Torrevieja promotes Sustainable Tourism through the development of a digital twin of the Las Lagunas de Torrevieja and La Mata Natural Park

Protected Natural Spaces are ecosystems with great ecological and socioeconomic value, but they are also especially vulnerable to climatic and anthropogenic pressures. The vulnerability and complexity of these ecosystems requires a systemic understanding of the socio-ecological interrelationships that affect these areas that allows the development of sustainable tourism models.

To this end, the CHAN-TWIN project (“Changing tourism: digital twin strategy for the sustainable development of smart protected natural spaces based on ecological indicators”) is being developed, financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the European Union (Next Generation). This project, led by the University of Alicante (UA) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has the collaboration of the Torrevieja City Council, the Lagunas de Torrevieja y la Mata Natural Park, Mastral Project, Faunatura, AGAMED, INVAT·TUR and CIEDA.

The objective of the project is to create a digital twin of the natural park that allows the monitoring, analysis and sustainable management of this privileged environment in the Valencian Community. Today, the Councilor for Tourism of the Torrevieja City Council, Rosario Martínez Chazarra, together with the researchers responsible for the project José Norberto Mazón (UA) and José María Cecilia (UPV) and the director of the Natural Park, Francisco Martínez, have presented the first results of this project, which is in its first year of execution.

Specifically, an application that allows you to view the sustainable tourism indicators collected thanks to the sensors deployed in the natural park as part of the digital twin.

Rosario Martínez has highlighted that this research project is aligned with the Torrevieja Tourism Strategy in its commitment to position the city as a reference in the Smart Tourist Destinations (DTI) model, as well as in the development of innovative lines of work that have as a reference the processes of tourism sustainability. Likewise, Francisco Martínez has highlighted the relevance of this project for the efficient management of the natural park, thanking its component applied to solving real problems of this protected natural space. In this sense, José Norberto Mazón has highlighted the importance of initiatives such as the Torrevieja Intelligent Tourism University Laboratory (TILAB) that allow R&D&I projects to materialize in tourist destinations, favoring more competitive and sustainable tourist-territorial models. . Finally, José María Cecilia showed a tour of the application, explaining the main technical components of the project, which include the deployment of sensors that generate data in real time to calculate the proposed tourist indicators.

This application is available for viewing at the Torrevieja Tourism Office and at the Visitor Reception Center of the Natural Park. The researchers have encouraged citizens to participate in the project by approaching the Municipal Tourism Office, located on Paseo Vista Alegre, and completing the assessment surveys designed for this purpose.