Description
Description (EN): The project envisages to respond of the following common challenges:
1. The decreasing of consumption of fish proceeding from the Black Sea.
2. The lack of a cross-border identity which would generate a common, proactive attitude of preservation and protection of the natural and cultural patrimony. In this regard the overall objective is focused on preservation and promotion of common natural and cultural heritage in order to create a sustainable cross border identity that generate added value across the sectors with potential in sustainable development of communities: tourism, fisheries and environmental protection.
The project make a change to the current situation by implementing new actions such as:
1. Creation of tourism product, The Black Sea Menu that consists in a Ro-Bg culinary recipe that will count at least 10 dishes of fish and seafood from the Black Sea. The Black Sea's Menu as a touristic product contributes to the increase of information and awareness degree in the broad public, in an agreeable manner, related to the possibility of using the fish and seafood of Black Sea origin, stimulating the fresh local products consumption. In terms of tourism, the development of a niche tourism, gastronomic tourism, provide a strong chance that Mangalia and Balchik become famous as locations with tradition in preparing and selling local fish and seafood.
2. Creation of tourism product, Sea, Sun & Culture who represents a joint initiative focused on the conservation and promotion of natural & cultural heritage through tourism. The product is made up of a set of tangible and intangible assets that partners bring to the tourists attention to maintain their interest continuously for a more extended period of time during the year.
There are 5 major stages related to this product:
A) Rehabilitation of pedestrian area of Constanta Road who accesses the Republic Square, to provide an adequate space for organizing an annual cultural-artistic Ro-Bg festival;
B) Rehabilitation of Balchik promenade, pedestrian access road along the sea, that link two historical sites The Mill and Queen Mary’s Castle.
C) Printing, editing and distributing a package of info and publicity multi-media materials to inform and stimulate the public to spend the holidays in the area;
D) Organising in Mangalia a cross border festival entitled Marea Neagra cu marama si Dunarea cu naframa, first edition. It will increase the attractiveness of the cross border area and also promotes intangible common assets (culture&tradition) contributing to strengthening the cross border sense of identity. The festival will focus on folklore, traditions and customs of the cross-border area, but it will have multicultural components such as Mini interviews with specialists in local history, environment protection and tourism. The tourism product Black Sea Menu will be integrated in the festival in order to increase the tourist interest in the target area, and to create opportunities for the gourmet tourism progress as a way of expanding tourism season outside the summer.
E) Organising 2 musical events Balchik Piano Days and Balchik Jazz Nights. During the first event Piano Stations will be set up for 4 days and different people will freely express their musical talent. On a special stage, in the evening, concerts will be held from master classes for students from the Bulgarian/Romanian art schools. In the closing evening, it will hold a piano marathon, where three of the best young pianists of BG and RO will be invited. BG and RO jazz performers will be invited to join the musical evenings on stage.
3. Elaboration of a joint strategical action plan which will set up a marketing strategy aimed on permanent promotion of natural and cultural characteristics of the area, for increasing the touristic interest and an annual touristic programs designed to attract tourists, mostly outside the summer season.The programs will be promoted within the marketing strategy, annually, any interested economic operator from Mangalia and Balchik will be able to enrol in the program. The aim is to attract economic operators for a joint promotion of the coast area that will contribute to an increase of overnights, e.g. “spend 5 days on the Ro coast and you will receive one free night in Balchik” and vice-versa.
All actions described above represent in fact new solutions for the common sustainable use of the specific natural and cultural heritage. The project is an approach that goes beyond existing practices as it involves a common effort to raise awareness of the importance of preserving natural and cultural heritage and to develop the area by promoting sustainable tourism. Until now, the two partners have not promoted an integrated tourism product (cultural and gastronomic) that puts in value the natural and cultural heritage and through which the tourist season extends outside the summer season. As it results from the aspects described above the project contribute to the targeted outputs indicators because it creates 2 integrated tourism products and 1 joint strategical action plan in the field of common preservation, development and utilisation of cultural/natural heritage by sustainable tourism in the cross border target area. The cross-border approach is absolutely necessary because both the cultural and natural heritage are specific realities for the cross border area without administrative boundaries and the preservation and promotion of it must be done in a unitary way, with a bigger impact than if it were fragmented. Mangalia and Balchik are located on the shore of Black Sea in the historical and geographical region, Dobrogea. From a cultural point of view Dobrogea is a borderless region, the common history generating a huge cultural heritage which, together with natural resources and specific modern infrastructure is an important factor generating tourism. The two tourist products created within the project would clearly not have a strong impact on the intensification of the tourism in the area if they were implemented separately. Bulgaria's gastronomy and culture elements contribute to the growing interest of Romanian tourists and vice versa. The Black Sea menu have much higher chances to generate gastronomic tourism with recipes from both areas because tourists, will be more motivated in discovering the culinary delights generated by the creativity of both nations. Thus, through the project, both cities will develop their tourist offer by making available to tourists a modern infrastructure and opportunities to spend their free time in a pleasant way, discovering the cross border gastronomy and culture. The Joint Plan elaborated within the project fortify the positive effects of the project into the cross border area. All this translates an obvious gain for the two cities as the reward of joint cooperative efforts for a sustainable cross border development.
