Ultreia_Sudoes challenge is to boost indoor tourism, activate rural areas by enhancing natural and cultural resources, especially agri-food traditions and craftsmanship, linked to the Caminos to Santiago (CaS). The objective is to generate a shared strategy of the CaS Sudoe for the enhancement of material and intangible natural and cultural resources, as well as the artisanal, creative and agri-food production capacity, to bring it closer to tourists and pilgrims and guarantee a respectful, conscious, authentic and sustainable economic and social development of the CaS. The impact of Ultreia_Sudoe will be a more active rural territory, with more possibilities to sustain the population and promote entrepreneurship in the tourism and productive creative and artisan sectors. The project will benefit local artisans and producers by promoting their product, tourists and pilgrims who will receive valuable information about local offers of products and services, administrations and hospitality entrepreneurs who will have information about the influx of visitors. This will be achieved through local Hub pilots, geolocated databases, influx management systems and physical and virtual shop windows. The focus is on multi-actor collaboration in the Hubs, the promotion of diversity of local production, the digital transformation of tourism management in the CaS and the experience of the pilgrim and tourist. Generating a long-lasting CaS strategy requires transnational cooperation, with a long-term vision, of the entities promoting CaS and representing key stakeholders. It must seek the preservation of the values of authenticity and integrity recognised by UNESCO, fleeing the homogenisation and tourist industrialisation, to offer an attractive experience for pilgrims and tourists. Innovation lies in the combination of multi-stakeholder transnational cooperation, the activation of endogenous resources and digitalisation of the pilgrimage and tourism of the CaS.
