Project Turiviva+

The construction and development of the project “Senior tourism: wellness routes and local experiences in an insular ecosystem” (Turiviva +) aims to achieve the following objectives:

a) Knowing the global well-being, the degree of satisfaction, the positive emotional experiences, the involvement with the island ecosystem of the island of S. Miguel and the recommendations/suggestions expressed by senior tourists visiting the island of S. Miguel;

b) Test the PERMA model (positive emotions, involvement, positive relationships, meaning and personal fulfillment) in the area of ​​Positive Tourism, based on a sample of senior tourists visiting the island of São Miguel;

c) Collect narratives of traditions and experiences/relations with the most emblematic places on the island of São Miguel, through elderly people (65 years and over) from the different municipalities of the island of San Miguel;

d) Gather through the life stories of the elderly, memories of traditions and memories of involvement with places among the elderly of the Azorean diaspora (United States of America (east coast and California) and Canada (Toronto and Montreal).

e) Research and gather data on the natural and cultural heritage and biodiversity of the island of São Miguel, in the different municipalities;

f) Create innovative content products in the area of ​​the island ecosystem, namely in the areas of biodiversity, natural and cultural heritage, promoting the flow of experiences and well-being and happiness for tourists, with a view to optimizing sustainability, creativity and peace;

g) Create audiovisual content with scientific exposition of the team's experts and research reports; disseminate narratives and memories of the “Micaelense” people collected locally and through distant memories, with emigrants in the diaspora (United States and Canada) for ICTs and augmented reality technology;

h) Optimize new generation ICT and augmented reality technology for the dissemination and full use of the products to be created through the dissemination of various sources, such as municipalities in island of S. Miguel and Regional Tourism Association of the Azores (ARTA);

i) Develop networks of synergies between researchers and local leaders to think about articulated and sustainable products;

j) Know and properly plan the activities that can be developed and leverage the available resources, which must be evaluated together with the municipalities, local development associations, among others, that work in the areas of natural and cultural heritage;

k) Build routes for natural and cultural tourism that promote global well-being for senior tourists, in interconnection and cooperation with municipalities and local development associations working in the areas of the natural and cultural heritage;

l) Develop relevant information related to the tourist products and services to be made available through information technologies, providing the interaction of tourists with the places to visit or to be visited;

m) Evaluate the information provided by tourists about the products/services provided and, when necessary, make adjustments for their improvement, safeguarding the maintenance of environmental, landscape, sociocultural conditions and levels of sustainability of the territories.

n) Promote the Azores as a senior destination par excellence, disseminating results for tourism agents and the senior public;

o) Increase quality scientific production oriented towards intelligent specialization.

The project Senior Tourism: Welfare Routes and Local Experiences in an Insular Ecosystem (Turiviva+)< /strong> is integrated in the tourism sector, considered a priority in RIS3 Azores, incorporating three priorities (TUR1, TUR2 and TUR3), in a combined and articulated way.

The project is aligned with the priorities and strategies of TUR1, whose scope is the “Application of Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism”, as it aims to apply the research results proposal (Studies 1 to 3) and the use of ICTs (design application programming; application implementation on Android and iOS) using innovative augmented reality technology. Augmented reality allows tourists a different way of interacting with the local culture, through the use of mobile phones. This interaction of the tourist with the destination place and the mobile equipment will be intuitive, without requiring the tourist to learn or adapt. In this context, it will be possible to create interactive guides with augmented reality technology, through image recognition and identification of geographically located points of interest, which can be used in different operating systems (Android/IOS, Windows, macOS), adapted to various devices. tourist furniture and will bring together the different tourist resources and their interpretation, including local heritage and events. The active involvement of the local community in the implementation of the application will be taken into account, thus contributing to the interpretation of the local heritage and the preparation of images and other resources, such as videos, main points of interest in the different municipalities of the island of São Miguel. .

