Sustainability, digital nomadism, experience: these are some of the trends at the center of the 14th edition of BTO 2022 – Be Travel Onlife, at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence from 29 to 30 November. The event dedicated to the union between innovation and tourism is organized by Toscana Promozione Turistica, PromoFirenze and Fondazione Sistema Toscana.
The metaverse debuts in tourism
“Metatourism” will be the key word of a program with several important contributions, a particularly current topic of great interest. One hundred in-depth studies, workshops and futuristic speeches will be organized during the two Florentine days to learn about the new trends in technology applied to travel, destinations, professions, ways of traveling.
By 2026, a quarter of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse, according to a Gartner estimate. BTO 2022 – Be Travel Onlife therefore presents itself as a great preview.
Thanks to the futuristic creativity of La Jetée, the Stazione Leopolda will host a series of spectacular installations. Like the “talking” colonnade that will introduce visitors by anticipating the thematic areas of the event thanks to augmented reality technology. While inside it will be possible to make “virtual acquaintance” with some of the main speakers. Just frame the identification badge or the respective life-size “photographic” copies on a wall, to listen to the presentation from their hands-free voice.
Another novelty will be the Meta-BTO created by Carraro LAB, an unprecedented experimentation of the phygital synergy between physical and virtual events. While the inaugural speech is being held on the stage, the virtual duplicate of the Leopolda appears on the screen, with avatars and 3D environments interacting with the real speakers and participants.
A second 3D exhibition area presents the key concepts of the tourist metaverse, an immersive evolution to promote real travel. Another opportunity offered to participants in BTO 2022 https://www.bto.travel/ will be to visit, in the form of an avatar, the review in the metaverse, accessing it in cross-device mode from PC, smartphone and VR viewers through a Qrcode / link.
Italy Ambassador Awards
For the first time, the event will host an “event within an event”, or rather the awards ceremony for the Italy Ambassador Awards. This is the first Italian prize awarded to the best influencers, content creators and bloggers from all over the world who promote Italy. A recognition of the work of those who dedicate themselves to making the many qualities of Italy better known, from culture to fashion, from flavors to travel.