On the 30th of March, Mazi Travel & Events held a special focus group event, to present the Dive in the Past Tourism Programme, as part of the EU co-financed (COSME) Programme MeDryDive.
The invitees of the event showed significant respond and more than 80 stakeholders have participated. The event audience was comprised of tour operators and tour agents based in Greece, as well as of special guests that represented the ‘Ministry of Tourism’, the ‘Tourism Organization of the Region of Central Macedonia’, the ‘Chamber of Commerce of Thessaloniki’, the ‘Tourism Dept. of the Municipality of Thessaloniki’, the ‘Federation of Hellenic Associations of Travel & Tourist Agencies’ and the ‘Association of Hotels of the Prefecture of Magnesia’.
Stakeholders had the opportunity to attend the ‘Dive in the Past’ presentations and watched the videos about the special features of the program as well as the innovative digital applications (AR and VR apps) that support the programme and promote the Underwater Cultural Heritage sites in the Mediterranean as tourism destinations.
The discussion that followed, has provided the organizers of the event with valuable feedback and positive comments, regarding the absorption of the product by the market. Moreover, the big interest of the participants about the Tourism Product ‘Dive in the Past’ was expressed by their questions about the follow-on sites of the programme. A lot of comments was heard, and discussion made on the impact of the AR and VR applications of the Dive the Past, as being an important competitive advantage that aid to the success of the product in the tourism market.
Stakeholders also admitted that a tourism product of this kind, represents the future in the development of the UCH sites and the Tourism Industry as a whole.
The contacts made on the event has laid the grounds for new synergies and has prepared the mutual acceptance of Memoranda of Understanding.
