On September 8, 2026, UPLIFT project partners and participants from different European countries met in Maribor and online for the final conference of the UPLIFT project entitled Unlocking the Future of Immersive Literary and Film Tourism. The hybrid event brought together project partners, educators, tourism experts, researchers and other participants interested in the changing relationship between tourism, storytelling and immersive technologies.
The conference represented an important milestone in the UPLIFT project journey and an opportunity not only to present the results of the project, but also to reflect on the broader question: How can stories, places and technology work together to create meaningful tourism experiences?
UPLIFT – Upskilling in Immersive Literature and Film Tourism – is an Erasmus+ collaborative project that connects tourism, storytelling, technology and education, with a special focus on developing the skills needed to create immersive experiences in the field of literary and film tourism.
From film and literature to immersive storytelling
One of the central parts of the conference were lectures by two invited keynote speakers.
In her lecture The Future of Film and Literary Tourism, Dr. Noëlle O'Connor from the Technological University of the Shannon in Ireland presented the development from traditional film and literary tourism to interactive, personalized and technology-enabled storytelling. She highlighted the increasingly important role of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), which allow visitors to enter reconstructed worlds, connect stories with real locations, and experience content tailored to their interests and language.
The second keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Jasna Potočnik Topler from the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Maribor, in her lecture Slovene Writers' Route: Connecting Literature and Tourism, brought the discussion closer to Slovenia and presented the potential of literature for connecting stories, cultural heritage, destinations and tourism. Both lectures emphasized one of the key ideas of the UPLIFT project: stories can give new meaning to places and create new reasons to visit and experience a destination.
From visitors to heroes
A particularly practical part of the conference was the section "From Visitors to Heroes – Inspirational Stories from UPLIFT Workshops", in which experiences from workshops held in Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania and Slovenia were presented.
The examples presented showed that immersion tourism does not necessarily require complex technology or large financial investments. For example, the Lithuanian experience brought to the fore the principle of "story first, technology later". The participants first thought about their brand, target group and goals, and only then explored the possibilities offered by modern technologies. This was followed by entering the world of virtual production and an experience in which the visitor no longer observes the story only from the outside, but becomes part of it.
At a workshop in Ireland, participants learned about how tourism organizations can create 360-degree VR experiences , combining high-quality visual environments, artificial intelligence tools and virtual backdrops.
The Slovenian experience was presented by Nuša Lešnik from the Development Agency of Slovenska Gorica, who showed how the knowledge and ideas from the UPLIFT workshops can be transferred to the development of the destination and the creation of new tourist experiences. She put a very practical challenge at the forefront: how to turn local stories into experiences that make it worth going on a trip?
Together with the Icelandic example of the creative use of QR codes, the four presentations showed different paths to the same goal: from visitors to active participants and finally to the heroes of their own tourist experience.
Looking ahead to 2030
The conference ended with an expert panel discussion "The Future of Immersive Tourism in Europe", in which Dr. Noëlle O'Connor, Vera Vilhjálmsdóttir, Laura Magan and Monika Grinevičiūtė participated, and was moderated by Tanja Abarca Kokol.
The discussion focused the gaze beyond the boundaries of the UPLIFT project itself into the future: What will immersive literary and film tourism be like in 2030? How will technology evolve? What role will storytelling play? What competencies will future tourism professionals need? And how will the expectations of visitors and destinations change?
Throughout the conference, an important message was formed: technology alone does not create a quality tourist experience. Its true value is shown when it supports a good story, connects the visitor with the place and enables him to turn from a passive observer into an active participant in the experience.
The final conference marked an important milestone for the UPLIFT project, but the knowledge, ideas, materials and partnerships created by the project are intended to be used even after its completion – to support educators, students, tourism professionals and destinations in finding new ways to turn stories into experiences.
From stories to experiences. From visitors to active participants.
More about the project and its materials and results can be found on the project website https://uplifttourism.eu/ .