The sixth edition of the Adriatic Sea Forum – cruise, ferry, sail & yacht took place, featuring the participation of the AI SMART project. This international Forum showcased various projects of European Cooperation, including AI SMART selected for its objectives aligning with the Forum’s main focus.
Considered as one of the most important and interesting European projects for the maritime tourism sector in the Adriatic, AI SMART has foreseen, among its aims, the creation of a common port network in the Adriatic-Ionian area based on the concept of “ smart, green and integrated ports” that allows to set up new green routes and connect the small regional ports of the cross-border countries involved in a single “sustainable corridor“. This will make it possible to raise the quality of port services provided to users, create supplementary tourist services oriented towards a higher quality standard and raise awareness of the important role played by the local port network in support of the maritime sector (multimodal maritime transport and enhancement of fishing). A precious opportunity, therefore, for AI SMART whose activities will contribute to making the Adriatic a tourist destination.
The event, which allowed operators in the cruise sector to meet the most important protagonists of maritime tourism in the Adriatic, was an opportunity to discuss and explore topics of great importance for the sectors of cruises, ferries, boats, yachts in the Adriatic, an area touched by 7 nations (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Italy and Slovenia) and which includes 25 regions and over 150 tourist destinations.
During the two days, there were many high-profile interventions and the topics addressed, which made it possible to trace and define the opportunities of tourist destinations in the Adriatic for the tourism and maritime sector with particular attention to adoptable good practices and environmental and economic sustainability.
Participation in the Adriatic Sea Forum has allowed the AI SMART project to present not only the results achieved so far and future prospects and to be part of a process of valorization and development of the Adriatic, but also to get in touch with the industry maritime and tourist trade represented by operators and stakeholders in the sector and to create new relationships and production networks.
The Forum, which saw a succession of roundtables, moments intended for comparison and debate for the representatives of the major companies in the sector and individual interventions by market experts dedicated to deepening the topics on the program, envisaged the presentation in preview of the new edition of the Adriatic Sea Tourism Report, the research report created with the aim of analyzing flows, dimensions, nature and directions of tourist movements in the Adriatic area (cruises, ferries and boating). In this new 2023 edition, a reference point for all sea tourism operators in the Adriatic area, a special section was dedicated to the AI SMART project, its objectives and main results.