On 20 October 2025, the Tourism Forward: Web3Tour Final Event celebrated the successful conclusion of the Creative Europe–funded Web3Tour project, an initiative that over two years empowered cultural tourism SMEs in Greece, Cyprus, and Slovenia to embrace digitalisation, Web3 technologies, and greener business models. The event gathered 136 participants from 18 countries, reflecting the strong European interest in a more sustainable, inclusive, and data-driven tourism future.

Web3Tour at the Centre: A Project Driving Europe’s Twin Transition

The event opened with remarks by Jedrt Mikelj (Arctur), followed by a project presentation from Eirini Papadopoulou (Lead Partner), who highlighted the project’s mission: supporting SMEs in adopting Web 3.0 tools, blockchain applications, data spaces, and green transition principles.
The presentation emphasised Web3Tour’s strategic alignment with the European Green Deal, the EU Transition Pathway for Tourism, and the Digital Decade 2030, as detailed in the official deliverable.

A round table moderated by Urška Starc Peceny (Arctur / Tourism 4.0 Lead) brought together experts Dolores Ordóñez, Alexandru Stan, and Eirini Papadopoulou. Their discussion focused on how data, digital heritage, and Web3 mechanisms can reshape European tourism into a more resilient and people-centred sector.

Heristate — Winner of the Web3Tour Accelerator Demo Day

A key highlight of the event was the dedicated presentation of Heristate (Slovenia), the official winner of the Web3Tour Accelerator Demo Day.
Represented by Dr. Maja Jerala, Heristate demonstrated how its Web3-enabled cultural commerce platform uses tools such as:

• NFT-based authenticity verification
• Smart contracts
• Tokenised heritage funding
• Immersive storytelling and digital cultural badges

Heristate stands as a flagship success story of the Web3Tour Accelerator, showing how a small cultural tourism enterprise can scale innovation through mentorship, training, and cross-border collaboration provided by the project.

Best Practices from Across Europe

Alongside the Web3Tour Accelerator success story, the event also featured short insights from four European SMEs known for innovative work in sustainability, accessibility, and regenerative tourism:

• Zlatna Greda Ltd. (Croatia) – Ecotourism and environmental education within the Amazon of Europe region.
• Accessible Romania by Sano Touring – Romania’s only fully accessible travel agency, developing tools like Audara for accessibility mapping.
• WheelTribe.eu (Belgium) – A community-based accessible tourism platform preparing an AI-driven trip planner.
• YouSea Institute & Maristra (Slovenia) – Sea Oasis Piran, combining marine conservation, underwater exploration, and regenerative tourism.

These examples served to show the broader European landscape of innovation, complementing—but not overshadowing—the core achievements of Web3Tour.

Reflecting on Two Years of Collaboration

In closing, Eirini Papadopoulou emphasised that the project’s true legacy lies in the ecosystem it created:
a community of empowered SMEs, cross-border partnerships, and shared knowledge that will continue to drive Europe’s digital and green transition in cultural tourism.

With Web3Tour coming to an end, the consortium celebrates a transformative journey that demonstrated how creativity, digital innovation, and sustainability can jointly build a smarter and more inclusive tourism future.