AIRTH Encyclopedia contributing members – practitioners

World’s first underwater wine cellar

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Bodega Crusoe Treasure (Spain)

Introduction

Located in the Plentzia Bay on the Bilbao-Basque Coast of Spain, the makers of Crusoe Treasure Underwater Winery have taken the art of winemaking to new depths by perfecting the science of aging wine underwater. The wine is aged in the first underwater cellar and artificial reef in the world. Matured in small batches and monitored based on ocean temperature, currents, light intensity and marine influence, every care is taken to create a limited edition wine of exceptional quality. Sustainability is the cornerstone of the Crusoe Treasure business model, dedicated not only to creating a rare limited edition wine but also educating others about marine life and protecting our ocean treasure.

Description of the product

Throughout the year Crusoe Treasure holds wine tastings with the possibility of meeting the daily work at Underwater Winery. Discover the underwater cellar on board “Crusoe Treasure’s” boat, followed by wine tasting of underwater wines paired with basque pintxos, in a unique experience always guided by a founding member team.

Implementation

The visit of several national and international journalists and the presentation and guided tour that the people in charge of the company made with them was the beginning of creating a new type of cellar visit so different to a common cellar tour. Crusoe Treasure Winery team started to offer this new type of experience to tour operators and travel agents with a very good reception and firsts clients came to do it ending with very good opinions.

Success story

Year by year the experiences offered by the underwater winery has been improved and the visits are increasing as well and underwater wine production and references to wine – from its widespread acceptance at the project’s first successful introduction at the ASUTIL conference in Panama in 2015, and all the way up to Michelin-starred restaurants including us in their exclusive wine lists. Operators and retailers in travel retail are talking more and more about us, giving us the chance to leave our footprint in travel retail. 

For more information about the project’s history, see the interview Ten Easy Pieces: Meet the underwater wine woman, Irina Wiedemann.

Company and contact info

Bodega Crusoe Treasure

www.underwaterwine.com

Areatza s/n E-48620
Plentzia – Bizkaia
Basque Country. Spain

Tel : +34 94 401 50 40

E-mail: visit@crusoetreasure.com

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Underwater museum

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

‘Museo Atlántico’ – Atlantic Museum

Introduction

The Atlantic Museum project aspires to create a strong visual dialogue between art and nature. Designed with a conservationist approach, it is made up of 300 environmental friendly cement sculptures which form a huge artificial reef that helps marine biomass flourish and facilitates species reproduction off the coast of Lanzarote, Spain.

CACT, a local public entity experienced in combining art and nature, has conceived this Europe-unique underwater museum with Brittish eco-sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor. The sculptures, distributed in ten facilities at a 12 meters depth, reflect contemporaneity and intends to make us reflect on the use of natural resources.

Since the first pieces were deployed in January 2016, marine biomass at the area is 50 times greater and other ecological rates, such as richness and species abundance, have seen an increase in more than a 200% by providing shelter and food to a complete reef ecosystem.

The admission prices to the museum perform a crucial role, generating profits for a network of diving centers and adjacent businesses and creating alternative employment around a sustainable activity. So far, 33 out of 37 diving centers on the island have been certified to offer this diving experience by including quality procedures in their management, what has supposed a positive impact in the diving sector.

In addition, 2% of the deposits generated by the museum are given over to research and to raise awareness regarding the richness of species and seabed on the island, with the aim of putting value in the Lanzarote underwater platform.

Description of the destination or original product

CACT (Centres of Art, Culture and Tourism) is the main tourist benchmark in Lanzarote, a network of museums created to protect the natural environment and experience the beauty of its unique landscape. This entity is the main economic engine of the island and it is based on the idea of promoting sustainable development in Lanzarote, based on the conservation and preservation area declared a Reserve of the Biosphere by UNESCO.

The harmony between art and nature constitutes the pillar of the CACT philosophy, who was born with the opening of ‘Jameos del Agua’, a partially collapse of a volcanic tube which turned into an Art, Culture and Tourism Centre thanks to the intervention of famous local artist César Manrique in 1966. In his fifty years of history, CACT has learnt not only to apply this philosophy to its others museums but also to transmit it to local population, who is very sensitive to this binomial.

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

The ultraperiferic context of the Canary Islands in the European Union is a determining factor in the development of large scale projects. The main economic activity in the region lays on the third sector, especially on tourism, for this reason the islands need to foster sustainable tourism projects to adapt their economy to the fight against Global Warming and Climate Change.

Despite being in an isolated region, CACT has been able to run the first underwater art museum in Europe, creating an innovative product which benefits the island in a social, economic and environmental point of view, cornerstone of any sustainable project.

Process that facilitated change

Since 2001 CACT celebrates an Art Biennial to keep alive this idea born years ago, where artists from all around the world, as Jason deCaires Taylor, are invited to show their works. The biennial celebrated in 2013 was the starting point of this project, when we first met the artist and his underwater works and considered he could work in a new underwater museum.

The project became real on January 2016, when the first 60 sculptures were installed on the sea bed. After authorising the first diving centres and guides, the museum opened its doors the 2nd of March of 2016. From that moment until January 2017 ‘Museo Atlántico’ worked in a pre-exploitation period. Today the museum is totally completed and its 300 pieces can be enjoyed.

Implementation

Museo Atlántico is 100% public capital project. An 85% comes from the benefits generated by CACT while the other 15% are European Funds destinated for the region.

The approach from the very first moment was that the already existing diving centres in the island were in charge of managing the visit. The role of CACT has consisted on creating an operators ecosystem with a double objective; to standarise the visit and to improve the quality of centres by auditing them.

Passing the audits is a minimum standard. In adition, diving operators also need to comply with the rules established by the museum in order to respect marine life in the area and to guarantee the best and safest experience to divers.

CACT charges for the entry fee (from 8,00 to 12,00€) but the rest of services, such as diving equipment, transport, guide and training (when needed) depend on the diving operators, that use an online reservation system to book visits to the museum.

