Sustainable water tourism along Mura and Drava River II

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The goal of the proposed project is to further improve and enrich the joint water-based tourism product and destination image along Mura&Drava River that was developed during the implementation of the „Two Rivers one Goal“ project. Building its actions on the results of the former project & based on existing natural and cultural resources of the target area, the planned project activities will ensure a complex competitive & sustainable tourism offer that will further diversify the existing offer & raise the competitiveness of the HU-HR CBC area along the two rivers. Project activities will improve the general touristic image of the region & increase the annual number of tourist visits. Creating a unique joint tourism product that can be consumed throughout the whole year is crucial for reducing tourism seasonality. Keeping up with current trends, the project will focus on creating a recognizable HU-HR tourism offer through different selective forms of tourism (water, cycling tourism etc.), with an authentic experience based on the rich heritage of the border region. That will increase the economic activity in the area & encourage key institutions to invest more resources in expanding reached project results, thus opening new employment & business opportunities in the region. With its activities, the proposed project is relevant to the CfP, Specific Objective 2.1 – Convert the region’s natural and cultural heritage assets to tourism attractions with income generating capabilities, Component 2: Tourism attractions. It is important to emphasize how all project activities will be conducted in NATURA 2000 protected area which gives it a strong environmental impact. The project will be implemented during a period of 24 months in the HU-HR CBC area along Mura&Drava River. Planned actions will be carried out with a joint effort of 5 responsible partners (and a supporting stakeholder) & focus on further development of a joint tourism product, also ensuring its joint management & promotion in order to increase its visibility as a cross-border water-based tourism destination. Target groups directly benefiting from the actions are tourists, tourist boards, tourism-oriented organizations & school children in the target area, while public, local & regional authorities & tourism related SMEs will indirectly benefit from the project. During the project implementation, 1 joint sustainable water-based tourism product/offer along Mura&Drava River will be further improved & include following attractions: 1 tourism facility in Goričan; 1 upgraded artificial lake in Totszerdahely; 1 traditional ethnic park in Donji Vidovec; 1 thematic boat tour route developed along Mura&Drava, connecting piers installed in the target area during the previous project (3 in HR, 4 in HU); 14 guided boat tours along the new route; 8 resting places for tourists/cyclists (2 in HR, 6 in HU); 3 smart solar cycling points (2 in HR, 1 in HU). For boat tours, 2 electric boats will be purchased. The overall product will represent a unique & attractive tourism content in the border region. Project partners will develop a joint tourism development strategy focused on Mura&Drava in order to attract more tourists to the target area. For branding the cross-border region as an attractive tourism destination, a strong joint promotional campaign for the project will be carried out & include various promotional materials and promotional events (conferences, exhibitions, gold-panning demonstrations). Project partners have refined the project idea&are developing it in a way that has a strong cross-border impact. The main goal of the project is the expansion of a joint sustainable water-based tourism product along Mura&Drava River as one interrelated & complementary tourism offer. To ensure the benefit&long-lasting impact of project results in the target area, the LB, Bs & tourist boards&tourism-oriented organizations from both HU&HR side will sign a long-term cooperation agreement.

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