Valamar gave the sunset its own soundtrack: When audio design becomes part of the tourist experience

Valamar is in Pical Resort presented Sunset Experience, a new artistic and touristic concept that turns the everyday sunset into an audio-visual experience.

At its center is the original 30-minute original musical piece, composed and produced exclusively for Sunset Point at Pical Resort, giving this part of the Poreč coast a unique musical identity.

The original music created specifically for this location follows the natural rhythm of sunset every day, transforming one of the most beautiful scenes on the Adriatic into an experience that can be seen, heard and felt at the same time.

The project was conceived by a composer and producer from Poreč Daniel Damjanovic in collaboration with Istrian musicians and artists of different generations. With recognizable vocals Ive Gortan, the final song "My Love Sleeps" is performed by the singer-songwriter Elis Lovrić and Danijelov's ten-year-old daughter Olivia, whereby the project further emphasizes the connection between the local art scene, language and identity of Istria.

This gave the Poreč sunset something that makes it unique - practically its own soundtrack created specifically for this location.

Sunset Experience is part of Valamar's strategy of developing authentic experiences that provide guests and the local community with experiences that go beyond the classic tourist offer and further enrich the identity of Poreč as a destination.

"At Valamar, we believe that top-notch tourism creates authentic experiences that leave a lasting impression and become part of the destination's identity. We developed the Sunset Experience in collaboration with local artists to transform the natural beauty of the Poreč sunset into a unique experience that connects music, space and community. This is not only a new attraction at Pical Resort, but also a contribution to the experience of Poreč and an example of how tourism and the local creative scene can together create new value for guests and the local community.", He said Drazen Mofardin, director of Pical Resort.

That part of the story is perhaps more important than the music itself. The Sunset Experience shows a shift from thinking about a tourist product to designing a tourist experience.

A sunset exists independently of a hotel, investment or tourism company and is a free natural resource in itself. By adding original music, lighting, dramaturgy and a precisely defined moment of its occurrence, an existing resource is given a new interpretation and becomes an experience that the guest can associate with a specific place.

In tourism, it is precisely on this difference and "small details" that added value is built. 

It is not just a question of what the guest can use or consume, but What will they remember, what will they emotionally associate the destination with, and whether there is a certain experience only at that place?.

A hotel may have a superior room, restaurant, swimming pool or wellness, but this is not a comparative advantage, but the experience that comes from the specific space, local culture, author and identity of the destination certainly is. That is why it is already interesting that a large tourist company is thinking at this level of detail. Although for Valamar it is not an individual trip, but an integral part of business and way of thinking. 

In our tourism industry, we talk a lot, and in general terms, about prices, and less about value for money, quality of service, added value, experience, the guest journey that encompasses the entire experience and all points of contact that a guest has with the hotel and destination, or even about benchmarking.

And it is precisely on the aforementioned elements that competitiveness, differentiation, a relationship with guests that is deeper and of higher quality, and ultimately a unique tourist product, is built. And so think about this sentence: instead of the sunset remaining just a beautiful backdrop next to the hotel, it is treated as part of guest experience design.

This does not mean that this is a revolutionary concept in global tourism, but for the Croatian tourism context it represents a valuable step forward towards what we have been talking about for years - creating one more reason for the guest to experience something right here, and not just spend the night in an attractive location by the sea. 

Listen to Sunset Experience: "My Love Is Sleeping"

Unlike regular music content, the original music automatically starts every day 18 minutes before sunset, culminating when the sun touches the horizon and ending twelve minutes after sunset, following the natural change of light, colors and atmosphere on the horizon.

The video for the final song "Moja jubav spi" was shot at Sunset Point in Pical Resort, further connecting the music to the space from which it originated. The video was produced by Rose Art.

"From the very beginning, I wanted to create something more than a musical background. My desire was to write music that would breathe together with the sunset and the nature that surrounds it. Each composition follows the rhythm of the light, the sea and the moment, and together they make up a musical story that exists precisely because this place exists. I am especially pleased that the project was created in collaboration with Istrian musicians and artists of different generations and that it celebrates our region, its language and its authenticity through music.", He said Daniel Damjanovic.

