In recent years, the development in digital technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) has evolved rapidly. These technologies are currently in the process of creating driving change in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), representing innovative means to share information, facilitating access and increasing the value and public awareness on Cultural and Natural Heritage. This is particularly relevant for underwater environments, where the most interesting cultural and naturalistic sites are accessible only to scuba divers, or not accessible at all, due to depth and/or environmental constraints. In addition, in underwater sites, guided diving tours are carried out by professionals that usually describe the area to be visited during the predive briefings; such step is needed due to the impossibility of underwater verbal communication without dedicated equipment, a practice very rarely adopted for recreational diving. So, these difficulties make it almost impossible to replicate under the sea, the guided tour approach that is usually offered in on-land museums. Considering such limitations, several technological applications are emerging to increase the accessibility underwater and enrich users’ experience both for divers and nondivers. This work aims to identify the potential of underwater sites (either cultural or natural) to support the development of sustainable tourism (economic, environmental, cultural and social) in the Mediterranean. Moreover, it focuses on supplying local/regional authorities and stakeholders with a multidisciplinary plan for managing Underwater Museums and Knowledge Centres, by promoting innovation in the diving industry and improving users’/tourists’ experience through value-added services and cutting-edge technologies.

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Focusing on both physical and virtual accessibility, this paper presents the methodology developed by MeDryDive for the selection of AUCHS (Accessible Underwater Cultural Heritage Sites) in Greece, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro. MeDryDive is a project that aims at the promotion of AUCHS in the Mediterranean as distinctive tourism destinations through personalized dry dive experiences. The candidate sites are assessed in order to be included in the transnational thematic tourism product “Dive in the Past” and promoted through Creative and Cultural Industry (CCI) applications, including a Serious Game, Augmented and Virtual Reality applications, and promotional videos, all developed in the context of the project. The main goal of the methodology is to meet the requirements for both the sustainability of the thematic tourism product and the digital applications’ development. The assessment of AUCHS is based on specific criteria that result from setting weighing factors and classifying indicators as either critical or non-critical. The criteria are categorized into core (feasibility) criteria and complementary (appropriateness) criteria for determining the total level of readiness. This set of criteria enables site selection through an elimination method, identifying the suitable pilot and follow-on sites for the integration of digital technologies into the tourism offering.

This paper presents a roadmap to enable the adoption of the BLUEMED model; an integrated plan developed within the BLUEMED project that promotes underwater cultural heritage (UCH) to both divers and non-divers and aims at sustainable tourism development in coastal areas and islands. Through augmented and virtual reality technologies, one can experience wet and dry diving to accessible underwater cultural heritage site(s) (AUCHS), through a physical dive at the sites or a virtual tour at Knowledge Awareness Centers (KACs). The roadmap provides guidelines, so that relevant stakeholders and competent authorities can implement the BLUEMED model and consider the various environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors of the area (locality), to ensure viability in the long-term. The roadmap focuses on the policy and technical parameters, including the cultural and environmental features of the site, the legislative framework, funding issues, the integration of technologies, the prospects for sustainable tourism development in the area, the stakeholder engagement, and the cooperation framework within a top-down or a bottom-up initiative, as well as the establishment and operation of the KACs.

The paper presents the development of a Virtual Reality application to perform dives in the Christoforos Shipwreck. The huge wreck lies in the Panormos Bay of the Skopelos island (Greece) at a depth of 45 meters. Based on a well-known methodology designed for ancient shipwrecks, the 3D reconstruction of the underwater site has been carried out by adjusting the workflow to survey modern shipwrecks. In particular, the methodology, based on photogrammetry, is capable to provide a highly detailed 3D reconstruction of the shipwreck in few dives, considering issues like working depth, elevations, and thin elements modelling. Moreover, the paper describes the optimization of the 3D model and the software to be executed in low-performance HMD devices. The resulting Virtual Reality (VR) application, realized for touristic purposes, recreates the exact ambient conditions inside and outside the water simulating the flora and fauna of the place, the coastline, allowing users to live a recreational and educational experience by virtual diving in the underwater site.