Overview

The overall objective of the SMART HERITAGE project is to promote, valorise and protect cultural heritage in the Adriatic-Ionian area. Its specific objective is to raise tourism attractiveness and reduce tourism seasonality in the project area consisting of Evia (Greece), Gerace (Italy), Forlì (Italy), Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and Albania.
A key output is the creation of the Cultural Route “SMART HERITAGE”: a networking structure based on a series of conditions for adhesion, opened not only to partner regions but extended to the entire ADRION area. The conditions to be set will be prerequisites to let the route become recognised by the European Council for its high cultural heritage and tourism value. This route will be a new cultural tourism attraction which will be launched on international tourism markets by positioning the Adriatic-Ionian region as a unique cultural tourism destination and product. Therefore, transnational cooperation and packaging of innovative transnational tourism offers will represent crucial elements of this route and will enhance tourist attractiveness of the region and facilitate tourism seasonality prolongation.
Another major project output is the realisation of regional Action Plans and a Sustainability Plan, which will permit the transferability and the mid-term sustainability of project results, tools and deliverables.
An important activity carried out by the project is the mapping of cultural heritage attractions in partners’ regions and the digitisation of cultural heritage.
Through pilot projects, common cultural heritage will be presented in innovative, digital, multimedia way, exciting to tourists and local inhabitants, e.g. by creating holograms, 3D images, Smart Heritage Film, etc., leading to improved touristic supply, higher attractiveness of regions and, consequently, to prolongation of tourism season.
Working groups for creative and innovative tourism will define new souvenirs based on cultural heritage that will determine higher attractiveness of common cultural heritage.
Cultural tourism stakeholders will be strongly empowered through this project by training and networking based on the realisation of a transnational cluster and the organisation of stakeholders training workshops.
The realisation of a transnational innovative web platform connecting and presenting common cultural heritage assets will strongly contribute to knowledge transfer among all project partners, will represent a new technological approach in presenting and preserving cultural heritage, and will be vital for all cultural heritage preservation institutions in order to achieve more appealing presentation of their cultural heritage and raise attractiveness of their institutions and cultural heritage (under their management).
SMART HERITAGE will contribute to ADRION capitalisation strategy by sharing results, activities, tools and deliverables with other projects funded by the Programme.