At the moment the museum is working to monitor the area with scientific equipments which on a next stage will make data accesible to researchers from all around the world. Components of this technological set are yet to be defined, but according to experts the region lacks in this sort of stations which could provide useful data to fight Climate Change.

Success/failure story

According to a report made by the agency Porter Novelli in April 2017, more of 975 features in press, radio, television and the internet have been published at a national and international level since the first deployment in January 2016 took place. These publications have reached an audience of more than 1063 million of people and it is estimated that its cost in publicity would have been over 71 million of euros.

The impact has also been noticed in the growing diving industry, which has seen an increase of a 48% of divers in a year period (last data from 2016). Since the creation of Museo Atlántico, 5 new diving centres have opened its doors in Lanzarote, which already gathers one third of all diving centres in the Canary Islands. In regards to diving instructors, the museum has helped to improve their conditions as a working contract is a must to work as a guide.

Although the museum opened in a trial phase during its first 10 months, more than 14,300 divers have enjoyed this activity so far. Many recording teams have also shown interest in using the museum as a location for professional audiovisual projects, which has led to the development of ten diferent artistic creations on site.

The first environmental project, which consists on a seegrass (Cymodocea nodosa) repopulation at the museum site has given its first steps. Experts from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will start soon to grow this important see-grass in their labs. Seagrass meadows have high biological productivity and are rich, biodiverse habitats.

Company info

Name of institution: E.P.E.L – C.A.C.T

Location: Lanzarote Island, Canary Islands, Spain.

Official homepage:  www.cactlanzarote.com

Telephone:  0034 901 200 300

E-mail:  info@centrosturisticos.com

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Doing-good hotel brand

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Good Hotel Group

Introduction

Good Hotel Group is a profit for non-profit organization that combines doing good with doing business and premium experiences. They re-invest all profits in business and education, and as a result, stimulate local entrepreneurship and development.

Description of the destination or original product

Good Hotels are located in destinations where touristic demand meets the opportunity for development. They offer travelers to do good, connect and contribute to their travel destination, which enables a whole new level of immersion in the premium travel industry. Good Hotel wants to redefine the model of how business is done – combining doing business with doing good – with a best in class guest experience at the core. Good Hotel Group was founded by Good Group, a non–dividend company built on entrepreneurial spirit, and the belief that one day, all business should be sustainable and give back to the communities they are in.

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

Marten Dresen, founder and CEO of Good Hotel, was traveling in Guatemala, when he befriended a little girl with no shoes. The pair of shoes he gave her led to the founding of Niños de Guatemala in 2006, which focused on providing education for those living in extreme poverty. Later on, he realized that education alone doesn’t change that much if there is no opportunity for employment. They needed jobs; business should be connected to development in those poor communities. That’s when he decided to found Good Hotel Group.

Process that facilitated change

In each destination Good Hotel is located in, they are addressing a specific problem. During their pop-up year in Amsterdam, they trained long-term unemployed locals and gave them a chance to move out of state well-fare and re-integrate. They invested in their training – set up a unique Good Training program, which is established in each Good Hotel Destination, offered them a job and on-the-job training, and assisted in their mediation towards the job-market. Hotel profits go to NGO’s and they work with local suppliers and craftsmen, stimulating the local economy. They use Good Hotels to learn skills, invest in education and offer people, businesses, and the local community a platform of opportunity.

Successes

Long-term unemployed locals are being recruited and receive a unique Good Training, helping them move out of unemployment, invest in their training and assist in their mediation towards a permanent job in the local hotel industry. People are not recruited on their past or resumé, but on who they are and their motivation to change their future. In Amsterdam, they trained 100 unemployed/year, 60/year in London, and in Antigua, 80+ jobs are created for local residents (excl. management and volunteers).

Local entrepreneurship and business are stimulated by partnering with small and family-owned businesses from the surroundings of each Good Hotel. 450+ kids from low-income families receive a quality education in Guatemala yearly.

Company and contact info

Good Group (Good Hospitality Group BV) is the owner of the Good Hotel brand, and it has a number of 100% daughter companies, which are the operating entities of the different Good Hotels.

Good Hotel is profitable but doesn´t maximize profits, nor do they pay out dividends. They invest their profits back into training and social programs, as well as in the growth of new hotel destinations in less developed regions.

Good Group
Hoogte Kadijk 400
1018 BW Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Contact person: Judith Karels
judith.karels@good.community

References

www.good.community, www.goodhotellondon.com , www.goodhotelantigua.com

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Albergo Diffuso, from disaster to innovation

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Ivana Dimitrijević, AIRTH intern

Introduction

Emerging in 1980s Italy, Albergo Diffuso is an early example of a successful sustainable practice in tourism. Albergo Diffuso aims at utilizing the idle accommodation capacities, such as abandoned houses or old inns, usually in remote and touristically non-popular settlements. The aim is to diversify the touristic offer, help and involve local communities, disperse tourists more evenly throughout the country and provide less of an impact for the environment. Also, despite it being based on private business ownership, community participation is crucial for implementation of Albergo Diffuso.

Description of the destination or original product

Albergo Diffuso means “scattered hotel” in Italian, and refers to a single hotel unit whose rooms are located in different buildings across the town (old houses, farmhouses, abandoned factories etc.), usually in radius of several hundred meters from its central hub/reception. By re-utilizing the already existing infrastructure for tourism development, it prevents unnecessary building and helps incorporate tourism in the unchanged local landscape and society.

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

The Albergo Diffuso concept originates from the Italian countryside, which was rich in medieval architecture and wonderful landscapes, but was remote and out of touristic maps of the time. However, the particular event which triggered the innovation was the terrible earthquake that struck the northern Friuli Region, near Venice, in 1979. There was a need to rebuild tourism all over again, and as fast as possible. Therefore, it can be said that the unused touristic potential was what enabled the emerging of Albergo Diffuso, but the natural disaster was what provoked its definition.

