Model for attracting tourism

CUSTODES - Central Europe Programme
Custodes Model for attracting
tourism in the cultural sites
Introduction: Innovation and
transformation in the tourist industry
The tourist industry today > a combination of extremely transformative processes – from the
qualitative and the quantitative point of view – to determine a rapid, profound and evident modification
Talking about innovation in the field of tourism means talking about:
• innovation in the “contents” and ways of enjoying the tourist offer
• innovation in technology and methods for the commercialization and selling of the tourist product
• innovation in vectors, logistics and transport policies
• innovation in the technique of representation and “Stories” of the territory and the organizing of the
“tourist scene”
• innovation in the instruments for the governance of territory and the overall definition of a territorial
brand
• innovation in the competitive horizons and competition/collaboration policies between businesses and
territories
• innovation in “production spinnerets”
• innovation in the concepts of accessibility and sustainability of the tourist offer
• innovation in methods of communication and consumer relations
• innovation in financial instruments directed at businesses and consumers
• the re-structuring and expansion in competence of the professional figures involved
• innovation in training models and the technology for transmitting the know-how
The transformation of the paradigm of consumption arises from the progressive convergence between
two models which until now have determined what we call:
> experiential tourism
> holiday tourism
What we define today as an “active holiday” (cultural or sports, naturalistic or religious) and represents
the present-future of the tourist industry is nothing other than the result of this convergence and the
expression of a new kind of consumer who acting his role as a tourist demands to get not only rest or
amusement, but the expression of his vocation, and with it new forms of self-expression and new
universal relations.
A new type of consumer who in excercising his own passions detects the centre of his own individual and
social identity and in the realization of the tourist experience (but not only) the possibility to satisfy them.
In this context the terms “vocation” and “experience” become similar in that they express on one hand
the needs of the consumer who through being a tourist reveals his own identity profile and on the other,
the “form of expression” adopted by tourist systems to meet with this demand.
Consequently each new experiential tourist product will be formed by:
> a CONTENT (expression of the “values” it intends to represent through tourism)
> a FORMAT (expression of the functional models through which the content is represented and
the experiential devices activated.
> a WELCOMING SYSTEM and CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP SYSTEM ( a combination of
instruments through which the consumer comes into contact with the experience on offer, before, during
and after his enjoyment.)
The possibility for a territory to remain on the contemporary tourist market comes from its
capacity to assert its own distinctive characteristics through a combined system of these three elements.
Fundamental features of the experience
EXPERIENCE in ANTHROPOLOGY
“Transformative” activity of a liminal character (separate from ordinary activity which to be
performed needs an “entrance” and an “exit”)
Relational Activity . The defining quality, as such, of individual and collective identity.
EXPERIENCE in SOCIOLOGY
Three basic types: : Conative, Cognitive, Affective
The current model of experience : Linear experience > random experience /fragmentary/
“artificial” (based on consumption action) = experience as a “cipher” of post industrial consuming.
EXPERIENCE in PSYCHOLOGY
> Immersive
> Interactive
> Emotional
* It originates when the individual is faced with tasks he/she is capable of carrying out.
* To ensure that the activity is enjoyable it’s opportune that the grade of difficulty and the capacity are
counterbalanced.
* the individual must be able to concentrate on the activity so as to be completely involved and cut off
from the rest of the world
* the concentration is triggered off by “objectives” clearly identified and certified by an immediate
feedback.
* The individual has control over the situation but not enough to preclude the possibility of appreciating
the “increase in ability” which comes from the experience itself, during which the sense of self disappears
and reappears soon after in an increased measure.
The Matrix of Tourist Experience
HISTORICAL VOCATIONS
VOCATIONS
ETHNOANTHROPOLOGICAL VOC
GEOGRAPHICAL &
ENVIRONMENTAL VOC..
NATURALISTIC VOC.
DEVICES
HEART SCIENCES VOC.
(semantics, narratives, proxemics ,
emotionalsi, ecc)
BIO-MEDICAL VOC.
Tools of Communication
Tools di Conversation
CONTEXTUAL VOC.
Visual and Verbal Identities
Program
THEORETICAL VOC.
Set
TOOLS
PSEUDO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL
VOC.
Tools of preparation and
souvenir of the experience
Welcoming System
Context
MODELS
(challenges,
moods, tales,
etc.)
Transports
Horizontal Chains
Vertical Chains
Historical & Culturalist Vocations
PREHISTORIC
NEAR-EASTERN A.
& PROTOHISTORICAL A.
Assyriology
Phoeniciology
Egyptology
CLASSICAL A.
Greeks
Etruscans
Romans
Papyrology, Nubiology,, Coptologia
Biblical A.
Iranian
Hittitologists
Expo mondiale di archeologia
vvirtuale, Roma 2005
Museo Egizio,
Torino
Altamira, Neocueva
Museo narrante di Hera Argiva,
Salerno
Luxor Hotel,
Las Vegas
PRECOLUMBIANS A.
