// venice > connected – Italy (city of Venice) Classification: Government-centric (paradigm), G2C (target) and internal market (priority) //venice>connected is the official source for Venice travel planning information and Venice tourism, where a tourist can book and buy, online and at reduced fees, the main tourist services provided by the City of Venice. The City of Venice welcomes millions of tourists every year and, consequently, the number of visitors reaches an unsustainable level. The massive negative impacts upon the environment, culture, and residents’ quality of life gave rise to a demand for a more sustainable development in tourism: //venice>connected is a project by the City of Venice for promoting sustainable tourism planning and development in Venice. Ensuring sustainability in tourism and quality of life for citizens.
This initiative is a good example of a Good Practice in the category of ‘Destination Monitoring and Management’ and how ICT can be used to promote sustainable tourism planning and development.
PROJECT TESTIMONIALS Why should this be considered as a Good Practice? //venice>connected is a good practice because it is an easy and simple way to manage tourism flows, for example, by offering tourists the possibility to book and buy, online, the different services available with discounts and advantages. What particular features make it unique? //venice>connected provides tourists with information on how to respect the cultural and natural heritage of Venice; it helps to educate visitors before their arrival, gives guidance on do’s and don'ts and offers tips on sustainable travel. How has the project contributed to the improvement / dissemination / replication of this practice? The practice has been studied and discussed in several meetings. This has provided the opportunity to analyse the platform and the different services available. Thanks to the suggestions received, it was decided to change the style of the communication used and to try selling different products. To what extent is the Good Practice replicable? The platform //venice>connected is developed using free software: Drupal, which does not need any particular skills to operate. The main issue is the implementation of the platform, which requires cooperation and coordination between public and private bodies. Leaping Stiles – Wales (region of Powys) Classification: Government-centric (paradigm), G2C (target) and internal market (priority) The pilot Leaping Stiles project was developed under the Tourism Growth Area initiative. The project utilised the principles of Integrated Quality Management to improve and enhance the quality of the tourism product available in Central Powys. The Leaping Stiles walking website project focused on the area’s most natural and unique tourism products, selecting a series of 35 walking routes to provide visitors and local people with a high-quality walking experience. All the routes have been graded to allow choice of difficulty, length, and accessibility. Increasing competitiveness by improving and enhancing the quality of the tourism product available.
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