The SMITour project successfully held its final event and technical meetings on November 11 and 12, 2025, hosted at the Faculty of Economics and Business (EFRI) in Rijeka, Croatia. This important event was managed locally by EFRI, in collaboration with the Lead Partner, the Municipality of Prato (Italy). It brought together European experts and stakeholders from all partner countries—Italy, Portugal, Catalonia, Greece, Slovenia, and Croatia—to discuss the future of smart industrial tourism in the Mediterranean.
The first day was dedicated to a public conference, focusing on the project’s achievements and its strategic plan.
The conference opened with welcoming addresses from local hosts. This was followed by an online intervention from Axel Rodriguez Garrote, SMITour Project Officer at the Interreg Euro-MED Programme, and a general overview of the project and its contributions, presented by Project Manager Paolo Guarnieri. The session included two keynote speeches focused on using creative and academic approaches to value industrial heritage.
The first keynote, titled “Industrial heritage through Art&Science Lenses,” was delivered by Vedrana Mikulić Crnković (Associate professor and leader of the FASIH project at the University of Rijeka), highlighting initiatives like Virtual Hartera. This was followed by the second keynote, “Valorization of industrial heritage in Rijeka through tourism and culture,” presented by Daria Dadić (Museum guide at the City Museum of Rijeka), focusing on the impact of sites like the Art kvart and the Sugar Factory Palace.
A key part of the day was the panel debate, “Smart Industrial Tourism: Linking Innovation, Heritage and Destinations.” Participants included representatives from the SMITour consortium, local authorities and associations, and the Dialogue4Tourism initiative (an Interreg Euro-MED project focused on governance for sustainable tourism). The discussion provided many perspectives on the current state and future prospects of the sector, specifically on integrating technology and industrial heritage to enhance destinations.
Last highlight session of the conference was the official unveiling of the SMITour Strategy for Smart Industrial Tourism in the Mediterranean. This essential new blueprint – as the main output of the project – will serve as a concrete operational guide for the sector’s future development by Public Administrations and sector professionals.
The second day combined internal project work with an exploration of local industrial heritage. The partners began with a guided tour of the JGL Muzej farmacije (JGL Pharmacy Museum), hosted by Jadran Galenic Laboratory (JGL). In addition to the site’s history, the partners noted the effective use of Augmented Reality (AR) and touch technologies to improve the visitor experience.
Following the study visit, partners held their last technical meeting. This session was essential for reviewing the common strategy and action plan and finalizing all procedures for the upcoming reporting period. The meeting successfully mapped out the last steps required to close the project, officially concluding its operational phase.
