TECHNOLOGY HELPS PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD - CAN IT HELP ZADAR INLAND AREA AS WELL?
Digitalization and increased use of digital and technological products are an inevitable part of our daily lives. They are fact and reality.
Technology helps dictate trends, as well. For example, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a visible trend of increased use of technology and digital products for the purpose of ordering food and groceries in general. Such digital services simply flourished at the “corona time” and, according to data from the US, doubled their revenues in the second half of 2020 compared to the second half of 2019. The security and convenience they provide to users are perceived as extremely good benefits.
This also tells us that digitalization as a phenomenon and process is quite adaptable, widely used and in principle a basic tool, a constant and rapidly accelerating process, which can be used if necessary to overcome challenges that bother us - in the best possible way.
DIGITALIZATION IN TOURISM
As Croatia is significantly oriented towards tourism, digitalization also occupies an important place here. A lot of people are part of such a change that has happened, and there are a lot of examples of successful IT tools that are transforming the ways we work in tourism and the ways we enjoy the benefits of the tourist offer. Digital solutions for renting or sharing accommodation, managing reservations, organizing tourist programs or booking berths in ports for boaters, have become a part of our everyday lives.
In addition to emerging as entrepreneurial ideas from the private sector, IT tools are also developed through public sector initiatives. One such example is the ADRION 5 SENSES project, through which a common brand was born that promotes the tourist offer in the ADRION region (Croatia, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Albania, BiH, Montenegro and Serbia) through the prism of five senses - sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. By unlocking these senses, destinations and everything they offer through natural, cultural and other resources are fully experienced. Brand development is based on the analysis of the needs of all partners, while the visual identity of the brand contributes to long-term recognition.
More importantly, the project as a final product gave rise to a digital platform that maps different experiences for all the senses, and in which the Zadar County Development Agency ZADRA NOVA also participated.
"Switching the tourist offer to digital form is inevitable given the growing global trends of digital information. Valorization of tourism through IT has a twofold advantage. Primarily, things become more accessible in a quick and easy way to a wider audience, ie future users. Additionally, it also enables the networking of providers on targeted thematic platforms, which necessarily leads to better visibility and thus demand and number of visits." - explained Nika Cohen, advisor at the Agency ZADRA NOVA and project manager ADRION 5 SENSES and added - "Thematic platforms (gastronomy , sport, heritage) make sense and take on their full function if they also offer the option of tourist routes and thus complement and enrich the tourist offer. Equally, these and similar solutions enhance the extension of the season by designing facilities and activities that do not depend exclusively on the summer months. "
MANUFACTURERS FROM RURAL AREAS TURN TO DIGITALIZATION
And when it comes to special types of supply and their digitalization - locally grown products, domestic production and family farms must not be overlooked. The trend of their digitalization is extremely visible in recent years, and has been particularly prominent over the past year, ie since the beginning of the pandemic.
Modern consumers, in addition to increasingly using digital tools, are increasingly realizing the importance of domestic products and their health benefits, while producers and growers are mostly located in rural and remote areas and need education, networking and connecting with the market through technology.
The STRONGER project, co-financed by non-refundable EU funds within the Interreg Croatia, BiH and Montenegro Program, in which the Institution for Competence Development, Innovation and Specialization of Zadar County - INOVacija also participated, showed how through advisory services and networking it is possible to help herb collectors, growers and processors in easier access to the market. The result of the project is a digital platform that provides subjects with digital learning and functional support.
The user of the platform is also Nives Jurišić, the owner of the family herbal pharmacy Jerkin. The project and the platform helped her further strengthen her business.
“The STRONGER platform is a great initiative that has helped me network and share experiences with various small herb growers and processors from Zadar County. The level of creativity I experienced was top notch. And apart from locally, as a consequence of the project, I managed to achieve one form of cooperation with an institution from Slavonia - the Center for Development of Brod-Posavina County. All in all, I think the platform and the project are a signpost for the further valorization of entities that work with herbs - based on that we can become even more attractive in terms of tourism, because we already have all the resources. " - says Nives, who believes that some valuable people would never have met if it were not for the STRONGER project.
The STRONGER project has shown in practice how innovative IT tools can help the development of rural areas through strengthening and networking of stakeholders, which contributes to their education and further improvement of business.
TECHNOLOGY CONNECTS ZADAR COAST AND ITS INLAND
And while the digital platform of the STRONGER project is already active, some new platforms and even whole systems are on the horizon that take the best of technology and help entities in rural tourism.
MADE IN-LAND project is aimed at the valorization of natural and cultural resources of the inland through better connection with the coast, in Zadar County, Istria and in some Italian regions. And it brings something new.
After analyzing the resource base of Zadar inland area, an innovative brand called "In search of the fifth element" was created. It will present the history, culture, gastronomy and the entire heritage of Zadar inland as resources under the auspices of the main life elements on the planet Earth - air (wind), earth, fire and water. Tourists who experience these four elements in the rural area of Zadar County, will also experience the fifth - true love for the hinterland.
In addition, the brand will form a tourist route that will include prominent points of interest and thus make it even easier for guests to find interesting activities - tasting on family farms, visits to museums, visits to nature parks and national parks, etc.
All of the above will be put on the market through a system of digital platform and smart cards that will allow tourists across the county to easily find, book and consume services in, for example, Ravni Kotari. Prior to the final realization, a pilot project will take place in the area of the towns of Benkovac and Biograd na Moru and the municipality of Sv. Filip i Jakov, Pakoštane, Lišane Ostrovičke, Stankovci, Polača and Novigrad.
Martina Vukašina, acting director of departments for the implementation of interregional and transnational cooperation projects from the ZADRA NOVA Agency, also said more about the platform itself, emphasizing the component of rural development.
"Instructed by examples of good practice, MADE IN LAND project will develop an innovative web platform which, in addition to networking and education of rural development stakeholders, will also provide access to consumers of services and products. Through the platform, they will have the opportunity to give their constructive comments to service providers and thus participate in the development of their business processes and thus encourage rural development."
The first interest shown by potential stakeholders suggests that the MADE IN-LAND project and the resulting platform will be something we will hear a lot more about.
MADE IN-LAND project
The project "MAnagement and Development of INLANDs - MADE IN-LAND" brings together a total of nine partners from the Adriatic regions of Croatia and Italy, and its main goal is to protect and valorize the untapped natural and cultural potentials of the continental parts of the partner regions. Project activities include local communities in the hinterland and coast, in cooperation with which a territorial brand will be developed, and through joint marketing plans and IT tools, tangible and intangible cultural and natural heritage will be promoted. The project is implemented from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021 within the Cross-border Cooperation Program Interreg Italy - Croatia 2014 - 2020.
