Tampere goes smart
Tampere, Finland, has been named European Capital of Smart Tourism for 2026 — a lakeside city being praised for sustainable travel initiatives, digital innovation and eco‑friendly visitor experiences. It’s positioning walkability and tech‑forward services at the center of spring travel plans announcement.
Tampere was chosen smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu from seven shortlisted cities—Braga, Bruges, Brussels, Genoa, Leipzig and Regensburg—by a European jury that met in Brussels on 18–19 November 2025. The city formally kicked off its title year on 12 March 2026 smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu with an opening ceremony that featured a European Commission delegation and the unveiling of a hashtag sculpture in Ratinanlinnanpuisto tampere.fi. Tampere is part of the EU Mission: Climate‑Neutral and Smart Cities smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu and has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 as set out in its City of Tampere Climate Roadmap smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu. The city opened an accessible beach at Lake Pyhäjärvi in 2024 equipped with ramps, handrails and braille signage smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu, has established four barrier‑free nature trails with route information on Outdoorstampere.fi smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu and runs a summer "Outdoor Express" shuttle to Seitseminen, Helvetinjärvi and Isojärvi national parks smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu. Tampere is rolling out digitally enhanced cultural products via the Tampere.Finland mobile app — hosting Culture Routes such as the Tampere Hockey Route and the 1918 Civil War Route smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu — while the Tampere 1918 Civil War Museum supplements visits with 3D virtual exhibits and gamified content smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu. On measurable sustainability, Tampere jumped from 23rd to 6th place overall in the Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index and finished second in the Environment and third in the Supplier categories when results were published on 23 September 2025 visittampere.fi. The city’s "Think Sustainably" online tool already certifies 58 local companies smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu, and as European Capital of Smart Tourism Tampere will receive EU communication support in 2026 including a dedicated promotional video and targeted marketing campaigns to raise international visibility visittampere.fi.
