THEMAtic Tourism founded on Innovation Capacities

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The Main objective of the project is to promote the development of a sustainable and accessible tourism economy  in the ADRION region, based on natural, cultural and historical resources. The ADRION region is home to numerous natural and cultural heritage sites, many included in the UNESCO world heritage list. Recent trends of growing demand for thematic tourism brought new opportunities and risks for these sites. The fast growth of visitors offered great opportunities for growth. But it also posed risks of overexploitation of fragile resources and loss of social and cultural diversity, as well as of reduced accessibility for tourists with special needs. THEMATIC brings together research and innovation centers, higher education institutions, policy making and business actors for a comprehensive innovation strategy, following the triple helix approach,  to exploit new opportunities and mitigate risks.  The THEMATIC partners will establish a permanent network which will develop and endorse an action plan aiming to their shared objectives. Then they will create common tools for material and immaterial investments for thematic tourism, including a repertoire of best practices and guidelines for feasibility studies for public and private investments in the field of cultural tourism. All innovation capacities and tools produced will be tested in pilot actions. The THEMATIC partners’ regions include an extraordinary network of touristic destinations: National Parks, UNESCO heritage sites, ethnographic reservoirs, that offer a unique and fertile field for testing and promoting innovative tools and strategies. Pilot projects will include:  accessibility services in archeological sites, multimedia products for historical and natural sites, special thematic experiences (major movies locations; migrant roots; ethnographic events; biodiversity sites), systems for traffic congestion management in fragile historical sites.

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