Leveraging Cultural Heritage for Tourism Diversification

Ano Syros, traditionally reliant on sun-and-sea tourism, faces challenges from seasonality and climate change. This pilot seeks to diversify tourism by digitizing cultural heritage to create immersive experiences and enhance site accessibility. The goal is to preserve heritage while building a sustainable and replicable destination model.

Challenges

This pilot addresses critical challenges for destinations like Ano Syros, which have long relied on sun-and-sea tourism:

  • Seasonality limits sustainability, reducing opportunities for year-round revenue streams.
  • Vulnerability to climate change, with shifting weather patterns affecting tourist preferences and accessibility.

Solutions

This use case aims to diversify Ano Syros’ tourism offerings and ensure long-term sustainability by:

  • Digitizing cultural heritage using photographs, 3D models, and narratives to preserve and showcase historic sites and artifacts, and integrating data on tourist flows, expenses, and climate to create engaging, data-informed cultural experiences.
  • Enhancing site accessibility while promoting the preservation of Ano Syros’ cultural identity and redefining the destination’s image through compelling storytelling, attracting a more diverse group of travelers.
  • Scaling for impact: The model can be adapted and applied to other European destinations, supporting the expansion of sustainable tourism.

Innovating to leverage cultural heritage for tourism diversification

The innovation in this pilot focuses on

  • Advanced technology integration with the use of 3D scanning, modeling, and digital twin technologies, alongside assets from the 5D ARCH AID project and Cluster Pleiades, to digitize and preserve cultural heritage.
  • Community-driven approach to engages local communities and stakeholders to align digitization with their needs, encouraging sustainable growth and stronger ties between tourism and culture.
  • Enhanced visitor experience by leveraging digital tools to create immersive and meaningful cultural engagements.
Contributors: