Danube on 2 wheels

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Romania-Bulgaria cross-border area is characterized by a cultural and natural heritage which requested a unitary approach and a consequently joint cooperation to overcome national boundaries in the field of tourism. The challenge in the area is to find long-term sustainable development and cycling is among the most sustainable forms of sports, recreation and tourist activities. Therefore, considering the potential of the area, it is a step forward to have integrated tourist products based on cycling. What tourists want is the story, not only pedalling. They have to be allured by nature, the taste, secrets and experience that they might find along the way. They should not be stopped by borders and allow the story to be wider. The main objective of the project is to create 3 new integrated tourism products in order to facilitate better utilization of joint tourism potentials, namely: one tourism product – adventures trips on road; one tourism product – adventures trips off road, connecting, where the border permits the routes from Romania and Bulgaria and one tourism products – leisure trips for families with children and for persons with disabilities, in order to facilitate better utilization of joint tourism potential, generating 5600 overnights in the CBC region. The new tourism products will support a sustainable development of the region from economic, cultural and social point of view. The project budget of 497.713,26 euro will be invested in 2 Bike Information Points, one on each side of the border, adequately equipped to support the new integrated tourism products: trailer with motor vehicle 4x4 for carrying equipment on off-road trails according to Annex C, 1 motor vehicle for carrying the tourist with minimum 7 seats according to Annex C, 20 bikes (on road expeditions), 20 bikes (off road expeditions), 20 bikes (10 bikes with strollers for children younger than 4 years and 10 bikes for children older than 4 years) and 10 bikes for persons with disabilities, together with safety equipment and necessary accessories, technical equipment for the reparation of the bikes and 12 pilot actions (3 days each) organized in the eligible area of the programme: 4 Experimental on road expeditions; 4 Experimental off road expeditions; 2 Experimental trips for families with children and 2 Experimental trips for persons with disabilities and their personal care attendants using the equipment purchased to promote the new tourism products. The new tourism products will be developed starting from the findings and results of the common strategy to identify the cycle routes to ride and explore the natural and cultural heritage and will be made known by making use of the common strategy to promote the integrated tourism products, including raise awareness on natural and cultural heritage of the area. The relevance of the project in the programme context is given by its contribution to the programme output indicators: 3 new integrated tourism products created covering 6,98% of the programme output indicator for this call for proposals (I9) and 2 common strategies developed covering 8,7% of the programme output indicator for this call for proposals (I10). The project budget, 497.713,26 euro, in comparison with the financial indicator for PA2 represents only 1,71% from the output indicator for this call for proposals (I12). The development of cycle tourism is a good basis to develop a sustainable, intelligent, inclusive society. Cycling is an activity that is being taken up by an increasing number of people, regardless of age and social position. It is a form of soft recreational tourism that yields many positive results: it is environmentally friendly, promotes a healthy lifestyle and uses a low-cost means of transport. As an important tourist product, cycling is also important from the economic perspective.

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