The idea was to activate the touristic potential by engaging locals in entrepreneurial activities. Also, as the owners were most often locals themselves, with tight bonds among the other members of the community, this meant that the community was deeply involved in tourism planning. Using many buildings for a single hotel was possible only if the community was ready to welcome tourists, help provide them with basic services (such as food, guidance, cleaning…) and thought this would contribute and/or not affect their landscape in any negative way.

This is how not only tourists got an opportunity to access the Italian countryside, but the community got an opportunity to earn more, incorporating the new tourism economy in traditional economies, such as handicrafting and agriculture. Also, the presence of tourists incited the revival of traditional festivals, crafts and events, which now got a new audience.

Process that facilitated change

Perhaps the best proof that this innovation was bottom-up directed, is the fact that the first time local authorities regulated this way of business was in 1998 in Sardinia, almost two decades after the concept was originally invented. However, with time local authorities got involved and even helped develop some of the initiatives.

Another thing that helped Albergo Diffuso come into being was the participation of scholars and creation of associations of Alberghi Diffusi across the country. This helped the accumulation and sharing of knowledge about the successful and unsuccessful practices, thus shaping the Albergo Diffuso we know today. Professor Giancarlo Dall’Ara is one of the most important Italian scholars known for studying the Albergo diffuso phenomenon, and he is also the chairman of the National Association of Alberghi Diffusi. This is a good example of how important innovation synergies between academia, business, etc. can be.

Implementation

The first implementation of the Albergo Diffuso happened in San Leo (Montefeltro) in 1989, under a project called “Tourism”, under guidance of the aforementioned Giancarlo Dall’Ara. Since then, three common paths of Albergo Diffuso development were established. The first path, or one of the three ways Albergo Diffuso can be established is through a private initiative. The second path comprises an initiative comming from the DMO. The third path is creating Albergo Diffuso by combining several small businesses in one, large company.

Depending on the local context and time, these paths vary and change. However, it seems that this concept mostly stays related to Italy, and hasn’t really spread beyond its borders. This might be due to the fact that the way it was conceptualized is tightly connected to the Italian cultural and social context, its architecture and art.

Success/failure story

For Italian tourism, Albergo Diffuso is a success story, an early example of sustainable practices in tourism, dating in time when the concept of sustainability was only being created and was far from official agendas. Following a natural disaster, it brought about an innovation which insisted on many stakeholders involvement: local community, authorities, DMOs, private businesses, tourists, natural environment… This contributed to it being recongized as a community-based and sustainability oriented accommodation concept.  In a country as experienced in tourism as Italy, this was an optimal solution for preserving beautiful landscapes, medieval architecture and art, while at the same time developing new forms of sustainable tourism. Since 40 years ago, this has proven to be a quite efficient way of bringing people from cities back to the countryside, connecting demand and supply in tourism, new and traditional economies, reviving local tradition and culture.

Furthermore, National Association of Alberghi Diffusi is not the only association of this kind. Recognizing the importance of Albergo Diffuso for their development, several municipalities have founded the Associazione Borghi Autentici d’Italia. The aim is to guide development and help create optimal conditions for local private initiatives which seek to challenge the economic decline with development of tourism. This organization puts a strong emphasis on the joint participation of the community, local authorities and private sector.

There is also a sister phenomenon to Albergo Diffuso, named Borgo Albergo, which signifies an accommodation unit using a network of rooms and houses sometimes far away from each other, without hotel services but utilizing centralised booking platform.

 

References

https://ecobnb.com/blog/2013/11/alberghi-dffusi-hotels-italy/

Confalonieri, M. (2011). A typical Italian phenomenon: The “albergo diffuso.” Tourism Management, 32(3), 685–687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.05.022

https://www.alberghidiffusi.it/

https://www.borghiautenticiditalia.it/

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Youth health and summer resort

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Slovenian Red Cross Youth and Health Resort Debeli rtič (Slovenia)

Introduction

Since 1956, Youth Health and Summer Resort of Red Cross Slovenia Debeli Rtič (MZL DR) has been a health center for children, adolescents, families and seniors. For many years, with a unique position, a mild Mediterranean microclimate and appropriate modern medical, therapeutic and sports facilities, we successfully contribute to the curative and prevention of the health status of children and adolescents. As part of the Slovenian Red Cross, we act in accordance with the fundamental principles and promote and promote the values of health and healthy life through practical programs of health protection and protection.

Description of the destination or original product

The health resort is situated on the most beautiful part of the Slovenian coast between Koper and Trieste, just off the coast between vineyards, in the midst of a carefully protected Mediterranean park, on seven hectares of land.

In the spa there are the Hotel Arija ***, the Bor apartments** and four youth hostels with a total capacity of 716 beds. Today, the health resort is a modern health, sports and educational and pedagogical center that develops its programs under the slogan “Where dreams grow.” Annually 15.000 children visit us. We estimate that at least half a million children visited the health resort during all years of operation. In the health resort, there are programs of spa treatment (respiratory diseases, skin diseases, injuries and operations on the locomotor system and a new program for over-fed and overweight children), health holidays, rehabilitations, schools and kindergartens in nature, sport teams’ professional trainings, kids’, adolescents’ and seniors’ holidays, educational programs and business meetings. Due to the seaside climate and the healing effects of seawater, MZL DR has the status of a natural climate spa.

Process that facilitated change and implementation

In 2013, we suffered the fall of overnight stays in traditional programs such as: spa treatment, health and social holidays. In response, we heavily focused on direct marketing in the field of educational institutions with superior and regular programs. Our main message was that MZL DR is a “classroom in nature” as it offers a unique environment for young explorers; for which the holidaying by the sea in the cultivated Mediterranean park is a real discovery. We emphasized we are distinguished by many advantages: health center, protection, natural environment and varied animation programs.

In 2014, the Football Federation of Slovenia decided to build us a football field of dimensions 20 x 40 m with the aim of encouraging children and adolescents to participate in football training. With a diverse sports infrastructure, which has developed over the years, we have become a sports center for football clubs and athletic associations. The outdoor sports infrastructure consists of a football field with artificial grass (20m x 40m), a gym track with 15 stations in the length of 1,600 m (through a beautiful park), Nordic walking trails, beach volleyball courts, a basketball court, and an outdoor 25m pool (open during the summer season). The internal sports infrastructure consists of: 25m pool with heated sea water, fitness and gym at the Arija Hotel.

In 2015, we started to expand the services of MZL DR to foreign markets. The key service we offer there is the training of Red Crosses volunteers. Every year we are visited by: the Red Cross of Germany (children’s holidays and organization of volunteer education), the Austrian Red Cross (children’s holiday), the humanitarian organization from Belgium (secondary school camp), numerous football clubs on winter preparations from Serbia. Our main goal is to present MZL DR to foreign customers/groups as a modern center for sports groups, education and other activities.

Success / failure story

The success stories of the spa can be divided into three key areas. The first area is represented by successful implementation of various rehabilitations of children from Belarus and Ukraine, which we have been carrying out for several years with the ITF Enhancing Human Security organization, and the Slovene Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as rehabilitation of children with diabetes, celiac disease and phenylketonuria, which are carried out by several Slovenian associations.

The second area, successful and targeted infrastructure projects, implemented through donors, include our new demonstration kitchen and renovations in youth homes. With the help of the donation of the Football Association Slovenia, we built a football field with artificial grass for all children. In 2017, we also received the UEFA Foundation for Children Fund aimed at organizing football holidays for children from Slovenia and abroad. We also develop sport programs with the help of the Kayak Association of Slovenia, which is also helping us with kayak donations. Consequently, donations and support of recognized organizations give us a constant impetus and recognition on the market.

The third area is successful organization of health and pedagogical programs. The main orientations in the pedagogical program are 24 hours care for children with the help of volunteering care takers, the program “Let’s Play Outside”, the program “Magic Forest” and swimming schools; all supported by cooperation in the field of professional programs with University of Primorska’s members (Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health Sciences and FAMNIT’s applied kinesiology) and cooperation with the UMMI Institute in the field of professional content provision for schools in nature and programs for gifted youth. In the autumn of 2017, we arranged an urban pond with abandoned non-native turtles&fish for gaining awareness of non-native and invasive species and for animation of our guests. The latter is a visionary project that we develop together with veterinarians providing project’s professional and ecological level.

Altogether, our success story is heavily based on different types of donors who have recognized our professional content and dedicated work in great numbers. With their support, the spa resort invested in the infrastructure and in the development and diversification of new programs. Due to investments in infrastructure (renovation of buildings and sports facilities) and professional new programs, in 2017 we achieved a 10% growth in the number of overnight stays, in particular sports clubs, clubs, foreign groups and other holidays of children and adolescents. Targeted marketing has brought us the visibility and increase in the number of overnight stays and the reduction of seasonality. The past results show that with the help of professional staff, MZL DR is a special institution with high added value, which actively takes care of the protection and preservation of the health of children, adolescents and other vulnerable groups. When we as an organization found ourselves in the moment of (survival) truth, it was crucial that – with a positive attitude, teamwork and integration with the environment – we developed a healthy core and demonstrated that we managed to redesign a rudimentary youth summer resort into a modern multi-purpose/customer center. In our story, it was important to intertwine the socially responsible and commercial activities, by which we proved to our donors that we are trustworthy and that each donation is targeted towards programs and infrastructure that raises the standard of service that is aimed at children, adolescents and all vulnerable groups.

Company info

Mladinsko zdravilišče in letovišče RKS Debeli rtič

Youth health and summer resort of Red Cross Slovenia Debeli rtič

Jadranska cesta 73, 6280 Ankaran

T: +386 (0)5 909 7000

E: debeli-rtic.mzl@mzl-rks.si

www.facebook.com/debelirtic

www.instagram.com/debelirtic

www.zdravilisce-debelirtic.org

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Video-based trip planner

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Introduction

SeeVoov is a video-based trip planning platform that is the first (and currently only one) of its kind; putting a twist on the traditional planning process, it enables users to employ a visual-based approach when making travel arrangements. Through its integration of social and interactive elements, SeeVoov is revolutionary for the travel planning sector.

Description of the destination or original product

Powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, SeeVoov is helping tourism companies increase revenues via ancillary bookings and improved user engagement. The company’s white labeled platform enables tourism companies to provide their travelers with a unique experience of the vacation research stage. The machine-learning system presents location-specific videos through image analysis that allows destination information to be logically organized for the convenience of the user. The SeeVoov database, through tagging algorithms, stores and organizes videos that are automatically searched for online by identifying information of relevance such as location and online reviews of particular destinations. To enhance quality and accuracy, the videos are reviewed and approved by an expert in the travel industry, and the information is processed again to increase the accuracy of the system.
The platform coordinates business-to-customer interaction through a user facing end-to-end interface as well as various business-to-business partnerships with airlines, cruise-lines, hotel-chains, and TV broadcast networks, which integrate the platform into various touchpoints with their customers (from the website, through applications, and with booking/check-in, in-flight, in-destination and smart TVs). Customer engagement and loyalty is enhanced through the expansion of partners’ product and service offerings, and user data as well as diversified revenue streams are achieved.
The single travel planning application conveniently offers accommodation options and prices as well as location-specific information all in one place, and it creates a personalized itinerary that is accessible on users’ phones. It also enables bookings from flights and hotels to attraction tickets and car-rental travel insurance, and it will soon offer restaurant reservations also. 

