- 03-07-2017 12:58
- Velizar Petrov
INSiGHTS Partners, Serbia: Understanding Good Practices on Healthy
Tourism.
Internal
thematic meeting and study visit in Arandjelovac, Serbia
Partners from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia met at the 1st
Multilateral Walkshop and 3rd internal thematic meeting within the
INSiGHTS project - “Integrated Slow, Green and Healthy Tourism Strategies”. The
meeting took place in Arandjelovac,
Serbia on the 28th – 30th
June 2017 and was hosted by Regional
Economic Development Agency for Šumadija and Pomoravlje from Kragujevac,
Serbia.
The first evening partners
experienced presentation of vineries and wine tasting during dinner with local
products. This included a virtual presentation of the pilot territories, a promotional
video of the tourist destinations of Arandjelovac and Topola and the landscapes
of Sumadija and Pomoravlje, and also a promotional film “Soulfood Serbia”.
The focus of the walkshop was on
good practices of promoting healthy lifestyle and eco-consciousness in tourism.
On the second day partners visited the park of Bukovička spa and received
historical and cultural background information during a short guided tour. Partners
also went to a local horse club in Arandjelovac and discussed the experience of
hiking-nature sightseeing with the facilitators. They also visited Oplenac - the
Royal Winery in Topola, which is an excellent example of presentation of local
products to groups of tourists, and they saw the historical heritage (and most
attractive tourist destination in the region) of St George church and mausoleum
of royal dynasty of Karadjordjevic.
During the official meetings
partners discussed the progress of the work packages on Local Strategies, of
the Status Quo reports and the next steps within the project. There was also a
session for the local stakeholders within the walkshop organized by Regional
Economic Development Agency for Šumadija and Pomoravlje from Kragujevac,
Serbia. The director of the agency Nenad
Popović presented the project and the regional situation in the field of
sustainable tourism. There were also representatives of national institutions
present at the event: Biljana Filipović
from the Ministry of Ecology, Slobodan
Petrovič from the Development agency Serbia and Aleksandar Denda from the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and
Telecommunications. Prof. Ulrike
Pröbstl-Haider from BOKU University from Vienna presented tourism concepts
and pointed out the importance of unique and authentic tourist experiences in
certain destinations.
The first bilateral meeting in
Plovdiv, Bulgaria took place in the middle of June. The area was visited by
representatives of Regional Economic Development Agency for Šumadija and
Pomoravlje from Kragujevac, Serbia. Within the “critical classroom” partners
analysed strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of Plovdiv area and the
region of Šumadija and Pomoravlje. The next bilateral study visit will take
place in Slovenia in September 2017 and LAG Central Istria will host the next
multilateral meeting in Pazin.
About
the project
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 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 are 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.
For more information about the INSiGHT project please visit: www.interreg-danube.eu/insights
Contact:
Emőke Tóth, Lead partner
Pons Danubii
European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, Námestie generála Klapku 1, Komárno, Slovakia
Email: komunikacia@ponsdanubii.eu,
telephone: +421 353 811 327
Eva Vovk, Coordinator of Communication Activities
Development Centre of the Heart of
Slovenia, Kidričeva 1, 1270 Litija, Slovenia
Email: eva.vovk@razvoj.si,
telephone: +386 1 896 27 17