Interview with Silvia Avilés
Director of Tourism Innovation Summit 2026 (Seville, Spain)
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Silvia Avilés
Director of Tourism Innovation Summit 2026 (Seville, Spain)
Silvia Avilés is a journalist and advertising professional with more than 20 years of experience in events and communications. She is co-founder of NEBEXT, a leading Spanish company in the organisation of large-scale B2B events, where she leads the group’s marketing and communications division and its more than 16 events focused on technology, innovation and sustainability across different industries.
Since 2020, she has been Director of TIS – Tourism Innovation Summit, a global event focused on innovation and digitalisation for the tourism sector. Each autumn, the event positions Seville as a hub for tourism innovation, bringing together more than 8,000 tourism professionals.
TIS 2026 is presented as the meeting point for technology, sustainability and tourism innovation: what strategic decision has guided the design of this edition, and what tangible change do you hope to bring about in the sector?
The focus of this seventh edition is not merely to showcase technology, but to demonstrate—through real-life applications in the tourism sector—what it is for and the impact it generates, especially the positive and negative uses of AI, so that it can be used properly and to our advantage. In recent years, we have seen very significant progress in solutions linked to artificial intelligence, data and automation. However, the industry needs to understand how to incorporate them into its operations, what return they offer and which specific challenges they can help solve. That is why, under the theme “The New Generation of Travel & Hotel Tech”, TIS 2026 will be much more focused on the real implementation of these tools in the tourism sector.
This means discussing AI applied to revenue management, operations and distribution, but also the management of tourism flows in destinations, cost pressures, new accommodation models, sustainability, talent and technological sovereignty. We want every tourism professional attending TIS 2026 to discover new solutions, while also leaving with a clear understanding of how to implement them. That is where innovation truly begins to transform the sector.
The congress will bring together more than 400 international speakers across five auditoriums: how do you select content that delivers genuine value to major groups, destinations, SMEs and independent professionals alike?
We always begin with the industry’s challenges. That is why, at the start of each edition, we hold our Advisory Council, bringing together technology companies, tourism operators, professional associations, institutions and destinations. This enables us to identify the issues that are truly affecting the sector. In addition, having seen that the main attendees at TIS over the past six editions have come from the hotel sector and destinations, this year we have decided to place greater emphasis on them and structure the congress around four major vertical forums: Leadership, Innovation & Scale; Destinations & Experiences; Hospitality & Accommodation; and Distribution & Agencies. We also create tailored agendas for profiles such as CEOs, CIOs, DMOs, CMOs and human resources managers.
This means that a major hotel chain and an SME do not necessarily have to apply the same solution, but they can both learn from the same case and adapt it to their own scale. We look for experiences that explain what was done, how it was implemented and what results it achieved, because this practical learning can be useful to very different organisations.
Given the expansion of artificial intelligence and travel hyper-personalisation, what principles should tourism companies adopt to innovate without compromising privacy, visitor trust or the authenticity of the experience?
Personalisation only works as long as travellers feel that they are receiving value in exchange for their data. When they begin to feel monitored or lose control over it, personalisation ceases to be personalisation and becomes a threat to trust. I therefore consider it essential to use only the data that is necessary, protect it appropriately and be transparent about how it is used.
At the same time, we must avoid confusing automation with dehumanisation. AI can anticipate needs, streamline processes and help design a more relevant offering, but elements of travel such as hospitality, contact with local communities and a destination’s cultural uniqueness should not become uniform experiences designed by an algorithm. At TIS, we are addressing concepts such as digital trust, cybersecurity, technological sovereignty and data governance, because the next competitive advantage will not simply be having more information, but earning the trust required to use it.
The event’s four vertical forums cover accommodation, destinations, distribution and innovation: where do you currently see the greatest opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, and which organisational or cultural barriers must be overcome to fully realise them?
A destination needs to understand visitor flows; an accommodation provider needs to anticipate demand; an agency or platform needs to better understand traveller motivations; and a management team needs to turn all that information into decisions. Data is probably the greatest point of convergence among all of them.