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

Travel planning has long been a dreaded reality for those who do not take joy in the process. Tedious itinerary planning, coordination of transportation, consultation with travel companions, and confirmation of reservations are time-consuming events that can overwhelm trip planners. The creators of SeeVoov recognized that for travel planning to become a more enjoyable process, the medium by which people plan their trips must be adjusted to facilitate a more engaging and socially inviting experience. Hence, the concept of making the necessary aspects of travel planning readily accessible on a single platform while facilitating a better overall experience emerged. Addressing the B2B ancillary revenue market was lead by the understanding that ancillary revenue should be generated from the cross-selling of complementary products and services that add value (and not only “extra charges”) to the passenger. Travel companies must embrace the concept of travel retailers rather than transportation/accommodation providers, and if they provide real value to the customer, the opportunity to cross-sell to a loyal customer offers potentially more profit than the core product itself. 
SeeVoov’s platform was designed to help travel companies provide their passengers with an added-value experience from the minute they book their flight, through their airport wait, during their flight and in-destination, thus giving passengers not only good value for money, but also great value for their time.

Process that facilitated change and implementation

SeeVoov was founded in 2016. It is based in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital known for its high concentration of start-up businesses. Its patent pending technology that conducts in-video image analysis is based on a Deep Learning system. The algorithms developed by SeeVoov have enabled the company to successfully process relevant information and scale it quickly.

Success/failure story

SeeVoov won the Future Travel Experience Ancillary Startup Competition award at the FTE Ancillary conference in Istanbul, Turkey on June 19, 2019. It is celebrated for its integration with airlines, allowing the app to be used not only during trip planning and at the destination, but also while travelers are en route to their location of choice. It also placed in the top ten for the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s international competition for tourism startups in January 2019 at the FITUR tourism conference in Madrid. The company took home the Startup Innovation Award at ITB China 2019 and was named by Skift as one of the top 25 startups to watch 2019. In January, SeeVoov was selected by Samsung to be integrated into its Smart-TV app offering; this is one of many examples of the company’s successful integration into the mainstream technology industry.

Company info

SeeVoov

Sapir 8, Ness Tziona, Israel

Website:  www.seevoov.com

+972.50.405.7353

contact@seevoov.com

References

https://www.seevoov.com/

https://nocamels.com/2018/12/israeli-startups-upgrade-travel-tech-2019/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/samsung-to-integrate-the-israeli-video-based-travel-platform-seevoov-into-its-smart-tv-offering-300781895.html

https://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2019/06/airasia-finnair-easyjet-win-2019-fte-ancillary-awards/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/four-israeli-startups-reach-final-stage-of-un-travel-tech-competition/

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/gobeenthere#section-overview

https://www.themarker.com/blogs/itai-green/BLOG-1.7361769

 

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World’s largest karst exhibition

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

The EXPO Cave Karst Exhibition

Introduction

Postojna Cave is Slovenia’s most famous and most-visited tourist attraction, as well as one of the largest karst monuments in the world. EXPO Cave Karst is the largest permanent exhibition on Postojna Cave and the karst features around the world, where visitors can learn everything there is to know about the origin and tourism-related development of Postojna Cave. 

Description of the destination or original product

The exhibition features interactive presentations of contents that speak volumes about the formation and extraordinary history of the tourism development of the most famous show cave in the world (more than 38 million visitors). Visitors get to learn about the karst and karst features through projections of various contents onto a three-dimensional model, discover the peculiarities of the karst environment and learn about all superlatives and milestones attributed to Postojna Cave on the Wall of Fame.

The exhibition is of interest to visitors who are not familiar with the karst or caves and to experts alike. Special attention is devoted to children, who are guided through the exhibition interactively by an olm and a slenderneck beetle, and can even try their hand at driving a one-of-a-kind cave train. Fun and interactive.

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

The company Postojnska jama d.d., which manages Postojna Cave, Slovenia’s most-visited tourist attraction, had the option of continuing to provide visitors with nothing but conventional guided cave tours for a number of years. However, the company’s management, which constantly strives for improvement and expansion of the range of products and services offered to visitors, decided to realise a century-long ambition to set up of a one-of-a-kind tribute to the karst world. In 2015, the world’s largest interactive exhibition on the karst was thus added to a wide range of available themed tours of the cave system.

The exhibition perfectly complements the Postojna Cave tours. The exhibition allows visitors to understand the complex geological history of the karst and its formation. Visiting the exhibition before they tour the subterranean passages makes it easier for them to follow the tour guides’ commentary and understand how individual cave formations in the cave are formed. However, if they see the exhibition after touring the cave, this provides them with answers to the questions that they might have thought of during the tour. Since the exhibition has been set up in a way that caters to different types of visitors, each visitor can find suitable content depending on their curiosity on the one hand and their previous knowledge on the other hand.

A tour of the exhibition and the cave, combined with other services, is part of various visitor package deals, by means of which we succeed in increasing visitors’ length of stay at the destination, and consequently also consumption per individual visitor.

The principles of sustainable development were one of the key guidelines in planning the exhibition. One of the exhibition’s subthemes is in its entirety dedicated to the interpretation of what Karst aquifers mean in terms of water supply and the degree of vulnerability of the subterranean karst world and the groundwater. This helps visitors become aware of the vulnerability of karst formations that are formed over thousands of years in closed, isolated areas.

The exhibition also includes a story aimed at uncovering the mystery of olms’ reproduction in the form of so-called “video morphing”.

Process that facilitated change

In 2018, Postojna Cave will celebrate an important anniversary, i.e. the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the most beautiful parts of Postojna’s subterranean world. The exhibition collection was thus in a way a one-of-a-kind introduction to the celebration of this anniversary, as it was opened after 111 years of ambitions and ideas of setting up a Postojna Cave museum. Since Postojna is also home to the Karst Research Institute (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts), which is one the world’s most important such institutes, the institute’s knowledge was combined with our experience, and the company Postojnska jama d.d. thus more than successfully accomplished its mission.

Implementation

Expo Cave Karst is an exhibition that presents the karst and Postojna Cave in terms of space and time in a modern and interactive way. It consists of three parts, i.e. the karst, the fauna and humans.

