TRANSDINARICA2

The Danube region, spanning from Austria to Montenegro, is a remarkably diverse part of Europe, connecting highly developed areas with regions facing economic challenges. The challenges faced by the region are primarily driven by economic disparities, resulting in a concerning rise in depopulation and negative migration trends. Lingering effects of past conflicts, particularly in the Balkans, continue to hinder recovery efforts. In Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, factors such as high unemployment rates, slow economic growth, and a lack of job opportunities have compelled many individuals, especially the younger population, to seek better prospects abroad.

On a positive note, the region holds significant tourism potential, stemming from its preserved natural and cultural heritage, scenic mountains, the Adriatic Sea, numerous rivers, and exceptional gastronomic offerings.

However, these potentials are left untapped due to the lack of capacity among tourism stakeholders and poor governance in sustainable tourism practices, thus leaving tourism with minimal impact on the local economies and communities living in undeveloped areas of the Balkans.

One of the unexploited potentials is the Trans Dinarica (TD) tourist route, a 3364km trail spreading from Slovenia to North Macedonia, prioritizing sustainable exploration of UNESCO sites, national parks, and villages. The entire route has been meticulously mapped within the EDGE project by the United Nations Development Programme, accessing rural and underdeveloped areas aiming to become a tourism backbone for inland villages, thus bringing wealth and jobs to the locals. The route/product is trademarked and brand-protected.

Thanks to coverage by Lonely Planet and National Geographic, Trans Dinarica is already globally popular, but unfortunately, it is still nothing more than a digital map, offering no extra benefits for people or society living along the route.

To address these issues and unlock the transformative potential of the Trans Dinarica route, there is a need to invest in capacity building for sustainability, quality improvement, and networking among citizens, businesses, and public bodies along the route. The route is visited by 4000 cyclists annually, which could bring revenues of 4 million euros to local stakeholders. Since we are aware that sustainable development does not only depend on incomes but also on social integration, environmental protection, and cultural heritage preservation, the project seeks to develop new models that encompass all these aspects and increase social and economic benefits to ensure wealth for people and the planet.

The project’s overall objective is to improve Trans Dinarica (TD) by enhancing the social and economic impact of tourism and improving accessibility of the route by connecting it to the Alpe Adria (AA) cycling route.

O1.1. We will develop a model to increase social impact of tourism especially for stakeholders in tourism and government.  The model will promote community participation in tourism-related activities to ensure inclusive sharing of benefits. In this sense we will also give an increase in spreading the information about Trans Dinarica cycling route within local communities, for which the existing route is still mostly unknown.

O1.2 The model to increase economic impact of tourism will be created for tourism stakeholders and government.  We expect that the model can generate jobs and opportunities for the locals, and thus reduce emigrations. Both models are applicable in similar Danube regions. The partners will develop the Starter Kits providing a step-by-step guide for tourism stakeholders and government to adopt the models effectively.

O1.3 TD We will make a certification scheme. Newly developed quality assurance system will offer tailored guidelines and criteria specifically designed for local businesses operating along the cycling route aiming at increasing the quality of tourism offer along the Trans Dinarica. Here we also aim to unify the standards of service along the entire cycling route, which will be a major advantage for the visitors, who will be able to expect higher service quality in all parts of the cycling route.

O 1.4 "TransDinarica2people" is an initiative, developed for the tourism industry, designed to reinvest a portion of stakeholder revenues back into the community via NGOs. The system supports community-based projects and will ensure direct benefits for the local inhabitants. The local communities will therefore get a sense of being included in the project and - most importantly - project results. Too often it happens that the inhabitants who don't feel the benefits of developing a product such is - in this case - a cycling route connection, ignore it or even opose it. Following the above mentioned initiative, we will come closer to wider circle of local population.

O1.5 Trans Dinarica support hubs will be established in the pilot areas and will act as supportive systems and infrastructure to facilitate sustainable tourism practices, ensuring that the development aligns with environmental and social considerations. The Hubs will serve tourism stakeholders, government, NGOs, citizens, and tourists. They will be welcomed as points where detailed information about Trans Dinarica will be available.

O 2.1. The goal of this section is to create a connection between Alpe Adria and Trans Dinarica cycling routes: The project partners will jointly connect TD with Alpe Adria cycling route, which is already well established, with more more than 1.8 million visitors. The connection will increase the number of visitors and thus the economic impact of tourism on the TD. The management of the route is Danube Region  supported by Transnational Strategy. It will be a crucial connection between the already established tourist streams of Central Europe and the Southeastern Europe, which we aim to bring closer to people, searching for new, interesting and relatively unknown destinations.

Transnational cooperation is required due to the territorial coverage of TD and the transnational management system which includes organizations from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro.