As 2018 will be the European Year of Cultural Heritage, the European Commission is addressing this theme in order to exploit and enhance synergies between the cultural and the creative sectors through concrete actions.

The modality of fruition of cultural heritage is changing, also due to ICTs which allow tourist to better enjoy it. ICTs are also modifying the way of promoting the cultural heritage, allowing the attraction of an higher number of tourists. Visitors are looking for experience and are paying a growing attention to sustainability and to in-destination activities.

The general objectives of the call are referred to developing synergies between the cultural and the creative industry and the tourism sector, in order to stimulate the competitiveness, innovation, diversification and valorisation of European tourism offer.

The call recommends some specific activities to be implemented, such as:

• the development of a transnational tourism product which needs to be related to the European cultural heritage;
• the promotion and the visibility of a transnational tourism product linked to the European heritage by using technologies related to the cultural and creative industries (CCIs);
• the facilitation of public-private partnerships and the integration of tourism enterprises, as well as public authorities;
• the growth of SMEs’ skills and opportunities in transnational cooperation, and the development of tourism products.

Eligible proposals must be presented by consortia which gather from 5 to 8 partners of various nature and located in at least 4 different eligible Countries. Moreover, the consortia need to include at least one managing authority of a UNESCO cultural site, a SME operating in the tourism or in CCIs industry subsector of cultural heritage, and one national, regional or local public authority.

EASME – Executive Agency for SMEs is delegated for the implementation of the call. It foresees to finance 5 to 7 projects which have to last 15-18 months. Every project can be granted with an up to 75% co-financing of eligible costs up to € 300.000, and the total budget is € 1,5 million.

Competitive proposals will be valued according to the relevance and the quality of the proposed actions. Moreover, it will be valued the potential impact on the target audience and the budget and cost-effectiveness of the proposals. In particular, EASME will award projects that include a transnational tourism product structured around theme linked to the European cultural heritage. In fact, a UNESCO cultural site must be the focal point of the tourism product. In particular, the projects must promote synergies between tourism, CCIs and ICTs in order to promote the tourism product and enhance the visitor’s experience. In fact, as specified in the Eligible Activities list, proposals could include the “development and promotion of a common narrative (audio-visual presentation) on the common theme using the augmented reality and/or immersion (virtual reality) technologies for promotion of all the sites being part of a transitional tourism product.”

The deadline for the call is fixed June, the 29th 2017.

At Twissen we observed that ICTs have become a fundamental tool to promote destinations and cultural sites, as they have a great potential in attracting tourism flows.

Calls regarding the development of transnational tourism products strongly address sustainability. In fact, beyond the environmental components, it is necessary to describe how the project will be able to develop after the co-funding period. As we have already specified, a balanced partnership is the base of the general success of the proposal.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo European call to bond tourism, cultural heritage and technology proviene da Twissen.

The Commission has already addressed on coastal and maritime tourism, firmly believing that the diversification could tackle seasonality and enhance growth and jobs. Competitiveness is strictly linked to innovative tourist products such as transnational thematic routes.

Tourists are no longer demanding only for “sea and sun” options and for this reason the call encourages to develop targeted tourism products focusing on experience and addressing on sustainability. A growing number of segments, such as sailors, boaters and water sports practitioners “are increasingly looking for a more diversified tourism offer to complement their holiday programs”, as we have already reported.

The general objective is promoting and improving transnational tourist thematic routes through the creation of transnational thematic tourism products in the areas of nautical tourism and/or water sports tourism also creating synergies with other important sectors such as food and wine, culture and health & wellbeing tourism and cruise tourism.

The call specifies that there are some core activities to be implemented such as:

– the designing of a new transnational nautical route linking tourist attractions;

– the designing of a long term strategy;

– the consulting and validating with relevant stakeholders;

– the consistent communication and dissemination, and

– the establishment of a mechanism to support a solid and sustainable cooperation among the different actors of the tourism value chain.

Complementary activities such as training or measures to assure complementarities with other funded projects or EU programs, and networking with other projects, may add value to the proposal.

The eligible area includes European coastal areas and sea basins involving EU Member States and third countries listed in the text of the call.

EASME – Executive Agency for SMEs is delegated for the implementation of the call. It foresees to finance 5 to 6 proposals between 250.000 and 300.000 EUR and projects are expected to start on December 2017.

