Good practice:

A innovative way of traveling on The Ways of St James

The Ways of St James are recognized as the first European 'Cultural Routes by the European Institute of Cultural Routes and are classified as World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. Cultural routes have significant importance in culture - affect participation in cultural and tourism, activating creative environments, building identity and cultural local communities. Project was to strengthen transnational cooperation of the Ways of St. James all around Europe through objectives:
• To improve and promote the visibility of the routes of the Ways of St. James in Europe through new innovative tools (ICT & CCI).
• To produce updated, practical and comprehensible information for pilgrims and other target groups to improve their experience.
• To attract new visitors, support the creation of new services and strengthen the competitivity of the Way of St. James as a sustainable transnational tourism product.
Main activities:
• Interactive map about the UNESCO heritage in the Way of St. James.
• 360º videos and virtual tours with original music and storytelling.
• Travel advisor & electronic credential App (tourism information, accommodations, chat, monitoring of the trail, etc.).
Immersive tools:
• Multilingual audio-guides with original music & sounds for each territory and to be implemented with the AR App.
• Digitalization of selected heritage sites in 3D (photogrammetry) & Augmented reality app and publication

Total budget: 398.872 €.

Good practice is proven in the CREATIVE LOCI IACOBI project co-funded by COSME EU programme. The practice improves progress of new technologies - based on VR and AR; users - creative tourists developing creative potential; by using tools the attractiveness of a known cultural & touristic places is rising; unknown places are explored - the number of tourists is higher; experience of the project might help build and foster image of cultural & touristic products

Each year, hundreds of thousands of travellers set out to make their way to and thanks to the project they can use innovative tools to explore and discover places using 360 videos and 3D photos, connected with the great story telling about the Camino de Santiago in each country, assumes greater involvement of visitors than in the case of cultural tourism - it involves the search for interactive proposals enabling engagement and participation, allowing personal development.
Even a route known for centuries can be rediscovered thanks to modern technology like AR and VR.