When these areas work in isolation, many opportunities are lost. For example, information on demand and mobility can simultaneously help to manage a destination more effectively, design new experiences, distribute visitors towards less congested areas and improve the marketing of local businesses. However, the main obstacle remains the lack of interconnection and communication between different departments, as there is still a business culture that is not sufficiently accustomed to sharing information or projects. Technological transformation therefore also requires a transformation in the way we collaborate.
With more than 8,000 professionals expected to attend, including global decision-makers, how does TIS design its networking activities to turn strong attendance into meaningful connections, long-term agreements and measurable business opportunities?
For us, networking is essential to fostering business relationships and creating new opportunities. To encourage meetings and exchanges between technology companies exhibiting their solutions and the tourism professionals attending the event, we use a matchmaking platform that makes it easier for both sides to arrange meetings.
In addition, we organise a range of networking activities beyond the congress sessions and exhibition area, including the Tourism Innovation Awards gala, the various Leadership Summit lunches, the Welcome Party and even the Touristech Startup Fest, which connects startups with investors, venture-capital funds and leading companies in the tourism industry. The aim is for conversations to evolve from an initial contact into a proof of concept, a commercial collaboration, an investment or a joint project. That is the difference between generating contacts and generating business.
The Touristech Startup Fest and the Tourism Startup Atlas bring entrepreneurship and investment together: what distinguishes tourism startups with genuine scalability potential, and how can TIS help them move from visibility to adoption?
Through the Touristech Startup Fest, we seek projects capable of responding to real needs related to operational efficiency, personalisation, sustainability or destination competitiveness, while also having a clear market proposition.
This year, we expect more than 400 applications for the Touristech Startup Fest, and 40 projects will be selected to present their solutions to investors, venture-capital funds and major tourism companies. They will also have access to acceleration programmes, mentoring, training and connections with corporate ventures. All of them will form part of the first global atlas of tourism startups, providing international visibility for the ecosystem. TIS is therefore not merely a showcase, but a place where a startup can find its next client, partner or investor.
The Tourism Innovation Awards recognise innovative, digital and sustainable projects. Beyond technological novelty, what evidence should candidates demonstrate to prove a positive impact on competitiveness, local communities, skilled employment and environmental conservation?
It is becoming less and less effective simply to present a technology and claim that it is innovative. What we really want to know is what has changed because of it. This can be demonstrated through improvements in productivity, operational efficiency, revenue or customer experience, but also through jobs created, reduced environmental impacts, benefits for local communities or the capacity to preserve natural and cultural heritage.
The six categories of the Tourism Innovation Awards reflect this evolution, ranging from the impact of AI and digital innovation to sustainable and regenerative tourism, new business models, diversity, talent and the future of work. What matters is that the impact can be substantiated and that there is also potential to replicate or scale it.
Seville hosts TIS as an international showcase for tourism innovation: what does the city contribute to the event’s narrative, and what lessons could other destinations replicate as they seek to balance appeal, sustainability, economic activity and quality of life?
Since the first edition, Seville has become part of TIS’s identity. With the support of Seville City Council and the Regional Government of Andalusia, we have been able to establish a forum here that brings together companies, destinations and tourism leaders from numerous countries.
Seville is also a clear example of a destination advancing towards a smarter, more sustainable and innovative tourism model. Its commitment to the Smart Tourism Destination model, based on pillars such as governance, sustainability, technology, innovation and accessibility, reflects a determination to move towards more comprehensive destination management: one capable of preserving its immense cultural and tourism appeal while generating economic and social value and contributing to the quality of life of those who live in the city.
This example extends to Andalusia as a whole. The region is driving a transformation of its tourism model in which innovation and data play an increasingly significant role, through initiatives such as Andalucía Nexus—an ecosystem designed to accelerate the digital, sustainable and competitive transformation of the tourism industry—as well as the various Tourism Sustainability Plans in Destinations. These plans are enabling municipalities and destinations to invest in the green transition, digitalisation, diversification of the tourism offer and improved competitiveness.
