HIKING ROUTE ALONG THE BALTIC SEA COASTLINE IN LATVIA - ESTONIA

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Background: The Baltic Sea coast is a magnetic nature attraction, with its varied and beautiful shoreline. The project team is well aware of its high tourim potential which can be best realised in common approach. It was decided that a single hiking trail covering the coastline in Latvia and Estonia without interruption would be a promissing tourism product that can attract visitors to the area. So the idea of the The Coastal Hiking route was born. The project team believes in the route idea as the coastline is well accessible, rich in beautiful landscapes, flora and fauna, relatively untouched and ideally suitable for hiking, without significant physical and administrative obstacles. What leaves to be desired is a common route identity, infrastructure with relevant marking and signposting, services for hikers, tourist information, and targeted promotion for domestic as well as international hiking tourist audience. To address this common challenge for Latvia and Estonia and implement the Coastal Hiking route vision, it was decided to build a project team with experience in management of coastal areas, tourism product development and marketing. The Coastal Hiking route will target large geographical territory, exposing the values of the coastline, at the same time meeting the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Cross border nature: As the Baltic Sea shoreline goes across the country borders, the Coastal Hiking route will be built in both, Latvia and Estonia, and the partnership is cross-border. To set up, activate and maintain the Coastal Hiking route, the project will develop and strengthen a cross-border stakeholder network. The project partnership will form the core of the network with the Latvian and Estonian rural tourism organisations responsible for network coordination and route marketing, Vidzeme Tourism Association, Kurzeme Planning Region and West Estonia Tourism responsible for route infrastructure maintenance and improvement in cooperation and coordination with the coastal municipalities. During the project, the network will be enlarged and strengthened involving local stakeholders in Estonia and Latvia along the whole route - municipalities, communities, businesses, NGOs, nature protection bodies and others whose participation and sense of ownership is important in order to keep the Coastal Hiking route really working and attractve for hikers. The cross-border stakeholder network will serve as experience exchange and cooperation platform for the involved members. Objective: The objective of the project is to develop a hiking tourism route along the Baltic sea coastline in Estonia and Latvia as a tourism product to attract visitors to the area. A draft version of the planned route is put on the map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=lv&authuser=0&mid=z_eYIeEh3srk.k45u7P1N7mBI . The route will stretch along the Southwest coastline in Latvia, starting from the border with Lithuania and through Latvia to Laane county region in Estonia, including Estonian islands as a side attraction. Precise location of the route will be defined during the project implementation together with local stakeholders and relevant authorities. Main activities: The project will be implemented through the following key activities: - project launching conference and info seminars to trigger awareness in all stakeholder levels, - gaining experience and synchronising with hiking trails in Europe to ensure professional quality of the trail, - developing visual identity and marking rules/guideline of the route to achieve the Coastal Hiking route recognition, - marking the route in nature with final approvals of its location and information infrastructure from all relevant land owners, building authorities, nature protection authorities, municipalities as well as all involved local stakeholders, - investments in improvement of the route conditions for hikers like resting places, paths, informatio stands and other facilities, - technical route information: taking GPX coordinates, collecting information for route description, preparation of maps to produce tourist information and support route marketing, - digital visualisation of the route and presentation in the web for information accessibility, - cross-border network building activities, including network exchange visits, stakeholder handbook, stakeholder workshops to support the route management and maintenance, - route testing to find and implement drawbacks and necessary improvements, - production of the Coastal Hiking route marketing materials: the guidebook, tourist brochure and map "Hiking along the Baltic Sea cost" (Estonia, Latvia), the calendar of coastal public events for 2018 with updates to 2019, 2020, tour operator manual, - promotion in social media and press, - targeted marketing to ramblers and hikers organisations in Europe, - participation in travel fairs and exhibitions, - promotional videos and public hiking events, - project final conference to celebrate the Coastal Hiking route implementation and disseminate experience.

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