Maps that reveal how tourism is moving: a geospatial look at the use of the Valencia Tourist Card
Every day, thousands of visitors explore Valencia using the Valencia Tourist Card (VTC) to get around the city, visit museums and enjoy cultural activities. What is interesting is not only how many cards are used, but where, when and how they are activated. Behind these daily movements lies a pattern of tourist activity that normally goes unnoticed... Until it is analysed properly.
With this in mind, in collaboration once again with Visit Valencia and, of course, within the framework of the Citcom.ai project, we have developed a geospatial visualisation tool that converts anonymous records of VTC usage into dynamic maps capable of showing, almost at a glance, which areas attract the most visitors, which generate peaks of activity and which public transport stops become key points for tourists throughout the year.
The living map of tourist activity
To this end, data from 2022 and 2023 were analysed, detecting both spatial and temporal patterns. The resulting maps make it possible to identify tourist hotspots, observe how visitor numbers change by neighbourhood depending on the season or month, and reveal areas that, although not among the most visited, show clear potential for growth. In addition, a time-lapse animation was created to show the evolution of tourist flows month by month, making it much easier to interpret these trends intuitively.
The tool allows different types of maps to be generated depending on the type of activity analysed: from the use of public transport with the VTC to purchases of mobility-related products. This opens the door to much more informed decisions, such as anticipating overcrowding, reinforcing services in areas with a high concentration of visitors, or identifying regions that could benefit from new routes, activities or cultural offerings.
In short, this tool, together with several others also developed by our team, turns the Valencia Tourist Card into an urban intelligence tool. By analysing the data from a geospatial perspective, what was once a simple anonymous record is transformed into a strategic compass. This allows us to stay one step ahead: not only to manage current flows in a more sustainable way, but also to proactively design the tourism of the future, improving coexistence and the real experience of those who visit us.
If you are interested in this type of geospatial analysis and would like to learn more about how it can help you better understand a city's tourism patterns, or if you would like to explore the possibility of developing a similar tool tailored to your organisation, we would be delighted to help you. Please contact us for more information!
The authors would like to thank the Regional Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism (Conselleria d'Innovació, Indústria, Comerç i Turisme de la Generalitat Valenciana) for its funding under Grant Agreement No. 101100728, as part of the European Commission’s Citcom.ai project.