TECH TOUR –Technology and Tourism: Augmented Reality for the Promotion of the Roman and Byzantine Itineraries

Ref. Programme 23/G/ENT/CIP/11/B/N02S008

“Trans-national cooperation projects on European Cultural Routes”

Trento, October the 16th 2013CULTWAYS PROJECT FINAL CONFERENCE

TECH TOUR final goals� To create an innovative concept for the promotion o f the

cultural inheritance in the participating countries, implementing new ICT applications, ad-hoc marketing strategies and trans-national cooperation of the countries involved;

� To enhance integration of SMEs, business community, public institutions and other subjects in the field of cul tural tourismwithin partner countries to create a network of human resources, promote entrepreneurship and encouragesynergies with similar actions within participating countries.

Eurosportello del Veneto (IT)

Veneto Region Tourism DG (IT)

Marco Polo System (IT)

Aquileia Foundation (IT)

AIC Forum (IT)

Municipality of Rovinj – Rovigno (HR)

Municipality of Rijeka (HR)

TECH TOUR Project PartnersArcheological Museum of Istria (HR)

LiveViewStudio (SER)

Urban Development Center (SER)

Archeological Museum of Ljubljana(SLO)

Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia (SLO)

Associated partners:

1. Istria Region;2. Pula Municipality;3. Rijeka Tourist Office4. Monselice Muncipality5. Quarto d’Altino Municipality6. Concordia Saggittaria Municipality

TECH TOUR Project Partners

The proposed itineraries

The Roman itinerary links the Northern Adriatic routes from Via Annia to Central Europe territories and the Balkans which were part of the Roman Empire. It involves Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

The Byzantine itinerary is characterised more by morphological and naturalistic elements linked to water routes crossed by the Byzantine military forces along Italian, Slovenian and Croatian coasts to Justiniana Prima in Serbia (birth place of Justinian I)

The proposed itineraries

The proposed itineraries

Technology and tourism in the TECH TOUR projectThe project promotes the use of technology (augmented reality) to enhance the cultural

and historical routes proposed for the purpose of:

• stimulate the curiosity of tourists on routes, helping visitors moving around and explore without difficulty thanks to modern instruments;

• help tourists to easily find all the information in real time in a few seconds, simply by using a smartphone;

• strengthen the European identity through the integration of common cultural heritage along the routes with the creation of a cultural recognizable product.

BRIEF VIDEO (5 MINUTES)

WHAT’S NEXT?......

SCENARIOS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROPOSED ITINEARIES

TECH TOUR

Strengthens:• The Project is built on a public-private partnership;

• Content of the itineraries and technological know-how have been provided directly by the partners;

• The proposed technology and techcooltour app can be easily adapted to new itineraries and routes.

Weaknesses:• Limits to promote and involve local private stakeholders within EU-

funded projects and promote local products or services through ICT tools;

• Need to create connections and share information with tour operators to define possible marketing strategies.

TechTour Project : what has been done during the project?

1. Organized two International Workshops involving TOURISTIC CONSORTIA, TOUR OPERATORS, ENTEPRENEURS interested in investing in the proposed technologies and promoting the Project routes (Unioncamere del Veneto/Eurosportello)

2. Drafted a specific ICT GOVERNANCE MODEL for the management of touristic itineraries with reference to the Veneto Region (Author CISET-Veneto Region)

3. Drafted a pre feasibility study for SMART VISITOR RECOMMENDER and its application to the proposed routes (Author Marco Polo System)

4. Promoted the Techcooltour technology at national and international level (LiveViewStudio and all partners)

TCT Augmented World Expo 2013, Silicon Valley 15.06.2013Techcooltour project was presented at AWE 2013 conference in Santa Clara, California. JanaRodic from LiveViewStudio spoke within a panel dedicated to innovation in Automotive and Tourism

SOME STATISTICAL DATA

Tool used : Webalizer.

Objective : to provide statistical information on the usage of the ICT techcooltour content (website/app/augmented reality). The tool provides different information on number of visitors, number of hits, most popular pages, time spent on the site and similar.

Period of survey : Final data related to the period August 2012-july 2013.

Results : According to statistical data the total number of Hits (the number of requests that were made to the server) is 326.176 (Figure 2) with 11.176 unique visitors with the peak daily number of unique visitors on June 27th - 126 and on April 20th - 114. The average number of daily visitors – 60. The Augmented Reality app download link was visited 1017 times. According to statistical data the total number of Hits (the number of requests that were made to the server) is 326.176 (Figure 2) with 11.176 unique visitors with the peak daily number of unique visitors on June 27th - 126 and on April 20th - 114. The average number of daily visitors – 60. The Augmented Reality app download link was visited 1017 times.

Following steps

• Look for potential target users

• Investments on marketing

• Selling activity through travel operators network

Possible target users – how to reach them

• School tripsFam trip with teachers

Multimedia integration of TechTour App for student’s tablets

Creation of themed travel proposals to be sold by specialized travel agents

• ArcheoclubsSending communications to all archeo clubsFam trip of club’s stakeholdersCreate new itineraries directly built up on the Club needs

Possible target users – how to reach them

• Single usersFam trip for travel guides’ and specialized magazines’ journalistsWork on Social Media with week end proposalsGift BoxesExcursions packages sold on On Line Travel Agencies (OLTA)

• GroupsPromotion through TechTour project partners

Partnership with local DMC (Destination Management Companies)

Product distribution through international DMC marketplaces

FINAL CONSIDERATIONSThe identification of different categories of providers/users of a cultural route and then the future planning of an adequate marketing and promotion planrequires an economic and financial analysis, that highlights the economic benefits deriving to all public and private actors who decide to join the network and to all final users ( ref.ICT GOVERNANCE MODEL-CISET).

The definition of a suitable business model and then the identification of adequate funding sources, after the end of the European co-financing, is crucial for the survival and development of a cultural route in the medium-long term.

Lesson learned – to define a marketing and promotional plan within EU funded project dealing with tourism and ICT technologies application is a key action to be implemented already during the project lifetime.

Valentina Colleselli/Luca Pavanato

EUROSPORTELLO VENETOUNIONCAMERE DEL VENETOVIA DELLE INDUSTRIE 19/D

30175 VENEZIATEL. 041 0999411FAX 041 0999401

E-MAIL europa@eurosportelloveneto.it