Project name

SITE - Shaping Inclusive Tourist Experiences - Interreg ITA CRO 21-27 Project for inclusive tourism

Project period

March 1st 2024  - September 1st 2026

Project value

2,296,700.00 EUR (ERDF funds 80%) 

Project description

In Europe, 25% of the adult population has some form of disability, and the age index is 136 elderly people for every 100 young people, and these figures are increasing. Almost everyone encounters, directly or indirectly, difficulties related to permanent disabilities, temporary or, in certain circumstances, the risk of being excluded from full participation in society and from travel due to a lack of available information, services, and facilities.

The growing demand for accessible tourism, adapted to accommodate the largest possible number of people, is a key driver for this economic sector and a major business opportunity: the inclusion of tourist destinations allows them to broaden and diversify their customer base (including people with special needs and needs related to families, children, the elderly and people with disabilities) and overcome seasonality in tourist flows.

The "SITE" project aims to increase the attractiveness of tourist destinations in the Programme Area and to encourage year-round tourism through the cross-border spread of the Universal Design (UD) culture in the tourism ecosystem by promoting social inclusion, participation and sharing, also using ICT to reduce barriers (architectural, sensory, communication) that limit access for people with disabilities or other needs, as well as families and the elderly, and is in favour of non-discriminatory solutions.

The project's final objective is to develop a methodology for applying Universal Design principles in tourist destinations. This requires an analysis to determine sustainability from the perspectives of economic and stakeholder impact.

The partnership in the "SITE" project combines the complementary expertise of eight institutions in the Programme Area, four in Croatia and four in Italy.

The project partners are:
  • University of Trieste - UNITS
  • University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management - FTHM,
  • Municipality of Fano
  • City of Šibenik,
  • two small and medium-sized enterprises (Arcadya d.o.o. - CMI and Veasyt d.o.o.),
  • Dubrovnik Airport Ltd.,
  • non-profit agency for territorial development of the City of Dubrovnik (Dubrovnik Development
  • Agency DURA d.o.o.).
The project also includes 3 associated organizations (two from Croatia and one from Italy):
  • Community of Associations of Persons with Disabilities of Croatia,
  • Tourist Board of the City of Šibenik
  • Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Cities - FAIC.
The project started on March 1, 2024, and will last 30 months. The kick-off meeting of the SITE project was held in Trieste, Italy, on March 19 and 20, 2024.

The total project budget is EUR 2,076,609, of which EUR 1,661,287 is co-financed from the Italy-Croatia Programme 2021-2027 through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) at an 80% co-financing rate.

Dubrovnik Airport's total budget for the project is EUR 250,000, of which EUR 200,000 is co-financing from the ERDF.