WHAT:
The city of Venice is decaying and losing its culture. The inhabitant population of the city has dramatically dropped because the city is becoming unliveable.
One of the factors for this is, is mass tourism, which is where I would like to introduce change.
I propose to change the unbeneficial habits of the most unprofitable group of tourists (the strollers) for them to become more sustainable and, more apt to support Venice’s dying culture.
Provisional question:
How can I make unprofitable mass tourists behave more like cultural tourists to promote sustainable tourism in Venice?
WHY:
Being part Venetian I was able to witness first-hand how Venice has changed for the worst. Its culture and infrastructure are threatened. Residents live in fear of seeing their home being turned into a Disneyland.
Venice’s exceptional topography, geographic location, culture and history make it irreplaceable, universal even.
Residents and tourists should be able to experience the best version of Venice. It is meant to be shared with the world as long as it is done respectfully and not to the detriment of the locals.
HOW:
I will gamify the tourist experience to transform the cultural visit into an adventure. Having tourists trailing off from the packed tourists routes and spending time in cultural institutions and deserted areas of the city will help them being more sustainable.
Stage 1:
to best understand how to operate the project I have created surveys each targeting a different group: the venetians, people who have been to Venice and people who have not yet been to Venice.
To create a tourist experience I need to learn about Venice’s history, researching five main categories: museums, churches, artisans, legends and hidden gems.
I aim to have a group of strollers experience one of each.
Stage 2:
I will have to speak to professionals, especially in tourism and gamification. I am already in contact with a few such as a specialised private tour guide and I have been sending out emails to more experts in tourism and gamification.
I will need to contact cultural institutions for them to become involved. They will become part of the narrative and will interact with the tourists.
I hope to finish this stage by June.
Stage 3:
This stage will involve creating a prototype of the gamified tourist tour experience, and then testing it with my stakeholders.
More minor interventions will follow over the summer.
Stage 4:
Motivate a group of strollers to visit 3 cultural sights (if possible, off the beaten track):
A museum/gallery
A Church
And an Artisan shop
WHAT IF:
This research is of value to the tourists as they will have an experience outside the carefully manufactured and unauthentic tourist routes.
It will benefit the Venetians as the project will encourage a more sustainable and responsible tourism, which would give back to the city and, therefore, improve Venetians’ quality of life. Finally, this research could also inspire other locations plagued by mass tourism to follow a similar process of gamification.