Danube GeoTour Plus

Danube GeoTour Plus

Danube GeoTour Plus builds on the established collaboration of 9 geopark partners of diverse projects to indicate new trends that embrace the geoparks’ future and still untapped heritage potential. Depopulation of rural areas, marginalization of certain resident groups, signs of increased tourism demand on hidden heritage gems, and on the other side, competence, management, product, and visitor infrastructure gaps raise the key CHALLENGES in front of the Danube geoparks. Their rural territories encompass 416 municipalities in 9 countries over a surface of 14,601 km2. During the last decade, geoparks have lost 6% of the population and increased visits by 77%, from 317000 to 562000.
GeoTour tourism product, its vast heritage potential, and the existing geopark territorial development model to enhance the sustainable tourism opportunities of remote rural communities and to become more inclusive and appreciated by residents and visitors, making their products more valuable and natural and cultural assets managed in a more balanced and sustainable manner. To achieve this, the UNESCO geopark territorial development APPROACH will be upgraded with inclusive, innovative, and tailor-made solutions in product value design and visitor management, jointly tested and applied in participating geoparks. This shall result in the following:

• ENGAGEMENT of vulnerable groups into geopark structures, products, and services further to a common engagement strategy and 9 action plans, motivated by new opportunities offered by geoparks and cross-border peer exchanges;
• VALUE GENERATION for local SMEs and raising employment opportunities for vulnerable groups by piloting 9 GeoExperiences as a new participative product development model and functional part of a top-end segment of the Danube GeoTour product and its future cooperation
• BALANCED VISITOR MONITORING based on developed and verified common visitor monitoring solutions for routes, hot spots, and larger territories, joint analytical tools, and initial visitor redistribution measures.

Intense transnational cooperation in these, for Danube geoparks and similar territories important change processes, will significantly improve competencies of all 29 participating organizations coming from 8 member and 3 non-member states, in the field of inclusive integrated territorial development, product (experience) innovation management and smart visitor monitoring. Danube GeoTour Plus is thus not just another transnational tourism product but it is a path into o collaborative platform that will, after the project closure, ensure the future sustainability of the Danube GeoTour product and enable permanent networking of the Danube geoparks for common, more sustainable, and inclusive territorial goals.

Leadpartner:
Natur- und Geopark Steirische Eisenwurzen GmbH

Project partners:

• Idrija Tourism Board
• EGTC Geopark Karawanken – Karavanke
• University of Bucharest, Vodní zdroje Chrudim Ltd.,
• Public Institution “Nature Park Papuk”
• Geopark Swabian Alb
• Public Enterprise National Park Djerdap
• Bükk National Park Directorate
• Technical University of Kosice
• College for Tourism and Management Konjic

Duration: 1.1.2024 – 30.6.2026
Approved ERDF contribution: 1.830.412,00 €

Website: Interreg Danube - Danube GeoTour Plus