AN OPEN IT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR GREEN TOURISM MANAGEMENT AND PROMOTION: THE INSUBRI.PARKS PROJECT

Abstract. The design and implementation of modern tourism management systems have to interface with the growing technological attitude of users which nowadays mostly approach the selection of the desired destinations through the web. In view of the above, the local tourism actors have to fully embrace the digital transformation by integrating Information Technologies into their operational routines. With this in mind, it is here presented the development of a technological infrastructure to provide with new digital assets to the natural parks of the Insubria, cross-border region stretching between Northern Italy and Southern Switzerland. This work is carried out within the INSUBRI.PARKS project, funded by the Interreg program of the European Union. The final goal of the project is to increase tourism attractiveness of the Insubria region through the provision of new infrastructure, the design of new tourism experiences, and the deployment of Information Technology tools to support the cross-border tourism management and marketing. The tools development is described in detail and the application prototypes are presented. The work leverages exclusively Free and Open Source Software that provides the infrastructure with large rooms of improvements and customization while reducing both development and maintenance costs. Future directions for the work are outlined by considering the amelioration of the presented tools, the development of additional components, and the practical applications of the infrastructure functionalities from the perspective of both park managers and visitors.