Innovation

Destinazione Umana is the first portal and online tour operator in the world that completely overturns the concept of travel. The true revolution is for the travelers to ask themselves not where they want to go, but who they want to meet. It’s “a portal that connects supply and demand. Demand is by travelers who want an inspirational trip, a path of personal growth that can change their lives. Supply is by hosts who want to not only offer their guests an accommodation, but also to share their experience, so it can be a source of inspiration for travelers'" said Silvia Salmeri, company co-founder.

As for the social innovation and a positive change in the world, the aim of this type of travel is for both the traveler and the host to better themselves reciprocally through the encounter, through the inspiration that both of them can give to each other. They believe that the widespread sense of solitude can be transformed into happiness through experiences with high human value. At the same time, Destinazione Umana represents an opportunity for all those small accommodations, often located in not well known areas, to promote their realities in an authentic way.

Destinazione Umana offers four different inspirational types of travel: life change, innovation for those who need inspiration for a business innovative idea, rurality which is the immersion in the natural environment, and spirituality which is the self research through the travel.

Their company is innovative also for its business management. Destinazione Umana is composed of a young team who do not work in closed offices but in open co-working spaces. Everyone has their own area of competence but the company is characterized by an open and fluid management based on the skills of everyone.

Salmeri, who works in communication and marketing, and Valerio Betti who works in strategy and development, were the founders of the company and in two years, they created a team of eight young people who all brought different skills and values to the team and the management. The other members of the team are Federica Govoni, visual storyteller; Silvia Bernardi, communication coordinator; Chiara Cellini, international communications; Francesco Bevilacqua, editorial staff; Andrea Rago, web master and web designer; and Luca Vanilla, editorial staff.

Another important element to be considered in the company's creation is all the accommodations that believed in Destinazione Umana from the very beginning and took part in the network becoming the human destinations.

Destinazione Umana is also innovative because it looks at the person as the core of everything: both the person who travels and the person who hosts. There is a spirit of continuous evolution, like the concept of travel during the Grand Tour era, in terms of personal growth and deep encounter with the local culture, with people travelers will meet which hopefully will be a source of inspiration.

Inspiration

The idea came from the direct experience of running a bed and breakfast. After Salmeri graduated in 2008 with a degree in political science, she started working as a desk clerk in a sales office. It was a good and useful experience where she learned a lot, but after four years, she started feeling that something was missing in her life and that the job she was doing was not what she really wanted. In January 2012, she opened the blog Vivi Sostenibile (Living Sustainably). Thanks to this blog, Salmeri developed a lot of contacts and participated in many events. After some months, she received offers to open and run a B & B in Valsamoggia, the province of Bologna, Italy, and she quit her job. This was the beginning of her adventure. Some people thought it was crazy to leave a steady job. She had no experience operating a B&B, especially one in an area not well known. But she did it. During the summer, she reorganized the house and in September, the B&B opened. The first night it was full. This experience lasted for one year and in that time she felt alive. While this adventure ended because she did not find an agreement with the owner of the house, it was the beginning of something bigger and gave her the inspiration for her new project.

Thanks to this experience, Salmeri understood that travelers staying in her accommodation were interested not only in the beauty of the rooms, the breakfast and the surrounding environment, but they were seeking more. They needed an exchange, they needed to be listened to but also they needed a note of enthusiasm and positivity during their holiday. She understood that her story was inspiring for her guests because they could see in Salmeri a young woman who was having the courage to realize her dream. Furthermore, running a small accommodation facility in a rural territory, she could not find the right instrument to promote her activity. Destinazione Umana was therefore created by combining the traveler's and the host's necessities: the traveler’s need to undertake a different kind of journey based on meeting new inspiring people for personal and professional growth, and the host’s need of a suitable promoting system.

Overall impact

Destinazione Umana is a valuable and innovative reality

• For businesses because it helps the hosts to promote their small businesses in not very well known places and to reach their targeted market;
• For companies it collaborates with because Destinazione Umana organizes travels for employees directed to their personal and professional growth and improving the “working inspired” mentality;
• For independent travelers who are seeking a different type of travel.

Business benefit

In May 2016, Destinazione Umana published their travel guide book.

The team is also working on becoming a network of travel agencies at the national level. Travel agencies today are destined for a declining future unless they evolve. Thanks to their new product concept and their innovative approach to the client, Destinazione Umana aspires to have the innovation that today’s travel agencies need. The company will have physical points throughout the national territory where people can meet consultants who help in creating the best travel they need.

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Social and environmental benefit

Destinazione Umana promotes small and local accommodations. Being environmentally sustainable is a characteristic common in all the “human destinations”. It is a fundamental feature that evolves naturally when one conducts a certain lifestyle.

Interview

Silvia Salmeri, Inspirational Travels