EUROPEAN &
SCANDINAVIAN A.
INDIAN A.
CHINESE A.
Aztechi, Maya, Olmechi,
Toltechi
Native Americans
Lofotr Viking Museum
Buddha di Bamiyan by
Hiro Yamagata
AFRICAN A.
AUSTRALIAN &
ABORIGINAL A.
MEDIEVAL A.
POST-MEDIEVAL A.
Railway A.
Industrial A.
Contemporary A.
Museo Centrale
Montemartini, Roma
Parco Archeologico
dell’Inconmpiuto, Giarre
Ethno-anthropological Vocations
PALETHNOLOGY
PALEOANTHROPOLOGY
COGNITIVE A.
EXPERIMENTAL A.
RITUAL A.
Archaeoastronomy
Archaeogastronomy
Archeopercorso del
Bostel di Rotzo (VI)
Musical A.
Ar. Of theCult
Funerary A.
Calceology
Ar.of Textiles & Clothing
Ar. of Consumption,
Commerce,Production
Lightning A.
Numismatics
Epigraphy
Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
Geographical & Environmental Vocations
ARCHAEGEODESY
LANDSCAPE A.
ENVIRONMENTAL A.
Historical Ecology
Depositi carboniferi, Parco dell’Antola
Regione Liguria, Mostra “Paesaggi nascosti” 2009
TOPOGRAPHIC A.
Earth Sciences Vocations
GEOARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHAEOMETRY
Paleomagnetism
Geoarchaeometry
Geoarchaeology Maritime
Taphonomy
Speleoarcheology
Archaeoacoustic
Picchio Verde, TO specializzato in
geo-archeologia metropolitana
ARCHAEOSEISMOLOGY
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
Naturalistic Vocations
PALEOETHNOBOTANY
ARCHAEOZOOLOGY
Archaeopalimology
PALEONTOLOGY
Micropaleontology
Paleo-entomology
Museo Paleobotanica annesso all’Orto Botanico di Napoli
Bio-medical Vocations
BIOARCHAELOGY
ARCHEOGENETICS
PALEOPATHOLOGY
PALEO-NEUROLOGY
Mummyology
Osteoarchaeology
Paleodontology
Francesco I° dè Medici
FORENSIC A.
Contextual Vocations
AERIAL A.
MINING A.
Archaeometallurgy
RECCEOLOGY
MARITIME A.
Battlefiled A.
Underwater A.
Conflict A.
Rescue A.
URBAN A.
Ar. navale
IAS Istituto Attività Subacque Palermo
•
Campo di battaglia di Wisby, 1361
Theoretical Vocations
HISTORICAL A.
NEW
ARCHAEOLOGY
INTERPRETATIVE A.
COMMUNITY A.
Public Archaeology
Quantitative A.
Seneca Village Project,
NY
Feminist A.
Archeomatica
GENDER A.
COMPUTATIONAL A.
VIRTUAL A.
Pseudo-archaelogical Vocations
MISTERIOUS A.
FANTARCHEOLOGY
ASTROARCHAEOLOGY
FORBIDDEN A.
ALTERNATIVE A.
XENOARCHAEOLOGY
Tourism in castles: general outlines
In an imaginary geography of passion the castle – as a building and as a symbolic form is a sort of junction
between three current ideals that (especially during the last few years) have fully demonstrated their own
relevance and vitality:
* the passion for history ( and for medieval history in particular)
* the passion for fantasy, or rather for a kind of literature that has been fully consecrated in the last few
years, thanks also to its versatility and its trasferability to other not literary media ( from the cinema to
comics, from television to video games)
the passion for two sections of tourism – different but overlapping like heritage tourism
( tourism finalised at the re-discovery of historical, architectural and natural heritage) and the so-called
tourisme de terroir ( tourism concerned with natural and atropic scenery)
* The passion for history springs from a need for roots and a search for our origins which becomes
even more important when the contemporary world appears uncertain and difficult for us to define.
* The passion for medieval history in particular from the search for “plausible answers” in a type of
society which in many ways seems very similar to a pre-modern society.
* The passion for fantasy, on the contrary, corresponds to a “need for answers” that in some ways go
beyond the exclusively rational level typical of modern society. Complex answers thus, in their genesis (a
genesis in which the level of rational thinking and fantasy interweave without interruption) but at the same
time are simple in their formulation: a formulation in which the concepts of good and evil are clearly
distinct and opposing, in which social systems and politicians are “orderly” and in which the individual is
able to overcome obstacles and complexes by virtue of natural and supernatural “help” that he/she is able
to secure in the course of events.
F1 : CASTLES AND TERROIR
Fantasy : general outlines
Fantasy stems from the interlacing between Gothic novels, mythological stories and fairy tales and from the
quantitative point of view, its dimensions are even more relevant than its “historical” aspect.
Books
The trilogy of Lord of the Rings by Tolkien = the ninth most sold book with over 150 million copies sold.