The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the karst’s geological history and its formation, its surface and subterranean features and formations. Of course, most of the attention is devoted to the subterranean karst world – to its formation, its various forms, age, remarkableness, and its vulnerability. The key characteristics of the subterranean karst world were brought together in one place, with the most attention, as expected, devoted to Postojna Cave, the queen of all caves. Karst aquifers supply drinking water to no less than half of Slovenia. Therefore, one of the important topics addressed by the exhibition are the forms of potential pollution risks that may endanger the vulnerable subterranean world.

In addition to caves and the karst, the exhibition is also devoted to the cave fauna, to the animals that inhabit the subterranean world. It presents the extinct cave-dwelling animals, occasional cave inhabitants, as well as the real cave animals that are no longer able to survive outside caves. Not only is Postojna Cave the cradle of speleobiology – owing to the fact that the first cave-dwelling animals were discovered here, as well as the largest number of such animals, but Postojna Cave still holds the world record in terms of cave-dwelling animals’ biodiversity, and our aim was to make sure visitor learn about it. We highlighted the cave’s important place in the birth of new sciences – speleology and speleobiology.

The third and last part of the exhibition present humans in relation to caves; at first, as ice-age inhabitants, who entered caves looking for shelter, and later as explorers. Over the last 200 years, Postojna Cave has experienced tourism-related development to a more intense extent that any other cave in the world and the exhibition features the most interesting milestones and achievements of individual historical periods. In a way, Postojna Cave constitutes the history of Slovenia over the last two centuries.

Success Story

EXPO Postojna Cave Karst is an important addition to the existing range of products and services available to visitors. It has enhanced the cave interpretations with new contents previously not available to visitors. The world’s largest permanent exhibition on caves and the karst features has thus fulfilled the dreams of many cave managers and generations that had worked towards realising this idea, which took quite a long time to put into action, because museum exhibitions are not the most lucrative ventures. Postojna Cave has proven to be quite the opposite and the exhibition attracts large numbers of visitors from all over the world.

Although it is referred to as an exhibition, the EXPO Cave Karst project is setting new (Slovenian and wider) museum standards, both in terms of technology and the topics it covers. It makes visitors familiar with the subterranean karst world and the life inside caves in a one-of-a-kind way, i.e. by means of analogue and digital tools that are the fruit of Slovenian knowledge and R&D, as well as collaboration with Slovenian professional institutions.

For this achievement, Postojna Cave has received the 2017 Sejalec award for its one-of-a-kind and outstanding interpretation of natural and cultural heritage, through which it has enriched and complemented Slovenia’s best known tourist attraction.

Considering the high number of visitors and the level of their satisfaction, we believe the exhibition is a most welcome addition to visitors’ experience of the subterranean world around Postojna and in Slovenia in general. No other Slovenian museum is visited by a larger number of visitors than EXPO Cave Karst.

Company info

Postojnska jama d.d. is a company that manages the natural monuments Postojna and Predjama cave systems and the Predjama Castle. Postojna Cave, which includes all the caves of the Postojna Cave System and the Cave under Predjama Castle, is state property for which the company, as a concessionaire, pays a concession fee. A part of the concession fee is returned to the cave infrastructure in the form of investments, whereas a larger portion belongs to the municipalities of Pivka and Postojna, as well as the state. As a successful enterprise, the company contributes a large share of the concession fee to the local environment, thus improving the welfare of the local population. The company also has a contract with the Republic of Slovenia for the management of the Predjama Castle.

The company Postojnska jama d.d. continues its long-established, almost 200-year tradition of managing cave tours and events, a tradition that dates back to the early 19th century, when the cave was set up as a show cave. Since then, the cave has been toured by more than 38 million visitors. In 2016, all the sights that are managed by the company were visited by a total of over one million visitors, which equals one third of all visitors to Slovenia. The company is just as successful when it comes to the development in terms of the hospitality and hotel industry. In 2016, the company funded the renovations of the four-star Hotel Jama.

The company’s mission is to create one-of-a-kind experiences focused on natural and cultural heritage in a way that preserves the heritage for future generations. The company offers a variety of cave tours, i.e. regular cave tours, caving adventures that take small groups to non-tourist corners of the caves, educational (natural science-oriented) programmes for schoolchildren (they include seeing the cave-dwelling animals), tailor-made incentive programmes for individual groups etc. The programmes include various culinary experiences, which perfectly complement the range of services and adventures offered to visitors. 

In 2015, the company opened an exhibition on Postojna Cave and the karst – Expo Cave Karst, the largest exhibition of its kind in the world.


Postojnska jama d. d.

Jamska cesta 30

SI-6230 Postojna

Slovenia

Info:

Tel. +386 5 7000 100

info@postojnska-jama.eu

www.postojnska-jama.eu

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Observation tower

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Vinarium Tower Lendava (Slovenia)

Introduction

The Vinarium Lendava is a steel construction observation tower located in the wine-growing area of Lendava city in northeastern part of Slovenia neighbouring to Hungary and Croatia.  The Vinarium Lendava opened on 2nd September in 2015 and has rapidly become a favourite destination for visitors who are looking for new, authentic places where they can enjoy local experience trough view, taste and kindness of local people. The 53.5 m high tower stands at 302 m above sea level among the vineyards on the Wine-tourist road and offers scenic panoramic 360° view over the Lendava hills (Lendavske gorice vineyards) and further to the Mura river with it`s beautiful peaceful forest and all the way to flatlands and hills of Austria, Croatia and Hungary. You can reach the highest platform of the tower by a comfortable ride with the elevator or by climbing 240 steps. The Vinarium Lendava was designed by architect Oskar Virag. 

