To mark World Tourism Day, Calpe Town Council has presented the new immersive virtual tour of the Red Wall, one of the projects included in the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) funded by the European Union - Next GenerationEU.
The event was attended by the Councillor for Tourism Planning, Mireia Ripoll, and the Councillor for International Promotion, Marco Bittner, as well as Luiza Dinu, audiovisual creator at Touristinnovación360 S.L. (Lookish Spain), the company responsible for implementing the project, who revealed the details of this innovative tool that will allow visitors to explore, for the first time, the iconic Muralla Roja, a privately owned building that is not accessible to the public.
To carry out the virtualisation of the visits, 3D scanning technology was used, which allows a physical space to be captured in its entirety, in three dimensions, using special cameras and sensors. In total, more than 450 scans were made in corridors, stairways, terraces, courtyards and viewpoints.
These captures were then processed to create a unified, navigable digital model that reproduces the complex structure of this iconic building and can be explored virtually, as if the visitor were inside the building. "The biggest challenge was the complexity of the Muralla Roja itself: its labyrinthine courtyards, the variety of levels and the mixture of light and shadow. But that is precisely where the richness of the project lies: in having been able to digitally recreate every corner of this unique work," said Luiza Dinu.
The virtual tour is interactive, allowing visitors to move freely through the corridors, explore the terraces, stop in the courtyards or contemplate architectural details. To this end, the City Council has 60 virtual reality headsets and 150 tablets (which the company Touristinnovación360 S.L offered as an improvement in the tender for this project) that will be made available to tourists, visitors and citizens at the two tourist information offices, from where they can enjoy this virtual tour. There are also plans to offer them in the town's museums in the near future.
Furthermore, as Luiza Dinu pointed out, 3D scanning is a ‘valuable tool for documenting and preserving heritage’, as it provides a record of the current state of the building for future restoration work or studies.
The project also has an important educational and cultural component, as students, researchers and curious visitors will be able to learn in depth about Ricardo Bofill's architecture and the relevance of the Muralla Roja in the recent history of Calpe.
This is the first immersive experience project carried out by Calpe Town Council, and there are plans to soon virtualise visits to Penyal d'Ifac as well as the archaeological sites of the medieval village of Ifac and Banys de la Reina. All this will cost €186,194.80, financed entirely by the European Union with Next Generation funds.
‘Our aim is to make tourist resources accessible to everyone, including those that cannot be visited because they are privately owned or because their characteristics make them inaccessible to groups with mobility problems,’ said Mireia Ripoll, Councillor for Tourism Planning.
‘We are committed to making tourism accessible to everyone and, therefore, to a more accessible and sustainable tourist destination,’ said Marco Bittner, Councillor for International Promotion and Next Generation Funds.
Accessible Tourism Certificates
Meanwhile, the Mayoress of Calpe, Ana Sala, together with the Councillor for Tourism Planning, Mireia Ripoll, presented the Equalitas Vitae ‘We are Accessible Tourism’ awards to tourism companies that meet accessibility criteria. These include eight hotels (Hotel AR Diamante Beach, Hotel AR Roca Esmeralda, Hotel TheCookbook, Hotel Gran Sol, Hotel Port Europa, Hotel Porto Calpee, Gran Hotel Sol y Mar and Hotel SuitopíaSol y Mar Suites), a hostel (HostelSea and Dreams), a tourist apartment (Apartamento Realet – Interhome), three campsites (Camping Calpeemar, Camping La Merced and Mediterráneo Camping), a motorhome area (Paraíso Camper) and the two tourist offices in Calpe, as well as the tourist information point on La Fossa beach.
The director of Equalitas Vitae, Izaskun Benito, highlighted that this distinction rewards companies committed to accessible tourism and recognises their efforts to make their establishments accessible. This certificate entails the promotion of companies on the Equalitas Vitae portal, a benchmark in accessible tourism, with details of the accessibility features offered by each one.
She also announced that new courses and workshops will be held in the near future so that local tourism companies and agents can continue to learn about tourism accessibility: workshops on dealing with and caring for people with disabilities, inclusive communication, inclusive commerce and inclusive events. These are in addition to the nine courses offered in the spring, which had a total of 205 registrations.
With this initiative, Calpe Town Council aims to continue advancing in its commitment to becoming an inclusive tourist destination.
These actions are part of a broader project to consolidate inclusive tourism, as set out in the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan (PSTD) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) funded by the European Union - Next Generation.