The finalist cities were selected from a total of 35 applications from across 17 EU member states.

The European Capital of Smart Tourism was proposed as a preparatory action by the European Parliament and is implemented by the European Commission. It aims to promote smart tourism in the EU, foster innovative, sustainable and inclusive tourism development, as well as spread and facilitate the exchange of best practices.

This EU initiative recognises outstanding achievements by European cities as tourism destinations in four categories: accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation as well as cultural heritage and creativity.

In 2018, Helsinki and Lyon won the inaugural competition and the two cities jointly hold the titles of European Capitals of Smart Tourism in 2019.

This is the second edition of the competition to award two cities as the European Capitals of Smart Tourism in 2020. The two winning cities will benefit from communication and branding support for a year.