On October 22, 2025, Professor Sergio Moreno Gil, Director of the TIDES Institute and the EMOTUR Laboratory at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), officially presented the Canarias Living Lab project at the Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS) in Seville. His keynote, titled “Spain–Canary Islands Living Lab: From Data to Emotion — Transforming the Tourist Experience with AI”, showcased the pioneering role of the Canary Islands in shaping the future of smart tourism.
Canarias Living Lab is part of the national Spain Living Lab initiative, funded by the European Union through the RETECH Programme and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The project is coordinated by EMOTUR ULPGC and focuses on integrating cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, metaverse environments, and emotional analytics to enhance the tourist experience and improve operational efficiency in the sector.
Moreno Gil emphasized the transformative power of EMOTUR ULPGC, which leads the research and development of intelligent agents capable of capturing unique behavioral data from tourists and frontline staff—voice, image, video, eye tracking, and emotional tone. These insights are used to build immersive simulations, optimize staff training, and generate high-value datasets for scientific research in neurotourism and digital behavior.
The project includes the deployment of 450 Living Labs across Meta Labs and Business Labs, and the implementation of 15 proof-of-concept pilots that will directly benefit tourism SMEs through innovation, sustainability, and digitalization.
By presenting Canarias Living Lab at TIS, Moreno Gil positioned the Canary Islands as a global benchmark in tourism innovation, and reaffirmed EMOTUR ULPGC’s leadership in merging emotion, data, and technology to redefine the future of travel.