"More than any other economic activity, the success or failure of a tourism destination depends on its ability to provide visitors with a safe environment."This is the value that the World Tourism Organisation places on safety in its study entitled: "Safety and Security: Practical Measures for Destinations".
According to Grünewald , tourism safety means "the protection of life, of health, of the physical, psychological and economic integrity of visitors, service providers and members of the host communities". Authors Gonzalo Saglione and Miguel Milano (in their article entitled "Managing safety in hotels, an analysis of the most profitable options") claim that Grünewald’s definition should also include two new concepts: protection and control of loss and decline. The former refers to economic assets as well as to the entire set of actions undertaken to avoid event (dissuasion) while the latter refers to a lack of tangible or intangible goods due to action, error or omission.
Nowadays, safety is one of the factors that makes any tourism destination stand out over its competitors. The majority of travellers and tourists seek places where they can feel protected. As a result, they want to be aware of the measures being taken by the public administration and industry to afford them the maximum protection possible both en route and at their chosen destinations.
In this new scenario, tourism safety constitutes a challenge that no one can ignore. For this reason, the Directorate General of Research, Technological Development and Innovation of the government of the Balearic Islands, aware of the tourism industry’s interest in the safety of tourists on the Balearic Islands, is organising a workshop consisting of lectures by the leading national experts.
This workshop will outline the advances in radiofrequency systems applied to children’s safety in tourist venues, global localisation systems, tracking systems, GSM and GPS (A-GPS), real time localisation systems, etc. Additionally, success stories in tourist settings will be shared.
This workshop is being held as part of INTO (www.visitinnovation.com), a platform for debate on innovation and tourism proposals created in 2004 by the Directorate General of Research, Technological Development and Innovation of the government of the Balearic Islands. Under this platform, each year an International Seminar on Innovation and Tourism is held, centring on an innovative issue in the industry. Its main strength is the high quality of the speakers from both academic and research circles and from business, as well as the transfer of knowledge.
Additionally, the government of the Balearic Islands is currently developing a project co-financed by the Directorate General of Regional Policy of the European Union, called SAITUR (System of Support for Tourism Innovation in the Balearic Islands). The goal of this project is to develop a series of experimental actions within the Balearic Islands’ RDI policy aimed at spurring the generation of technologies that can be used to support tourism activity.