A new approach to managing tourism destinations is being devised with University of Greenwich expertise and a £1.1million grant from the European Union.
The four-year project, SHARE, covers sites in the UK, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Romania and Croatia. It will look at the challenges faced by heritage tourism destinations, such as the fortifications in City Sibernik in Croatia and Spoleto town hall in Italy (pictured), including smarter approaches to incorporating innovation in these places.
In order to manage sites more sustainably for visitors and residents, SHARE will use "smart city" concepts, including social innovation and other means of bringing heritage and destinations alive through the use of technology as well as ideas from local communities.
Dr Andres Coca-Stefaniak, Senior Lecturer at the University of Greenwich and a member of the Tourism Research Centre group, is coordinating the research for the SHARE project as Principal Investigator.
He says: "This is a wonderful opportunity for Greenwich to continue breaking new ground in the management of tourism destinations - including innovative "smart"' approaches – and influence policy making across Europe.
"We will be doing some exciting research and also helping local authorities and regional development agencies across Europe to develop action plans on the ground, which are likely to be incorporated into policy making."
SHARE is co-funded by the EU's INTERREG Europe programme. This success is the culmination of two years' work by Andres, with support from Chiara Dall'Aglio (Sviluppumbria Regional Development Agency, Italy) and the university's Generator, a dedicated unit which supports and promotes entrepreneurship for students, graduates and staff in the university.
For more on the university's Business School: https://www.gre.ac.uk/business
For more information on the SHARE project: https://www.interregeurope.eu/share/
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