Projects should not exceed the duration of 24 months, are granted up to 80% of co-funding rate and co-financing may also take the form of in-kind contributions from third parties.

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium that consists in a transnational partnership with applicants from at least two different eligible countries. Applicants can be public and private bodies.

Competitive proposals will be awarded according to the relevance of the objectives and the added value of the project. Moreover, it will be valued the project design and implementation according to the coherence and the quality of the activities, the allocation of tasks and resources and the risk management and monitoring. An important criterion is the impact in terms of dissemination, sustainability and transferability of the project in order to expand it to other coastal regions and to be used as a model.

The deadline for the call is fixed on March, 15th 2017.

At Twissen we experienced that the establishment of a balanced consortium is a necessary and strategic activity to design a competitive proposal. While all the applicants must own organisational, technical and financial capacity, the lead applicant is an organisation with a multi-annual expertise in the management of this kind of projects.

Martina Baldo

She graduated in Intercultural Development of Tourism Systems and she has a passion for foreign languages and cultures. Since 2016 she works as administration and tourism project manager at Twissen.

L'articolo EU call invests € 1,5 mln to deseasonalise coastal tourism proviene da Twissen.

By this, synergies are envisaged in terms of promotion, knowledge, access to finance, technology and other aspects.

Coopetition among destinations can be found in itineraries and routes or other kind of formal and spontaneous alliances. Today, they are present under several forms:

• itineraries (local, national and transnational);
• routes (local, national and transnational);
• trails;
• specific projects;
• transnational products;

As previously reported, the UNWTO Silk Road Programme is probably the biggest example of coopetition among destinations, evoking unique travel experiences and connecting East to the West.

Europe is benefitting from this through the Western Silk Road (WSR), which includes the territories between the Caspian See and Venice (Italy).

On Dec. the 5^th Twissen moderated the WSR Focus Group in Venice at the amazing venue of TIM Future Centre San Salvador, to which participated representatives from Region of Veneto Tourism Unit, City of Venice Tourism Unit, Council of Europe, City of Venice Unesco site, Vivovenetia, Confartigianato Tourism, CERS – Consortium of European Re-enactment Societies and Telecom Italia.

This high-level meeting called attention to the potentialities of the Programme and to the number of tangible and intangible heritage that can be exploited to promote attractive tourism products. Discovering the components linked to the handicraft, such as fabrics, perfumes and, obviously, silk was a pleasant surprise.

Despite a general concern in sustainability of tourism in the area, stakeholders are aware that Venice represents the door for unique travel experiences off the beaten tracks branded Western Silk Road.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Coopetition among destinations: Western Silk Road, a creative tourism growing brand proviene da Twissen.

But the opportunities of the new programme don’t stop here.

“Tourism is a strategic sector” affirms Professor Salvatore Messina of European Foundation to Twissen “and, even if nowadays there are no dedicated programmes, there are several opportunities and they are to be researched with a transverse methodology, both for enterprises and public subjects”.

At Twissen we notice an increasing attention to creating and developing networks in tourism.
Tourism is a complex sector that involves diverse stakeholders such as public institutions, small enterprises, big enterprises, consortiums, associations and several other ones. Operating at a destination level, it is necessary a growing coordination in activities in order to promote a competitive and sustainable offer to the target tourists. “This complexity reflects also on finding funds. Even if they exist and they are significant, they need to be found with a particular methodology. In fact, in tourism industry, creating and developing networks is an essential need in order to accomplish an efficient and competitive system. This involves the coordination of actors with specific roles.”
A multi-fund and multi-beneficiary approach is the method that we, at Twissen, consider to be the most effective. A certain network, after defining its operative plan, should search the right fund for every initiative, being aware that the beneficiary could be different from time to time, depending on the role played in the network.
“There is not a unique model of network. Analysing the current scenario and the present European planning, we notice that the successful networks are the ones that represent both the public and the private component, with the participation of a research institution or a specialised university. Most of all, they engage SMEs of the tourism sector which are able to attract enterprises in the linked sectors. Fundamental prerequisites are an efficient activity of local synergy and a clear and shared strategic and operative plan.”

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Tourism funds to create networks proviene da Twissen.