Open Tourism Data Initiative for Emerging Destinations in Southeast Europe

New Webinar: Platform-based promotion of emerging outdoor tourism destinations Learn how Outdooractive can help you as a tourism professional in an emerging destination to increase the visibility of your offers and the region as a whole among the most relevant target groups.

Context The Western Balkan countries have seen rapid growth in tourism development over the last decade. Outdoor and adventure tourism was one of the fastest growing segments of the sector before the Covid-19 crisis put tourism development on hold. Moreover, the rise of information and communication technologies (ICT) has significantly transformed the supply and demand side of the tourism industry. New technologies are paramount in the success of tourism & hospitality. They can spark innovation and generate new business opportunities to ensure the continued competitiveness, growth and sustainable development of the tourism industry. The transition towards a well- connected information society in Europe (and beyond) is not reflected in the digital transformation strategies of the Southeast European tourism sector. Tourism market players need to acquire relevant skills, knowledge and competencies in ICT . Otherwise they miss out on digital opportunities to reach significant source markets and cannot realize their full potential.

Objectives This OTDI-SEE initiative is a joint effort of Outdooractive and GIZ . Together, the partners are supporting digital transformation processes in the area of tourism in emerging adventure and outdoor tourism destinations in Southeast Europe . The overall objective is to enhance the digitalization of tourism promotion and increase the digital visibility of the Western Balkans as an outdoor tourism destination . The project focus is on the cross-border regions Sharri, Prespa and Prokletije-Bjeshket e Nemuna. Outdooractive and GIZ are working together within the framework of the develoPPP funding programme , which GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Explore the new destination platform Wild Western Balkans Check out heaps of content created by local stakeholders and discover the trails, POIs, and offerings of a fascinating region.

Capacity building and training We implement innovative online training tools to build capacities and enhance knowledge transfer. On- and offline training sessions about topics on digitalization, sustainability and tourism business development will be offered in collaboration with competent local partners. We also provide a training of trainers (ToT) program for organizations that would like to promote the use of our tools to digitize tourism content.

Content creation and distribution We offer a free business account for interested participants to register on the Outdooractive platform and set up a company profile. An introduction in the Outdooractive Destination Management System (DMS) will enable the creation and digitalization of tourism content , such as hiking & cycling routes, points of interest, events etc. Created content will be distributed through the Outdooractive platform and its partner network to increase digital visibility for important source markets.

Tourism network support To improve the management of sustainable tourism on a local and regional level, we support the development of persisting tourism network structures . Facilitating the coordination, organization and communication among local and regional tourism stakeholders will provide an important framework within which advocates and pioneers will use their leadership skills to drive digital transformation processes in tourism .

Approach In collaboration and partnership with local stakeholders, Outdooractive will digitize tourism content in the project regions (e.g. hiking & cycling routes, points of interest, events, accommodations, tourism services etc.) and distribute this information through the multiple channels of the Outdooractive platform partners, reaching millions of users worldwide. Outdooractive will support this process by using innovative online teaching methods to train and upskill people involved in tourism, such as destination managers, accommodation providers, mountain guides, park rangers, tourism students, and other stakeholders. An open data approach will be adopted to enable free data exchange among the relevant market players. This will increase digital visibility, improve tourism service development and foster technological innovation. The Outdooractive platform will be adopted to exemplify how open data streams can be used for exploiting the potentials of digitalization.

Open Tourism Content from the Western Balkans Content published under a Creative Commons license is automatically included in the opentourism.net database and can be accessed through a CKAN API.