The project is aligned with the priorities and strategies of TUR2, whose focus is "Identification and attraction of specific tourist segments at an international level, from the perspective of the development of sustainable tourism", defining and consolidating products oriented towards positive tourism (tourism of well-being and positive emotions), which will be associated with Cultural Tourism and Ecotourism, with specific products based on the Azorean reality, anchored in the differentiating factors of the Region, including biodiversity, natural heritage, history and cultural heritage (musical, gastronomic, traditions, etc.), in the religious heritage and religiosity, and in the narratives and memories of the elderly people's relationships with the emblematic places of the six municipalities of the island of São Miguel.

The project is also part of TUR3, "Fostering collaborative relationships and promoting innovative activities related to tourism", because "Turiviva +" provides for the adoption of collaborative strategies, favoring a network of articulation between the research team, the local administration and the Regional Tourism Association of the Azores (ARTA) and ATA, to promote new tourist models and new more sustainable and ecological routes/paths, preserving the quality of life, entrepreneurship and the creation of new businesses/products.

In this sense, we intend to develop three studies:

Study 1. The study aims to assess the well-being of senior tourists (tourists aged 55+) during their stay in São Miguel, identifying experiences that lead to well-being and happiness , testing the PERMA model (positive emotions, involvement, relationships, meaning and commitment) for Positive Tourism and, thus, opening a new line of investigation in the field of Tourism for the Azores destination.

Study 2. The study aims to bring together narratives of elderly people through life stories, memories of traditions and experiences related to places, in the six municipalities of the island of São Miguel and in the diaspora Azores, namely in the areas with the highest concentration of Azoreans - in the United States of America (east coast and California) and Canada (Toronto and Montreal).

Study 3. It focuses on scientific studies in the areas of biodiversity, history, historical and natural heritage, ethnography and traditions, as well as the information obtained in studies 1 and 2, and aims to create innovative cultural tourism content, designing routes that systematically integrate elements of the natural and cultural heritage (popular manifestations, cults, material and immaterial traditions).

To implement this project, different methodologies are used (qualitative, quantitative and mixed), the commitment of researchers with differentiated training (from the scientific domains of Psychology, Economics and Management, Sociology, History, Biology and Statistics) and information is collected on the senior tourist's involvement with the island ecosystem of the island of São Miguel and the positive experiences of well-being, in order to design innovative tourist routes.

The final products will be optimized through information technology and augmented reality technology. In this context, an application based on a geographic information system will be developed, promoting the interaction and management of the information collected during the identification of georeferenced tourist resources, enhancing the results through augmented reality technology. Resource inventories of tourist routes will be accessible from users with different tools and interests.

Another of the great advantages of “Turiviva +” is the network of partnerships with the municipalities of the island of São Miguel for the development of this project, and the potential returns from research for the parties involved. stakeholders, promoting the robustness of tourist information provided by local authorities and enabling a greater wealth of offer by the municipalities. It should be added that in partnership with tourism organizations it also allows the dissemination of project results throughout the region, Portugal and abroad. "Turiviva +" brings together a broad multidisciplinary group of researchers, who aspire to contribute to scientific knowledge, as well as to collaborate for an effective development of the Azores region, through the qualitative approach and quantitative evolution of tourism, particularly in Senior Tourism.

A. Dissemination of the results of the "Turiviva +" project at a local and global level, aimed at tourism agents and the general public, through:

    i) interactive guides with augmented reality technology, through image recognition and identification of points of interest with to georeferencing, which can be used in different operating systems (Android/IOS, Windows), adapted to the various mobile devices of the tourist, and will bring together the different tourist attractions and the local heritage;

    ii) ICT's (implementation of the application on Android and iOS for iphone 5-X) and innovative augmented reality technology );

    iii) virtual platforms for disseminating information from all municipalities on the island of São Miguel, Regional Directorate of Tourism and OTA (Open Access Database);

   iv) site of the "Turiviva +" project and social communication networks (i.e., facebook, etc);< /p>

  v) making an e-book.

B. Dissemination to the scientific community through national and international scientific publications, team participation in national and international scientific forums, as well as the organization and participation of an International Congress.

C. Dissemination of the project in the US and Canada, through dissemination sessions,  to attract more senior tourists and as a knowledge transfer strategy.