The trend of Neverending Tourism was identified and analyzed for the first time last year by the Digital Innovation Observatory in Tourism of the Polytechnic University of Milan. What exactly is it about? It is the opportunity, thanks to new technologies, to experience tourist experiences that extend the duration of the trip and exploration of a destination before, after, and even during the actual vacation.
The travel ban imposed by repeated lockdowns has not only created high expectations for regained freedom of movement. It has also changed travelers’ habits, who are now much more likely to buy online products and experiences to approach unexplored territories, learn new traditions, and experiment with different scents and flavors from home.
The long-desired trip, thanks to digital tourism, begins earlier and continues even after returning from vacation. From this awareness, Viviladmc.com was born, the first marketplace for Neverending Tourism dedicated to Italy.
New Opportunities
For all sector operators, Neverending Tourism represents a unique chance to adopt new business models and build customer loyalty, extending the relationship with visitors beyond space and time.
How can travel agencies, local guides, producers, and all interested stakeholders satisfy the emerging need for borderless tourism? The examples are many. “I recommend starting with products and services that can truly tell the traditions and characteristics of a place, so as to best enhance each destination, even the less traveled. There is an endless series of content and experiences that can be offered online, such as workshops, Italian language courses, opera lessons, cooking classes, remote guided tours of villages, museums, palaces, castles… And of course, typical products and Made in Italy can be sold,” highlights Chiara Martini, CEO and founder of Vivila DMC.
Viviladmc.com allows and expands the meeting between demand and supply typical of this new way of doing tourism, which is set to grow because it is more engaging, accessible anytime of the year, and also sustainable.
One Marketplace, Infinite Possibilities
The range of products and services that encourage exploring new places can inspire consumers and represents an interesting opportunity for the rebirth of Italian territories outside the major tourist flows. Curious customers may decide to purchase a workshop or a course, and later choose to book a trip that takes them physically to the place that the digital experience introduced them to. But there’s more.
Besides supporting the sale of stays, purchases within a Marketplace dedicated to Neverending Tourism enrich the onsite experience of the tourist. For example, through an online course teaching how to make Genovese pesto while visiting Genoa.
Last but not least, neverending tourism breaks down distances and architectural barriers and allows discovering faraway or very far places even for those who, due to disabilities, are unable to move. “The opportunities of the marketplace are truly infinite. I also think of students (both foreign and local) who typically get only one cultural trip during the school year” — specifies Vivila’s CMO and Co-Founder, Elena Merico. Thanks to Neverending Tourism and Vivila’s Marketplace, teachers can offer students projects to approach distant places and cultures, to be continued throughout the year“.
An ecosystem to grow together
Vivila DMC is also a promotion, development, and training agency, capable of offering tailored consulting to those working with and for the territory. “My team immerses in the local area and discovers, together with its stakeholders and local operators, how to promote and enhance it to the best. This is a development model we call Neverending Evolution. Soon, we will launch a series of courses aimed at teaching our method. We want every link in the Ecosystem to be able to promote itself, along with the history and the culture, to grow the business and the knowledge of the territory independently. I feel that we are leaving behind disposable tourism and will finally see the development of a tourism that can create a strong bond with the destination, which too often becomes throwaway” explains Martini.
On October 12, 13, and 14, Chiara Martini from Vivila DMC will be at TTG EXPO Rimini, pavilion A1 – BOX 10 – Tourism Startup Area, to meet all operators interested in seizing the opportunity to access new sources of revenue by joining Italy’s first Marketplace dedicated to Neverending Tourism.
About Vivila
Vivila DMC was founded in 2020 from Chiara Martini’s love for Italy, its products, and all the companies, operators, and stakeholders who contribute to adding value to the System Territory. Vivila DMC offers an innovative way to promote and enhance the Italian territory and Italianity through the model of Neverending Evolution. The Vivila team and its collaborators analyze and design for the territory and together with it, communicating its riches and, through training processes, aim to create virtuous circles of continuous improvement. From Vivila’s experience, the marketplace viviladmc.com was born to give a home to all those who want to offer digital products and experiences within the framework of neverending tourism.
Pubblicato in Digital Travel
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