The hobbit (by the same author) = with over 100 million copies sold currently occupies the 15th place.
The first volume of the Harry Potter Saga by J.K. Rowling instead occupies the 11th place with 107 million
copies sold, but if we consider the other six volumes of the saga, the copies at international level exceed 400
million copies overall, making Harry Potter the fourth best-seller of all times.
Starting from the 1980’s fantasy has also established itself as an authentic popular genre.
Movies
The trilogy of Lord of the Rings has generated three films: The fellowship of the ring (2001), The two towers (2002)
and the Return of the king (2003) –
which at the moment are in the 17th, 9th and 2nd place overall in box office takings of all times.
Even happier is the case of Harry Potter: the six films released until now have made altogether more than 5.350
million dollars – they constitute in overall terms the “film series” of major success of all times.
But Fantasy is a kind of multimedia by definition and thus more than others is capable of generating
epigones and “transversal products” which are transformed into successful television series and
videogames.
In the videogame category of the most sold of all times we find:
6th – Final fantasy
10th – The Legend of Zelda
16th – Dragon Quest
19th – Lineage
with 85 million (copies)
with 57 million
with 50 million
with 43 million
Just as determining is the progressive diffusion of role games which in the “plot of fantasy” find an ideal
content. Initially they were table games - of which the ancestor is Dungeons & Dragons, published for the
first time in 1974 and today boasts a following of 20 million people - but it is with the development of the
so-called MUD and MMORPG (that is computer role games, played contemporarily on internet by more
people, permitting thousands of players to interact, interpreting characters that evolve together with the
world that surrounds them and in which they live), that this type of activity establishes itself permanently.
Thanks once again to internet, numerous Community Fantasy have sprung up, thanks to collective
writing experiences which contribute among other things to a continuous renewal of the genre.
Strategic Approach
Historically tourism in the Romagna hinterland and in Rimini in particular, is born from and develops as a
consequence to tourist development on the coast. In a mass tourism fingerprinted on the “holiday” model
( a static model of tourist enjoyment based on medium/long periods of stay) the hinterland offers itself as
a natural calling for day trips or evening excursions. It must be added that the Rimini hinterland has a
particular predisposition in this direction if we consider the numerous inspirations and opportunities it
can offer to a tourist/excursionist in terms of natural scenery, history, cultural charm, typical recipes and
products, etc…
This model of “soft interaction” started to enter in crisis in the 80’s to 90’s in conjunction with the
development of some decisive structural factors, on one side, a reduction in the length of the stay of the
average seaside tourist ( the arrival of short-break holidays), on the other the progressive
“vocazionalization” of the demand for tourism and the enormous development at international level of the
so-called tourisme de terroir, that is, a kind of tourism expressly concerning scenery, historical and cultural
aspects and aspects of identity which the Rimini hinterland has at its disposition (likewise can be said of
almost all hinterlands in Italy and perhaps in Europe) and that until then had been used only as a form of
“diversion” by the coastal tourist.
The combination of these two factures induced the “territorial government” structures to reflect on the
advisability/necessity for an autonomous development of tourism in the hinterland and this consideration led
to the instituting of the brand “The Malatesta Seignory” in 2001.
The new territorial brand is born in answer to the need for the re-branding of a large proportion of
Rimini’s tourist system which in its kind, aggregates also to the need to support the establishing of new
regional “tourist amalgamations”, springing from the precise distinction between coast, hinterland, Spas and
cities of art. The proclaimed intention from the start is to determine an autonomous “capacity to attract” in
the hinterland of Rimini, and the chosen strategic direction (at least at the enunciative level) is that of
divarication of the Rimini brand.
A strategy in reality never completely perfected, we believe, for two reasons:
> Despite the the crisis in the traditional seaside tourism model, interdependence between the
coast and the hinterland remains very high. It could be said that with the growth of - tourisme du terroir – the
coast has discovered “the necessity” to use the “hinterland” as an instrument for the implementation of its
own offers.
> The tourisme du terroir constitutes an extremely crowded and competitive tourist market which is
privileged by some historical leaders at a national and international level (regions like Tuscany or Umbria,
just to mention some), and a great number of new-comers are hardened to this, being the only option or
the main option, they are able to concentrate on this type of offer a greater quantity of resources than
is possible in the Rimini hinterland.
In the light of these considerations, the choice of the “divarication” risks turning out to be scarcely
efficient and it would be better to reason in terms of functional “diversification” and images (from the
coast and the hinterland) all under the same brand name and capable of sharing the positive effects of
“Brand Rimini” in both contexts and encouraging the development of productive synergy and joint
programmes between the two realities.
There are positive effects which don’t concern only the “notoriety” of Rimini as a destination but also
determined assets that the public usually associates to it, such as clear thinking, a pre-disposition for
relations, the culture of hospitality, the capacity to be innovative and to make new and interesting
proposals which are not in contrast with a tourisme du terroir, but which suitably chosen can highlight
unusual and original aspects.