<PRE>
<h2 align="center">Tourism Virtual Clustering</h2>A tourism cluster is a group of like-minded stakeholders and operators who come together to increase the profile for their operations and geographic area, along one or more tourism themes e.g.: <blockquote><ul><li>agriculture </li><li>agro food</li><li>eco sustainability</li><li>cultural heritage</li><li>arts and trades</li><li>sport and leisure</li><li>district's topics</li></ul></blockquote><hr />Tourism Cluster is made of organized and structured enterprises such as:<ul><li>Core tourist organizations: Destination management organizations, Tourism local operators,...</li><li>Travel and accommodation structures: Travel companies, hotels, B&amp;B,...</li><li>Service/support to visitor enterprises: Info points, interpreters and tourist guides organizations,...</li><li>Attraction enterprises: *Experience Enterprises or companies that provide experiences that attract people from outside; *Creative Enterprises or firms in which art and creativity provide competitive advantage (artists and artisans, interior/product decorators, landscape architects, makeup artists, web designers,...) *Sport and leisure enterprises: races, competitions,... </li><li>Commerce enterprises: Shops, Commerce Centres,... </li><li>Industry enterprises: Industry culture sites, artisans labsnet, product expos, fairs,... </li></ul><hr />In the tourism industry, virtual clustering means the use of New ICT Technologies to activate a collaborative network made of :<ul><li>accommodation facilities (hotels, camping, motels, real estates),</li><li>restoration operators (restaurants, bars, wineries, etc), </li><li>entertainment and sport facilities, cultural, folklore and artistic events</li><li>a framework of artisan, agro food and service enterprises. </li></ul>A tourism Cluster becomes Virtual when:<ul><li>it is web based ( present in internet and easily accessible )</li><li>it is multi channel accessible ( PC-Mobile-DTV...) </li><li>it is GIS compatible </li><li>iti s provided with High level communication systems and tools</li><li>there are E-Business and E-commerce gateways</li><li>it is provided with E-service and E-assistance tools</li></ul> <hr />All these entities and tools help to easy find and enjoy the tourism resources of one territory and create the winning product mix virtual and real, that, other then overcoming physical distances, reinforces tourism destination?s efficiency and strengthens CRM and affiliation processes. In such a way is going the NOVE-BASSANO CERAMIC DISTRICT, where tourism services match with ceramic district products offering: &lt;img src="/files/03105200610.08.04-Immagine.JPG" />The scheme of tourism cluster model based on the specific theme &quot;industry district products-ceramics&quot;, as in the above case recalled, is the one lined out below:&lt;img height="649" hspace="0" src="/files/03105200610.08.50-Immagine_2.JPG" width="684" border="0" />Such a model when applying ICT technologies and web facilities becomes much more attractive for foreign visitors and better known to a lager potential client population. At the same time, it becomes a chance for communication and common initiatives with other tourism virtual clusters, that may become allied or complementary partners in fulfilling common business targets. Under this section of Tourism Virtual Cluster one can found a Tourism CADSES Spatial E-Network, where for each country of project INDE the main tourism regional structures, according to main regional tourism themes, is outlined and main website links made accessible. The regional and national tourism organizations of the following territories: <blockquote><blockquote>1.&nbsp;<a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/Veneto-Region2.htm_cvt.htm">Veneto Region - Italy</a> 2. <a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/FVG-Region.txt_cvt.htm">FVG Region - Italy</a> 3. <a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/Styria---Austria.txt_cvt.htm">Styria - Austria </a> 4. <a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/Trentino-Region.txt_cvt.htm">Trentino Alto Adige Region - Italy </a>5. <a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/Slovenia.txt_cvt.htm">Slovenian Territory</a> 6. <a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/Croazia-Region.txt_cvt.htm">Croatian Territory</a> 7. <a href="/htdocs/Sharing/Tourism/Serbia.txt_cvt.htm">Serbian Territory</a> 8. Ionian Islands - Greece ( eco sustainable tourism - itineraries )</blockquote></blockquote> have been examined and monitored.The Tourism CADSES Spatial E-Network becomes a potential source of new collaborations between tourism operators of different regions and potential chances of transversal business relationships with industry clusters such as the ones of &quot;Wood and Furniture&quot; or &quot;agro food&quot;. </PRE>