Description of the destination or original product

The Lendava hills or the Lendavske gorice vineyards spread from the village Dolga vas to the village Pince in length of approximately 9 kilometres and cover an area of 500 hectares. Almost the whole area is planted with vine. The star attraction, the Vinarium Lendava, stands in the heart of the smallest and one of the most typical Slovenian wine-producing sub-region of Slovenia – in Lendava hills close to Hungary and Croatia not far away from Austria. The tower architecture symbolises waved branches of basket and by that, it symbolizes the idea of intertwining cultures, coexistence and friendship of nations. The tower, whose construction lasted for seven months, can take up to 50 visitors who can climb the 240 prefabricated stairs or simply use the elevator. In the ground floor, one can visit a restaurant, buy souvenirs or get information at the information point. Around the tower, the local culinary and wine offer is available at the little houses or at the family run wineries, farms and restaurants. 

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

In the recent past years, the most dominant industries in Lendava were oil industry, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, metal-processing industry, light industry services and building construction. Due to the economic and negative demographic changes in the last couple of years, there was a need to boost more sustainable concept of economy. With the respect to the local economy development concept, special attention was given to the Viticulture in Lendava. Long and rich history in wine-growing and noticed interest in leisure activates like biking and hiking, preserved typical wine wine-growing landscape, cultural-ethnographic heritage and typical local culinary specialities lead to idea of re-designing the tourist offer in Lendavske gorice vineyards.  To connect all these individual touristic products there was a need to establish a connecting platform that will connect and promote these individual touristic products nationally and internationally. In our case, this connection platform has become the Vinarium Lendava. 

Process that facilitated change

Process that facilitated the change already started in 2010 with the construction of basic municipal infrastructure and placing the area of Lendava hills on the Wine-tourist road map. Despite the effort, the outcome was still resulting in fragmented concept with the lack of harmonized offer that would be available also during the weekdays (and not only on weekends). In 2013, Mayer of Municipality of Lendava mag. Anton Balažek and its team prepared project proposal with the title “The observation tower on the tourist road Lendava hills” for the project call “Regional Development Programme 2007-2013”. The construction of the observation tower started in January and finished in July 2015. The observation tower Vinarium Lendava opened on 2nd September 2015. 

Implementation Success story 

The implementation started together with the project proposal within which the business development was foreseen. Planned yearly number of visitors was 40.000 what is in average around 3.333 visitors per month. Average monthly visits, according to planned, increased in 2015 for 120 % in 2016 for 136 % and in 2017 for 148 %. Special recognition to Vinarium Lendava in terms of successful implementation is also “Sejalec”, award for most creative and innovative achievements in tourism received in 2016. Implementation in case of the Vinarium Lendava is continuous process that highlights timely planning, continuous education, cooperation and integration. Another important issue is the awareness that the implementation is a continuous rather than a closed process. Based on this, the Vinarium Lendava is becoming a unique tourist attraction that brings together cultural-ethnographic heritage (Castle, Pyramid, Typical houses, Mummy of Captain Michael Hadik, Jewish cemetery, etc.), typical local culinary specialities (bograč, perec, vine, etc.), leisure activates (hiking & biking) and festival events (Festival Vinarium). 

Company info

Vinarium Tower Lendava 
Dolgovaške gorice 229
9220 Lendava, Slovenia
Phone no.: 00386(0)1 200 98 83

 

 

 

 

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Lodging with local touch

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Lodging with local touch

Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria

Introduction

Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria is a product that arose from our enthusiasm, young-spirited character, inexperience and our desire for innovation. The basic idea we stemmed from was to offer the tourists, who come to visit the Slovenian Istria, different or alternative lodging opportunities.  Our premise was, that all hotel rooms, globally speaking, look really similar. You can be travelling to New York or Rome, and when you wake up in your hotel room it does not really give away your location at first. This is exactly what we wanted to surpass. We wanted to portray the image of Slovenian Istria to our guests in their rooms. In addition to the regular rooms and suites we decided to offer an alternative accommodation, which would be in line with sustainability principles and would become an experience in itself.

Process that facilitated change

The idea for the holiday homes was created as a result of an increased demand to enlarge the tourist capacities and as a new opportunity for adventure in Slovenian Istria, that would attract new tourists and buyers and place our small town on the tourist map of Slovenia.  They were built after four years of intensive action in expanding the existing accommodations. We were aware of the need to expand or change, which would deviate from the average and provide new experience for all. All tourist trends were pointing to the development of alternative forms of accommodation and the returning back to nature.

Implementation

The important element that we added to the houses is their story ̶ the story of Šavrinke women. Without this story, our holiday houses would only be houses with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Trieste. The story about the Šavrinke women makes these houses the central stage for the old and the new to meet, where the life stories of our grandmothers can live on and make us think about the commodities and freedoms we enjoy today and how they are not just an automatic right.

Slovenian Istria has always been considered as the crossroads of cultures, ethnicities and languages.  As a result of harsh and bad conditions for agriculture and famine, the area experienced a large exodus, particularly in the past century. Consequently, a very specific identity profile developed here, reflecting itself in the character of the Istrian people. Specifically, stubbornness, resourcefulness and the desire for a better future are the main characteristics of our grandmothers, known as the Šavrinke women. Those were brave, fearless women, who often had to take the reins, feed many and provide for the whole family. Several times per week they would make rounds to bigger cities and try to sell their produce at the best price to the city folk. They would sell anything they could gather from the neighbouring villages, and frequently, due to the strictly guarded border between Slovenia and Italy, they had to smuggle these products. In memory and honour of the brave acts these women did, we decided to name our houses after them, namely Jajčarica (Egg lady), Krušarica (Bread lady), and Mlekarica (Milk lady).

The houses imitate the old Istrian houses by design but also the colours of the façades are replicas from the times of the Second World War in Istria. They are furnished with the original antique furniture ranging from the end of the 19th century and the Second World War. Each house is also equipped with a brief historical description of Istria, the Šavrinke woman and their story.

From the very beginning, protecting the environment is one of the key tasks we set in our work.  We have implemented many regulations and practices in the working operation of the houses, such as reusing the old furniture, strict waste recycling and reducing the consumption of electrical energy and water.

