In the period 7-9 March 2023 the partners attended the world recognized event ITB Berlin. It is an annual tourist exhibition famous for meeting the tourist industry at one place to discuss opportunities, to decide on future partnerships, to match interests and viewpoints in culture heritage and communication domain.
This year ITB Berlin was the international platform, where the HERiPRENEURSHIP experts and stakeholders presented some of the outputs of the UNESCO Heritage Corridor:
- The sixth pilot routes with the 60 geolocations of tangible and intangible heritage, listed in UNESCO across pilot territories in Greece, Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Georgia and Türkiye
- The online booking application with advanced search engines for places and related facilities
- Videos on demand offering new destinations
- Promotional travel kits with visualization links to the smart applications and pilot locations
These are to support tourism competitiveness on the one hand and to inspire travel motivations into purchase decisions on the other hand. During the event, the partners held constructive meetings and discussions with tour operators, tourist enterprises and business representatives focusing on opportunities for potential collaborations through utilization of the ready – to be promoted resources.
Here is what some of the partners shared about their impression of the participation at ITB-Berlin 2023, about their experience and the measurable results achieved:
Bulgaria:
Elena Simeonova, cultural expert at UBBSLA
“Participating in the ITB Berlin was an experience reaching new destinations, B2B meetings with potential partners and creation opportunities for partnerships. Amazing time spent around the world for UBBSLA team and stakeholders from Bulgaria and a large international scene to share the results of the #HERIPRENEURSHIP project and to promote our countries and pilot sites. All our moments and impressions are collected in the first video below, the second video is our pilot site, promoted during the ITB-Berlin. Come and join us the SPIRITUAL VIRTUE OF NESSEBAR!”:
Romania:
Elena Stefan, project manager at the “DANUBE BLACK SEA” University Foundation
“Being part of ITB Berlin is an exciting and empowering experience. The opportunity to showcase a unique project and a UNESCO site, Danube Delta, to a global audience can create a sense of pride and accomplishment. It’s a chance to make a meaningful impact, to raise awareness about cultural tourism, and to empower local communities.”
The online Brochure and the pilot site from Romania are presented below:
Georgia:
Tamar Aslanishvili, Head of International Relations Office of TeSaU
Tamar presented the two day tour in Georgia – the Wine Cradle country, developed as part of the HERITAGE Experimental Corridor together with the rest audio-visual and promotional materials related to HERIPRENEURSHIP – the online booking app, the promotional video on demand, informative materials, etc.
Moldova:
Tatiana Lupascu, project manager ANTRIM
“ANTRIM participated at ITB Berlin within the country stand of R. of Moldova. The pilot project with the main accent on the “Traditional wall-carpet craftsmanship in Republic of Moldova” – and intangible heritage listed in UNESCO list. The visibility of the cultural rout was made through direct communication with the visitors at the country stand. On the second day of the exhibition, on 8th of March we organized an event where we presented the project as a cross-border collaboration and the cultural route created within the framework of the project.”
For a better perception of the heritage the project manager Tatiana Lupascu wearied a traditional dress weaved at a loom and with traditional embroidery Inscribed in 2022 (17.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity “The art of the traditional blouse with embroidery on the shoulder (altiţă) — an element of cultural identity in Romania and the Republic of Moldova”.
For the event and presentation at ITB a short video with sequences from all 10 geolocations was used:
