20-10-2025

Using data to sustainably manage intense tourist flows: this is the goal achieved by DIGIT, an experimental technology project developed by Almaviva, a global leader in digital innovation, and co-funded under the IRISS call, promoted by the SMACT Competence Center. The platform uses IoT sensors and AI algorithms that integrate both active and passive data to monitor, predict, and redistribute tourist flows in real time, thus preventing overcrowding and protecting cultural heritage.

The phenomenon of overtourism, or mass tourism that overwhelms destinations and inconveniences residents, increasingly puts the cultural heritage and resources of the chosen destinations at risk, making new sustainable governance strategies necessary. In recent years, Almaviva has invested in technologies and solutions that help both public and private stakeholders around the world to adopt effective policies for managing tourism flows and promoting and protecting cultural heritage. 

It is within this context that DIGIT – an acronym for "Smart Destinations for the Management of Tourist Impacts" – was created. The project aims to guarantee sustainable tourism, predict the scale and timing of tourist flows and their impacts, prevent overcrowding, and promote alternative areas within broader destinations, especially during major events and high-season peaks. 

DIGIT uses artificial intelligence models, IoT technologies, and advanced sensors to monitor visitor traffic and provide analytical data that supports decision-making. The platform processes the information by cross-referencing two different types of sources: passive sources, such as ISTAT statistics, payment systems, ticketing data, and open datasets related to the territories or linked to transportation systems; 

public and active sources, gathered from IoT sensors or smart cameras that detect the presence, movement, and behavior of tourists while respecting their privacy and collecting no personally identifiable information.

"With the DIGIT project, we intend to address one of the most pressing challenges of modern tourism: the sustainable management of tourist destinations that are under increasing pressure, continuing the process of digitalizing territorial data and safeguarding cultural heritage which has been one of Almaviva’s technological priorities in service to the country for many years,” said Andrea Casadei, SME of the Culture, Tourism & Entertainment practice.

The project was divided into three complementary phases. First, an analysis of international best practices was conducted in the areas most exposed to overtourism, accompanied by studies of statistical sources such as tourist presence, visitor spending, and mobile network data. The second phase transformed this information into operational and predictive models, capable of estimating and anticipating trends in tourism flows and the impacts generated by integrating various data sources in a single analytical and reporting system. The last phase, dedicated to field validation, verified the effectiveness of the models with real-world data and use-cases to provide destinations with a strategic tool for sustainable planning and governance.

The Almaviva project was developed in collaboration with the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and two companies: Digital Strategy Innovation, for the application of artificial intelligence technologies, and GreenIot, for the creation of IoT solutions.