Kick-off meeting for Cross-Border Programme Project “Access2Heritage”

The kick-off meeting of the partners participating in Cross-Border Cooperation Programme “Pathways of accessible heritage tourism” (Access2Heritage) was held on June 28, 29 and 30, 2018 at the Municipality of Volvi. The lead partner of Access2Heritage is the Management Body of Rodopi Mountain-Range National Park and the project, which is funded by INTERREG V-A “Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020”, involves the following nine (9) partners: Management Body of Rodopi Mountain-Range National Park; Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia; Municipality of Volvi; Local Economic Development Agency-Razlog (Bulgaria), National Confederation of Disabled People of Greece; Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria; Technological Educational Institute of Central Macedonia – Business Management Department, Ecoworld Rhodopes Association (Bulgaria), Regional Youth Parliament Association (Bulgaria). The budget for the project amounts to 1 295 840 €, while an amount of 142 300 € is allocated for our organization for the actions that will be implemented. The project will run for two years. The principal objective of this project is to support sustainable tourism relating to natural or cultural heritage in the Cross-Border area and to consolidate the area as an international tourist destination with an increased accessibility via and by means of a series of activities designed to support the tourist project and the spectrum of services that are associated with it. Among other things, the project aims: - for the exchange of know-how, expertise and good practices relating to the improvement of accessibility with respect to the infrastructures for natural and cultural heritage between the partners; - to sensitize local entities on the importance and potential of cultural tourism and of adopting strategies for its viable and all-inclusive planning and development; - to collect data relating to accessibility and user-friendliness for visitors with disabilities and senior citizen of the key cultural and natural resources in the area, and - towards the elaboration of a joint survey for the strategic design and planning of the branding of the CB area as an international tourist destination for senior citizens and people with special needs, offering high quality at a low to affordable cost. In this context, Access2Heritage includes of sensitization campaigns on the local-level, the organization and hosting of a festival and educational – training seminars on increased accessibility tourism.