Sustainability built in

The social and cultural aspects of the project are prominent primarily in its efforts for the preservation of the cultural heritage of our ancestors and the historical presentation of Slovenian Istria, readily available to all the tourists who visit the houses. It is also important to note that the project not only strengthens and facilitates the respect of traditions, it also maintains the quality of life within the local community.

Economically speaking, the project contributed in making the destination more desirable, and at the same time had a direct effect on other surrounding subjects, such as wine and olive growers, farmers, restaurateurs, tourist guides, etc. These effects are multiplicative and difficult to measure; however, they are definitely positive.

In June 2017, the Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria were, as the first accommodation of its kind in the Slovenian Istria, awarded the international Gold Travelife certificate, which covers environmental protection incentives, respecting the employees, local community and its inhabitants, and respectful attitude towards natural and cultural heritage and promoting the local population. The certificate signifies additional commitment to our work towards a sustainable development of tourism.

Success/failure story

There were numerous elements that contributed to the success of our project. First and foremost, it was the contest of the Municipality of Koper for the development of ideas, which encouraged new ideas and provided tutoring or assistance in preparing a business plan for the winner. A prerequisite for participation in this contest was applying to a tender called Snovalec, under the auspices of the Slovenian Tourist Board.

Clearly, the news of our project being the winner became public very quickly through the media and the responses of the public varied, most of them were positive, some were negative. It was uncommon to expect that a young and inexperienced businesswoman could be able to implement major projects. However, and according to the words of John Donne, no man is an island, so we managed to realize the project with the help of our families and our “Istrian stubbornness”. The award from the Snovalec tender was an important recognition for us, that also alerted the media to us and gave us the opportunity to present ourselves to the general public. This marked an important event, and the marketing effect ended up being much larger than anticipated. The story spread, gaining a big media impact.

Apart from the newly built Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria, even our previously owned standard accommodations, fit for people who are not willing to give up on the basic comfort (rooms with no electricity or bathroom), were filled thanks to the houses and their media story. We now reach full occupancy for the houses during the summer months, and during the spring and autumn they reach full occupancy during the weekends.

With the desire to achieve a higher occupancy outside of the main season and to round-up the tourist destination of Slovenian Istria, several accommodation providers joined in a tourism cooperative called Zakladi Istre d. o. o. (The Treasures of Istria Ltd.), where we are now preparing a common marketing strategy.

Future

In addition to our new accommodation offer, we now serve also the so-called Istrian breakfast. It consists of exclusively home-grown produce and products and is delivered to our houses on the agreed hours. The ingredients are bought from the local farmers and various manufacturers located across Istria. We would now like to expand this idea and deliver those breakfasts to other accommodation providers. In addition to its authentic food ingredients, the breakfast package would also include information about the cultural and gastronomic identity of Istria and suggestions for visiting local farms and attractions.

Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria is a project that will continue to live on as it does today. Surely, there is always room for improvement. The most important thing is that we take every situation as a learning experience and use that acquired knowledge in the future. In the near future, we plan to upgrade the existing houses and extend our offer, which will further enrich our destination, the Slovenian Istria.

Company info

Hiške slovenske Istre/Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria

Mateja Hrvatin Kozlovič, directress

Address: Truške 1b, Marezige, Slovenia

www.hiske.si/en

info@hiske.si

 

 

 

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Glamping resort

Encyclopedia

AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Glampro: Garden Village Bled (Slovenia)

Introduction

We are a team of creative designers, architects, engineers, marketing and other experts, developing unique projects and products in Glamping, Camping and Tourism sector. GlamPro team is the company behind some of the world’s highest ranked Glamping resorts. We are also an exclusive partner of Adria Mobil Group and as such we are in charge of design and development of innovative Glamping products.

Challenge

The challenge was to fit the resort in its urban surroundings. The location was an old abandoned Horticultural centre, placed in the middle of the settlement, which also determined the theme of the resort – Garden Village. The second challenge was designing and building the resort at the highest level. When designing the resort, we set the price to 350€/night which was unparalleled for the time since the surrounding facilities were priced up to 10x lower.

Concept

The concept of the construction and operation of Garden Village Bled is founded on innovation, green tourism, energy self‑sufficiency, and other modern principles of boutique eco-tourism. Our philosophy is to develop each project in harmony with geographic, cultural, and other characteristics of a specific environment, with an emphasis on considering landscape architecture.

The work

We started with a clean sheet of paper and did everything from scratch. From concept, design, architectural, technical, and spatial planning, to construction. From the concept of the glamping facilities to the accommodations themselves (glamping tent, tent on the peer, tree houses). Adaptation of existing and construction of new supporting facilities; marketing strategy. Garden Village Bled resort was opened in June 2014.

Key features

The resort consists of 23 unique accommodation units of four different types, which are, along with all associated support facilities, part of the architectural and landscape visual identity.

·        trees growing through the roofs of tree houses;

·        chemical‑free natural pool with self-cleaning plants;

·        unique wellness (different types of sauna, massage, and yoga under canopy, Kneipp pools);

·        ponds with fish under accommodation units;

·        private drinking water well;

·        unique restaurant in a greenhouse;

·        reception area with eco-shop;

·        lounge with fireplace;

·        children’s playground;

·        vegetable garden.

Now

The project has become globally renowned and has been a financial success since its very beginning. It was featured in world’s leading media National Geographic, CNN, etc.; positioned amongst to 10 Glamping resorts in the world.  In 2014 it was awarded Snovalec award (the most innovative idea in tourism) and in 2015 Sejalec (the most innovative and creative ideas in tourism). Each year, Garden Village Bled is visited by a large number of guest from all over the world. They are not just passers-by, they come with the purpose to stay at this resort.  The resort is 100% sold out.

Company info

Glamproteam d.o.o.

Zemljemerska 12

1000 Ljubljana

www.glampro.eu

glampro@glampro.eu

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