The Danube retold INTERREG project Transdanube Travel Stories

10 partners from seven countries, including the Linz Tourist Board and WGD Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbH, are involved in the new EU project “Transdanube Travel Stories” for sustainable tourism in the Danube region and want to charge the European lifeline with new stories and experiences with new, innovative strategies.

The two-and-a-half-year project, with a total volume of €1.82 million, builds on the results of its predecessor, Transdanube.Pearls, which was completed in 2019. The new project is about the development of innovative, so-called Danube narratives. Selected destinations and sights along a travel route will be linked into a story that can be experienced and promoted. The aim is to arouse interest in the Danube region as a tourism destination and to create a unique Danube memory.

The ten project partners from seven Danube countries, under the leadership of the Federal Environment Agency, are working hand in hand to make the Danube an experience in a sustainable way. The new narratives and stories are being developed under the leadership of the Linz Tourist Board together with experts from various fields. Based on this, travel offers for individual as well as group tourists will be developed. WGD Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbH, as the coordinating body of the Danube Pearls network, will support the partners in both the development and the marketing of the products.

Project partners: 10 project partners from 7 countries

Lead Partner: Umweltbundesamt Österreich

Duration: 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2022

EU funding programme: Interreg Donauraumprogramm

Programpriority: Environmentally and culturally aware Danube region

Financial instruments: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance II (IPAII)

Projektcode: DTP3-319-2.2

Projectakronym: Transdanube Travel Stories

Gesamtbudget: 1,82 Mio. €

EU-Cofinancing (85% of total eligible costs) ERDF: € 1.5 million IPAII: € 44,837.5

Goals

Recognising the extensive cultural and natural heritage, the Transdanube Travel Stories project aims to support sustainable tourism in the Danube Region through the implementation of innovative marketing concepts (new narratives/narratives) and sustainable mobility management tools.

New narratives and mobility management in combination with increased cooperation between stakeholders will provide the framework to better position the Danube as a unique sustainable tourism destination in the market. As a result, more European citizens will be able to experience Europe’s cultural and natural heritage in a sustainable way.

Project measures

Development of new and innovative narratives to promote the Danube macro-region as a tourism destination. Selected sights along an itinerary are linked to a story that can be experienced. In this way, interest is to be aroused and a Danube memory created.

Integration of mobility management tools (mobility managers, mobility plans) into the institutional structures in the participating cultural routes and networks as well as at the destination level in order to make it easier for holiday guests to experience the new narratives/narratives by means of environmentally friendly means of transport and thus limit the negative, transport-related consequences of the increasing number of tourists.

Establish tourism funds at destination level and improve thematic and institutional cooperation between the participating European Cultural Routes and networks in order to strengthen the cooperation of key stakeholders and jointly promote sustainable tourism in the Danube Region.

Projectpartner

Umweltbundesamt Österreich

Austria

Donaubüro Ulm/Neu-Ulm - repräsentiert das Danube.Pearls-Netzwerk

Germany

WGD Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus - repräsentiert das Danube.Pearls-Netzwerk

Austria

Tourismsboard Linz - represents the Route of Emperor and Kings

Austria

West Pannon Regional and Economic Development Public Nonprofit Ltd. - repräsentiert die Via Sancti Martini

Hungary

Institute for Culture, Tourism and Sport Murska Sobota - repräsentiert die Europäische Route des jüdischen Erbes

Slovenia

Croatian Association for Tourism and Rural Development “The Village Membership Club” - repräsentiert Iter Vitis - Die Wege der Weinberge

Croatia

Association for promoting tourism in Oradea and its region - repräsentiert das Réseau Art Nouveau Network

Romania

Danube Competence Center (DCC) - repräsentiert die Route der Römischen Kaiser und des Weins entlang der Donau

Serbia

DANUBEPARKS – Danube River Network of Protected Areas - repräsentiert das Netzwerk der Donauschutzgebiete

Austria

Facebook: www.facebook.com/travelstoriesproject

Website: www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/transdanube-travel-stories

Project leavelet: www.issuu.com/westpannon/docs/tal_n

Transdanube Travel Stories co-funded by the European Union (ERDF, IPA, ENI) and with Tourism Board Linz, Austria.