules and register for talks, conferences and learn in detail about the 10 thematic circuits that will allow you Explore the city in the best way.

In addition, during the last day of the event, visitor profiles will be shared (anonymously) on a heat map of FIDI and Curitiba, to understand the scope and benefits of the Tourism Intelligence System.

FIDI 2024 promises a totally innovative and immersive experience, providing the opportunity to discover a world of possibilities. The fair in CURITIBA will arrive with a proposal that invites you to learn, share experiences, generate strategic ties and tour the city hand in hand with a model that proposes to improve the experience of tourists and the quality of life of residents.