Lorraine Williamson
As Spain braces for a record-breaking tourist year—94 million visitors in 2024 and over 100 million likely in 2025—Benidorm is making a bold move. Long associated with high-rise hotels and mass tourism, the city is now embracing a different path. In a pioneering shift towards Benidorm sustainable tourism, a new AI-powered tool is being trialled to manage overcrowding and improve the visitor experience.
The Smart Cube is a compact, AI-powered structure helping the city manage crowds in real time. Launched as part of Benidorm’s 700th anniversary, it could mark a turning point in Spain’s push for sustainable tourism.
What is the Smart Cube?
Created by Michelin-starred restaurant El Xato in nearby La Nucia, alongside tourism consultancy Inteligencia Turística, the Smart Cube is small in size but ambitious in purpose. Measuring just 4.5 by 3.5 metres, it’s packed with multilingual AI, sensors, and interactive screens.
The technology collects real-time data from beaches, museums and entertainment zones. Based on this information, the Cube gives tourists instant tips to avoid crowds and explore less congested areas.
Helping cities as well as tourists
The benefits go beyond visitors. The Smart Cube helps local authorities spot pressure points and take action. This might mean improving public transport, managing beach access, or spreading events across different areas.
In short, it allows cities to respond quickly to rising demand—without sacrificing quality of life for residents.
Backed by European innovation funding
This isn’t just a one-off idea. The Smart Cube was originally created for business travel. However, thanks to funding from the EU’s Next Generation programme, it expanded into the leisure sector.
Benidorm was chosen as the test site due to its strong digital infrastructure and active involvement in Spain’s “Smart Destinations” network. This made it an ideal launchpad for the pilot.
From Benidorm to Colombia
The Cube will remain in Benidorm through summer, before moving to La Nucia and Altea in September. After that, the concept goes international. In Colombia, universities are working with the team to adapt the tool to their own tourism hotspots.
This cross-border collaboration could help other destinations avoid the mistakes of mass tourism and build smarter systems from the start.
A symbolic shift for Spain
The message from Benidorm is clear. Spain’s future as a global travel leader depends not on volume but on vision. This small cube symbolises a larger rethink—one that puts experience, sustainability, and balance at the heart of tourism.
Benidorm, once seen as the capital of overdevelopment, is now testing a new way forward. The real test? Whether other destinations are ready to follow.
Source: Cincodías