The special feature of the project is that Sunset Point is open to everyone, both guests of Pical Resort and the citizens of Poreč, walkers, recreationalists and all visitors who find themselves by the sea at sunset. The idea was to create a meeting place where the sunset will become a shared experience for the local community and guests.

And precisely the openness of the space to the entire community gives the project another important dimension.

Tourism content does not remain confined within the boundaries of the resort, but potentially becomes part of the life of the destination. In destination development terminology, this is a step towards placemaking, creating a place that gains a recognizable function, atmosphere and reason to gather. If such a ritual is accepted by both guests and locals over time, Sunset Point will no longer be just another feature of Pical Resort, but could become part of the identity of the Poreč waterfront and the experience of Poreč itself.

The project represents one of the first examples in Croatian tourism where an original musical identity was developed for a specific location instead of using existing musical content. Through the collaboration of Valamar and Istrian musicians and artists, an authentic experience was created that combines contemporary music production, local dialect and the Mediterranean landscape, and shows how art can become an integral part of the tourist experience and destination identity.

But now, as I write this article, it occurs to me that this story also has a broader professional context.

I'm still on hrturtism in 2022, through the topic audio management in tourism, raised the question of how much Croatian destinations are even thinking strategically about sound and music as part of the tourism product.

/ / / Audio design is a global trend, and the position of music in a destination is increasingly burdened by the problem of noise.

A study by the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the time showed that as many as 97,4 percent of surveyed tourist boards did not have a multi-year plan for developing music in the destination's offerings. Prof. Dr. Christian Stipanović then he described audio design as creating the sound of a space with the aim of personalizing it, that is, as part of creating new multisensory experiential values.

"The priority for developing the music offer and promotion is the synergistic connection of all stakeholders, including the local population as presenters of local culture and music, but also tourists as co-creators of the offer in creating new value with concrete advantages for stakeholders, tourists and tourist destinations."", Stipanović pointed out.

It is from this perspective that the Sunset Experience gains additional weight. This is not about simply “playing music” in an attractive location. The sound is designed specifically for the specific space, connected to its identity, local authors and natural events, and time-synchronized with the sunset. So, music here is not an addition to the experience, but one of its main elements.

This is an important distinction, especially in the context of the growing problem of noise in tourist destinations. More music does not in itself mean a better tourist experience. On the contrary, without management, sound can quickly become the opposite - noise, which degrades the space and quality of life of the local community.

Audio managementt starts from a completely different logic: the goal is not to produce as much sound as possible, but to design what kind of sound belongs in a certain space, at what moment and for what purpose.

Although the topic of audio management may seem secondary to some, sound is actually an important segment of any destination. It surrounds us every day and influences our experience of space, although we are often not even aware of it.

The main goal of implementing audio management is to achieve a unique experience and new tourist experiences of the destination in the process of re-conceiving the offer and promotion based on sustainable development and indigenous values, she stated at the time in an interview for Hrturizam. Associate Professor, PhD Diana Grgurić and added:

"The trends in the tourism market that are driving the development of audio management are a paradigm shift in the understanding of tourism as an economy of visual experience and defining measures of travel experience as the total result of sensations from all human senses, among which the auditory one assumes special potential in revitalizing tourism on a cultural, ecological and economic basis."

The Sunset Experience is therefore interesting precisely as a practical example of this approach. Thirty minutes of original music will not, by itself, change Croatian tourism, nor should such a project be given more importance than it objectively has.

But the fact that a travel company is thinking about it what kind of sound should a certain place have, who should create it, when should it be heard and what emotion should it produce, speaks of a clear shift towards significantly more sophisticated design of the tourist experience.

It is precisely in such "small" details that the difference between tourism that only provides a service and quality tourism that creates value, emotion and a reason to remember the destination is hidden.

SIDE DISH:

The project leaders, Prof. Dr. Sc. Christian Stipanović and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Diana Grgurić, have also prepared a manual "Audio management in tourism", which aims to determine the importance of the valorization of music and sound within the framework of sustainable development and management of a tourist destination.

You can read and download the manual at: AUDIO MANAGEMENT AS A FUNCTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CROATIAN TOURISM