- 01-03-2017 11:31
- Velizar Petrov
Integrated
Slow, Green and Healthy Tourism Strategies
2,3 million
€ for cooperation on developing tourism strategies for more attractive
destinations in the Danube Region
Environment
and culture responsible Danube Region is one of the four priority axes of the Danube Transnational Programme. The cooperation strengthens
approaches to preserve and manage the diversity of natural and cultural assets
in the Danube Region as a basis for sustainable development and growth strategies.
Fourteen partners from Austria, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia have
launched the INSiGHTS project – “Integrated Slow, Green and Healthy Tourism Strategies”. The
partnership is led by Pons Danubii European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation
from Komárno, Slovakia. The 30-months
long project (January 2017 – June 2019) was approved within the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme
financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Instrument
for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The main goal of the Danube Transnational Programme
is to develop coordinated policies and actions in the programme area
reinforcing the commitments of the Europe 2020 strategy towards the three
dimensions of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The kick-off meeting and public launching event
of the INSiGHTS project took place on the 27th
and 28th February 2017 in
Tata, Hungary hosted by Pons Danubii
European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. More than 80 participants
were present at the public event at Pikant Pajta in Ferencmajor. Sustainable
touristic development in Tata and Komárom-Esztergom County in northwestern Hungary was presented by the mayor
of Tata József
Michl, the state secretary
from the Hungarian Ministry of Justice dr.
Pál Völner and the representative of the Hungarian Parliament János
Bencsik.
Gusztáv Csomor, representative of the Danube Transnational Programme,
congratulated the lead partner and the consortium for the successful start of
the project and highlighted the main objectives and structure of the new Danube
Transnational Programme. Director of Pons Danubii, Zoltán
Bara presented the INSiGHTS
project and its main characteristics. Current trends in green tourism were explained
by prof. Ulrike Pröbstl-Haider from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) from
Vienna, knowledge provider partner in the INSiGHTS project.
The INSiGHTS project is about finding solutions for making regions more
attractive to tourists by developing tourism strategies that keep in the
focus the protection of natural and cultural resources. Regions in INSiGHTS all
have outstanding natural and cultural resources, and at the same time they have
a great potential related to the fast-growing recreational trend of slow, green
and healthy tourism.
Partners will be working in close cooperation with
stakeholders in eight regions to gain relevant local feedback on the current
situation of tourism and also ideas and proposals for new opportunities for slow,
green and healthy tourism. There will be eight
integrated sustainable tourism strategies developed by the partner regions
and they will be adaptable all across the Danube Region. The expected outcomes
in partner regions will be: smart card system, new tourism packages, trail
guide applications, eco-education related new tourism services encouraging
environmentally friendly healthy living, slow tourism networking offering
recreational programmes, cycling infrastructures, and sustainable tourism model
for rural and urban areas.
For more information about the INSiGHT project please visit: www.interreg-danube.eu/insights
List
of partners in INSiGHTS project:
Lead partner:
§
Pons Danubii European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (Slovakia)
ERDF co-funded partners:
§
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria)
§
Institute for Tourism (Croatia)
§
CEEweb for Biodiversity (Hungary)
§
Development Centre of the Heart of Slovenia (Slovenia)
§
Harghita County Council (Romania)
§
Zala County Government (Hungary)
§
Local Action Group “Central Istria” (Croatia)
§
Regional Development Agency with Business Support Centre for Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises (Bulgaria)
§
Donautal-Aktiv e.V. (Germany)
IPA co-funded partner:
§
Regional Economic Development Agency for Šumadija and Pomoravlje (Serbia)
Associated Strategic partners:
§
Plovdiv District Administration (Bulgaria)
§
Istrian Region – Administrative Department for Tourism (Croatia)
§
Komárom-Esztergom County (Hungary)
Contact:
Emőke Tóth, Pons Danubii European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, Slovakia
Lead
partner
Námestie
generála Klapku 1, Komárno, Slovakia
Email: komunikacia@ponsdanubii.eu, telephone: +421
353 811 327
Eva
Vovk, Development Centre of
the Heart of Slovenia, Slovenia
Coordinator
of Communication Activities
Kidričeva 1, 1270 Litija, Slovenia
Email: eva.vovk@razvoj.si, telephone: +386 1
896 27 17