A Smart Tourism Strategy for Lloret de Mar

We supported Lloret in planning how to leverage innovation and the data it collects to manage the city more efficiently and sustainably, creating integrated benefits for residents, visitors, and the local economic fabric. 

The challenge

Lloret de Mar, nestled on the Costa Brava just 70 km north of Barcelona, is one of Spain’s most iconic Mediterranean beach destinations. Despite having a population of just 42,000, the town punches well above its weight — ranking as the fifth-largest sun-and-beach destination in the country by hotel capacity, with 29,000 beds across more than 120 establishments — and attracting around one million visitors each year. 

The city’s main challenge lies in balancing the benefits of a thriving tourism industry with the need to protect the environment, diversify the local economy year-round, and preserve the unique vitality and lifestyle of its community in the face of mass tourism. To address this, Lloret de Mar’s local government has long embraced innovation and technology as key enablers of sustainable, smart tourism — and, in parallel, smart urban management. Guided by this vision, the city commissioned Anteverti to develop a forward-looking strategy to bring it to life. 

Our approach

Our work with Lloret began with an in-depth analysis of the city’s existing data-gathering tools related to tourism activity and urban management — from public lighting, parking systems, and crowd control in public spaces to waste management and irrigation systems — all of which impact both residents’ daily lives and the visitor experience. 

Through a consultative process involving six municipal departments, we identified key internal gaps and opportunities for better data integration. Based on these insights, we proposed five priority actions to transform how the city leverages smarter data use to enhance both tourism and urban management. These actions include promoting a data-driven culture among all stakeholders, identifying concrete “quick win” use cases where data can generate positive impacts for the city, establishing a Smart Office to oversee and coordinate the implementation of these initiatives, and encouraging Lloret’s participation in international networks and forums for cities and tourist destinations. 

The impact

As mentioned, the new strategy for Lloret proposes the creation of a Smart Office to ensure the consistent implementation of the recommended actions and to make data accessible and valuable to all stakeholders. The project also resulted in the development of a governance framework designed to encourage active participation from all actors in the sustainable management of tourism and urban services, reinforcing the city’s long-term efforts in this direction. 

Through these initiatives, Lloret is not only moving toward becoming one of Spain’s leading smart tourism destinations but is also enhancing urban management and improving the quality of life for both residents and visitors.