Read more Achievements (EN): The Rehabilitation of the coastal alley of Balchik, connecting the State Cultural Institute - the Cultural Center “Palace” and the Cultural Information Center “The Mill” have been finalized since 05.03.2020.
The execution works for modernizing the promenade area of Constanța street in Mangalia, have been finalized on 26.11.2020.
On 11.09.2021, the cross-border festival “Black Sea with Marama Sea and Danube with Nafram” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VDccMhkgow) was held in Republica Square, Mangalia. During the festival, a folk show and the gastronomic event “Black Sea Menu” took place (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3ghZn8nPBA).
Between 15.07.2021-18.07.2021, Balchik Municipality organized two artistic events “Piano Days” and “Jazz Nights” outdoors on the stage of the Cultural Information Center “The Mill”. (https://balchik.bg/bg/news/525-%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%B2-%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BA-%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82-%D0%B2-%D1%81%D1%80%D0%B5, https://www.facebook.com/BalchikPianoDays/, https://www.facebook.com/BalchikJazzNights/)
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Website: https://interregrobg.eu
Expected Results (EN): R2.1 - Number of tourist overnights in the CBC region
Expected Outputs (EN): The results of the project contribute directly to the increase in the number of overnight stays in CBC area Mangalia Balchik. The whole project is a joint approach of two local authorities in the CBC area for the sustainable use of cultural & natural heritage by tourism. Any form of tourism involves the mobility of people from their homes to the touristic locations. Any trip that takes a longer time than one day involves at least one overnight stay in an accommodation structure. The project aims to create 2 integrated common tourism products that will be included in a joint strategical action plan in order to intensify the tourism phenomenon in the area and extend its manifestation beyond the summer season by combination of various types, including the niche tourism (gastronomic, event or curative tourism). By implementing the common tourism product, The Black Sea Menu, Mangalia and Balchik will gain visibility as two cities where tourists can enjoy at any time the delicacies of fish and seafood harvested from the Black Sea. So, at any time of the year this type of gastronomic tourism can be successful. All the information and promotion activities of the project, realised by distributing and disseminating the promotional package, will have a positive effect to increase the visibility of the target area regarding all the opportunities to spend free time through knowledge and entertainment. In general, Mangalia is renowned for its beaches and balneoclimatic treatments, but few tourists know the rich historical and natural heritage existing in the city, but also in its surroundings, Constanta County. So is Balchik, the city is renowned for the Queen Mary’s Castle, but few tourists know the historical and natural surroundings of the city and those in the whole Dobrich district. Informing tourists about all existing opportunities in the area by implementing the tourism product SEA, SUN & CULTURE can only lead to an increase in the number of overnight stays and the extension of the seaside tourist season during the year.
We can realistically consider that the cultural and natural objectives and events promoted through the materials distributed within the project will stimulate the interest of tourists to make trips in the area at any time of the year. The events themselves organised within the project, namely the cross border festival of traditions and customs at Mangalia and the 2 musical events held in Balchik are a very efficient tools to attract tourists. We can also consider that tourists who come in the summer season at the beach extend for at least one day the length of their stay to go through a tourist circuit promoted within the project in the CBC area. The enforcement of joint strategical action plan directly contributes to the increase of number of overnights. The action plan will be built on 2 dimensions:
- a marketing, publicity and information strategy aimed on permanent promotion of the natural and cultural characteristics of the area, in order to increase continuously the touristic interest. Within this strategy, it will be also taken into account the annual multiplication/distribution of the materials created by the project, in order to maintain the 2 touristic products.
- an action strategy, containing concrete measures meant to intensify the tourism in the area and, consequently to increase in the number of overnights. For this to achieve its effect, this strategy/action plan will be designed and differentiated according to the target group typology, age categories/financial status of the potential tourists/family status (married, single). The set of actions will be proposed and defined by involving directly the important tourism actors like: tourism agencies, hotels, restaurants. Within the meetings organised within the project, there will be analysed and established joint annual programs designed to attract tourists that will be promoted mostly outside the summer season (april-may-june; septembre-october). Different possibilities regarding tourist offers will be analysed annually, after project implementation for updating the programs established initially: price cutting or gratuities for accommodation, restaurants and other touristic services. The programs will be promoted within the marketing strategy, so that at each annual launch, any interested economic operator from Mangalia and Balchik (hotel, restaurant, etc) will be able to enrol in the program. The aim is to attract economic operators for a joint promotion of the coast area, by creating programs that will contribute to an increase in the number of overnights, e.g. “spend 5 days on the Romanian coast and you will receive one free night in Balchik” and vice-versa. The touristic programs will be promoted through the websites of both partners. Taking into account all the aspects presented, it is obvious that the results of the project have a direct link with the program outcome indicator, both during the lifetime of the project and during the monitoring period.
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Thematic information
Specific Objective:
To improve the sustainable use of natural heritage and resources and cultural heritage
Thematic Objective:
(06) preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency by:
Investment Priority:
(06c) Conserving, protecting, promoting and developing natural and cultural heritage