Ecotourism itineraries on the Web to increase the competitiveness of SMEs and the quality of services

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This project takes on the shared challenge of strengthening the businesses of the 5 partner regions with increased opportunities for growth deriving from sustainable local development. The general objective is to contribute to increasing the international competitiveness of eco-tourism SMEs operating in the 5 regions. ItinERA addresses this challenge as follows: - develops guidelines for an eco-tourism quality certification common to all 5 regions, preparatory to the creation of a single Maritime area brand; - develops and promotes supra-national thematic eco-tourism itineraries, compliant with guideline requirements; - offers training programmes to tourism sector SMEs for them to achieve the required quality standards; - organises events to promote public-private eco-tourism offer governance processes. The first to benefit are SMEs, tour operators and cruise companies operating in the cooperation area, as well as potentially the entire area itself, thanks to the creation of value, birth of new tourist attractions, development of the entrepreneurial fabric and employment growth. The partnership aims to tackle the various activities in a participatory and cooperative manner on issues in which the local approach usually prevails. The opportunity of operating over a greater area and exploiting the tourism potential of the individual areas as a system for the benefit of the entire area is a further advantage that cannot be guaranteed by local strategies. Living Labs encourage interaction between operators to create joint growth opportunities and guarantee cross-border exchanges of good practices. E-learning training, online consultation systems and web platforms guarantee further innovation aspects of the proposal.

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