Sustainable management and tourist promotion of natural and archaeological heritage in the Adriatic Caves PLUS
The overall aim of ADRIATICAVES PLUS project is to enhance and enlarge the impact of the ADRIATICAVES project and to introduce a pilot action to evaluate how the digital innovation can be a support to the valorization of historical and natural sites.
The most important innovation of Adriaticaves Plus is a pilot action about the potentialities of the digital innovation and, namely, the 3D reconstructions of sites as an innovative tool to overcome the travel and movements restrictions derived by the pandemic Covid

19. This concept should be also applied to other situation further the pandemic, to allow the knowledge of interesting naturalistic sites to people who cannot accede directly to those sites, for various reasons: time at disposal, costs of the travel, illness, age or simply because the location is hard to be reached due its position (i.e. in the mountains).
The 3D reconstructions will be implemented in three Caves belonging to the LP MNP territory, in Italy.
Part of this innovation was developed in the last part of Adriaticaves project and is related to the 3D reconstruction of one cave, the Grotta Nera Cave. This 3D reproductions will be the testing bed to assess how and in what measure the digital innovations (namely, in this case, a 3D reproduction) can substitute or support the visit in presence on the location. The experience of the pandemic and its impact on the tourism sector demonstrate that innovative solutions are possible to enjoy locations, although if it is not possible to stay there.
Questionnaires to users and pilot interviews with key persons (i.e. managers, experts in tourism and digital innovation, public administrators) will give a feedback on the operations.
The results of the pilot action will support the preparation of further two 3D reproductions of two more caves.
Another aspect developed in the ADRIATICAVES PLUS is the improvement and spreading of two major outputs of ADRIATICAVES and strictly linked with the promotion of the sustainable tourism: the Charter of the Caves and the Tourism Packages.
The Charter is a disciplinary already signed by 26 cave managers in which they commit themselves to observe and implement the provision of the Charter, aimed at ensure the tourism accessibility to the sites, but in compliance with the primary habitat conservation necessity.
The tourism packages are the operative tool to attract the sustainable tourism on the sites, the packages will be developed together local tourism entrepreneurs.
In ADRIATICAVES PLUS both tools will be furtherly spread among the proper audience through the implementation of meetings and workshops with the relevant stakeholders, under the direct care of each partner.
Each partner will establish a collaboration with its National Contact Point, in particular to enlarge the number and quality of the organisations involved.