These initiatives are rooted in an idea that we fully share at TIS: the future of tourism is not simply about attracting more visitors, but about managing destinations better and creating greater value for the territory and its community.
In this edition, Seville will join destinations such as Prague, Copenhagen, Berlin, Dubrovnik and Bratislava in discussions on smart visitor-flow management, overcrowding and the creation of higher-value experiences.
Recent trends point towards senior, accessible and diverse tourism. Do you believe the industry is adapting its products, data and communications quickly enough, or do biases still exclude important groups of travellers?
Progress has certainly been made, but I believe the challenge now is to move from treating accessibility and diversity as specific products to incorporating them into the very design of the travel experience. Technology can help us better understand different needs along the way, but we must ensure that algorithms do not reproduce the same biases we are trying to overcome. Personalisation means understanding each traveller better, not categorising them more narrowly.
The programme includes a Talent Summit at a time when attracting and retaining professionals is difficult. What responsibilities do technology, training and business leadership have in making tourism employment a more attractive option?
Attracting and retaining talent is one of the challenges that the industry itself has identified among its priorities for 2026. It would be a mistake to think that it can be resolved simply by introducing more technology. Technology must help eliminate repetitive tasks, improve processes and allow professionals to devote more time to higher-value activities, but it needs to be accompanied by training and a different kind of leadership.
Digital transformation is changing the profiles companies need and giving increasing importance to skills related to data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and customer experience. Updating knowledge and acquiring new capabilities will therefore be essential for professionals to adapt to this new working environment. At the same time, companies must support this process by creating development opportunities, fostering inclusive environments and encouraging a balanced coexistence between human talent and technology.
The presence of dedicated agendas for CEOs, CIOs, destinations and institutional leaders reflects a diverse ecosystem. How does TIS ensure that dialogue among public administrations, technology companies and tourism operators leads to executable decisions and projects?
Unlike the vertical forums focused on each segment of the tourism industry, the agendas designed around professional profiles bring together, for example, CIOs and innovation and technology leaders from hotel groups, destinations and technology companies around a shared challenge. These tailored agendas enable each profile to find discussions directly linked to their responsibilities, ranging from investment and strategy for a CEO to technology implementation for a CIO or capacity management for a destination.
When several organisations sit around a specific problem rather than engaging in a general conversation about innovation, it becomes much easier for actionable collaborative projects to emerge.
What indicators will you use to assess the success of TIS 2026 once the event has concluded, beyond visitor numbers or presentations, and how will you follow up on the projects, collaborations and transformations promoted from Seville?
Participation figures are important, but they cannot be our only indicator. For me, true success lies in what happens after TIS: how many conversations become collaborations, how many startups secure funding or clients, how many solutions find real-world applications, and how many of the cases shared help other organisations make decisions.
TIS has become firmly established precisely because many initiatives continue to develop after those three days. That is why our relationship with companies, institutions, associations, investors and entrepreneurs continues throughout the year, allowing us to understand how this ecosystem evolves. The best indicator would be to reach the next edition not only with new technologies, but also with new projects that began to take shape in Seville.
As Director of TIS, what uncomfortable yet necessary conversation would you like to see strengthened during this edition, and what specific commitment would you ask tourism leaders to make so that technological transformation also delivers more responsible tourism?
There is one conversation the sector must address more clearly: growing more does not always mean growing better. For a long time, we have measured tourism success mainly through arrivals, occupancy or volume of activity. These indicators remain relevant, but today we must also incorporate others, such as profitability, the distribution of benefits, the quality of employment, coexistence with residents, pressure on natural resources and a destination’s capacity to absorb certain visitor flows.
TIS 2026 will address tourism capacity management precisely from the perspective of generating greater value and better revenues, without assuming that the only answer is to continually increase visitor numbers.
The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this document and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of Tourism and Society Think Tank and do not commit the Organization, and should not be attributed to TSTT or its members.
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