Project presentation

The general objective of the project is the eco touristic promotion of the regions Sucevita and Voloca, of their traditions, customs and touristic attractions, as well as the facilitation of cross border communication by consolidating sustainable relations regarding tourism, between the Romanian and the Ukrainian communities.
            The activities of the project correspond to the objectives and priorities of the program, namely they contribute to the extension and growth quality offers within the tourist sector regarding the cross border perspective, to the sustainable development of the touristic sector on both sides of the border and to the development of cross border cooperation with the view to discover the joint socio- cultural inheritance related to history, traditions, customs and the local environment.
Bukovina – Romania’s North- East province – is famous for its wonderful outer frescoes from the walls of its monasteries. These monasteries, beautiful works of art, with Byzantine influences, reflect the development of the Moldavian civilization from the 15th and the 16th centuries, under the reign of Stephen the Great.

The Sucevita Church
Built four centuries ago under the ruler’s command, like a fortress that does not allow the entrance of heathens, the Sucevita Monastery, with its walls and towers, with the church and the hundreds of paintings that cover its outer walls, is one of Bukovina’s most precious jewels and represents the climax of the Moldavian feudal art.
Still, as for the rural regions, the touristic request is quite low, both in Romania and in Ukraine, this situation being determined by the lack of financial resources (among Romanian tourists) and by the insufficient promotion (among foreign tourists).
The city of Sucevita delights every year many tourists from all over the country as well as from abroad, but at present, there is no information centre where they can benefit from information and services regarding the touristic potential of the region. Cultural events for keeping traditions and customs were never organized with the purpose to perpetuate the attractions of the region. The touristic routes which bond Sucevita to other attraction from the same region are not well set or suitable marked and promoted. Therefore, only the natives know them and travel on these routes.
The project meets the identified problems, holding forth punctual meetings meant to respond to the local communities’ needs. In this manner, a touristic information centre will be set up, a touristic map of the region and a presentation site will be created and 4 touristic routes will be rehabilitated (through the woods, mountains, to the attraction points from this region). Joint cultural events will be organized; events that are meant to present and keep the traditions and customs from Sucevita. Seminars and thematic fairs will also be organized in order to discuss on the touristic promotion between the two regions and the cross border cooperation development regarding the tourism from the two countries – Romania and Ukraine.
Romania has a wide and complex touristic potential. It is formed of a variety of relief forms, such as: mineral and thermal water springs, lakes used for spending the spare time, for swimming and fishing, beautiful forests, etc. The history of the Romanian nation is reflected in numerous material and spiritual testimonies which can be seen in towns (museums, monuments, churches, monasteries, antique and medieval fortresses, traditional clothing, ceramics, etc.). All these represent a valuable fond of elements that is not sufficiently promoted at international level.
Situated in East Europe, Ukraine is a country that encounters great difficulty in the touristic sector after the fall of USSR. Despite of all these, one can meet here hospitable people, a great special architecture, numerous touristic attractions, traditional villages, ponds with ducks and carriages with horses, where time seems to have stopped.  Voloca is a village inhabited by Romanians, situated at a distance of 10 km from Chernivtsy. One can find here a 200 year old wooden church and traditions and customs were kept here until nowadays.
The rural tourism is low on request, both in Romania and in Ukraine, this situation being determined by the lack of financial resources (among Romanian tourists) and by the insufficient promotion (among foreign tourists).
The target group will be formed of: 15 craftsmen present at the fair dedicated to them, 25 touristic services suppliers from Bukovina, 30 people from the local public administration and tourism institutions from Sucevita and Voloca, that will take part in the thematic seminars, 1.500 inhabitants from Sucevita that will participate in the organized events (traditional round dance, the fair of householders, the fair of craftsmen), 10.000 tourists will benefit from the services offered by the touristic information centre planned within the project, as well as from the marked routes, 20.000 people that will benefit from touristic information as concerns the two regions through the site designed. Final beneficiaries: the citizens of the two cities involved in the project, Sucevita and Voloca, as well as the tourists from the area.
Goals: 1.            Advancing tourist exchanges between Romania and Ukraine, and especially between Sucevita and Voloca. 2. Laying the basis of a tourist information centre based on models of good practice used in the European Union. 3. Making a site of tourist promotion of the localities Sucevita and Voloca. 4. Making some connections between the two regions (Sucevita and Voloca), in order to promote the cross border tourism in the Bukovina area. 5. The rehabilitation of 4 tourist routes on approximately 20 km, routes that connect it with other tourist attractions in the Bukovina area.
The concrete results that are to be obtained shall be: the creating of a site concerned with promoting the tourist attractions in the area; drafting, creating and distributing promotional materials; installing an informational tourist centre, in order to offer the beneficiaries quality and prompt information; organizing a promotion event of the traditions and customs of the area which will comprise: a craftsmen fair, thematic visits, a Ball of the Householders and a Romanian Traditional Dance; the rehabilitation of 4 tourist routes in the area; organizing a fair of the suppliers of tourist services in Sucevita; 15 representatives of the local public administration and structures in tourism in Sucevita shall take part in the event organized in Ukraine, where they should have the possibility to analyze the tourist potential of the area, the promotion methods used and the measures that need to be taken in order to encourage the tourist potential of the area, the representatives of the influence factors in tourism shall have the opportunity to get together within a seminar and to discuss the solutions in the promotion of the rural tourism in Bukovina, as sustainable local economic development source; promoting the events within the written and spoken mass media; 5 articles, 2 interviews.
Through the unfolded activities, the partnership among different tourism institutions in the Sucevita and Voloca regions shall be encouraged and the access to information concerning cultural-tourist objectives and traditions of the two communities will also be improved. The development of the tourist compartment and assimilating some models of good practice in this domain shall implicitly bring the economic development of the area.
The main activities of the project are: Acquiring and establishing tasks for the management team of the project, Acquisition of equipments and services, Creating a site for tourist promotion of the area, Drafting promotion materials, Installing an informational tourist centrw, Organizing events – promotion of traditions and customs in Sucevita, Intermediate evaluation, Rehabilitation of tourist routes, Organizing suppliers fair for tourist services, Organizing events in Ukraine, Sucevita seminar – Promotion of rural tourism and Final evaluation.
The Ukrainian partner - namely the City Hall from Voloca – has articulated its interest to develop a project of cross border cooperation in tourism, partnership with the City Hall in Sucevita, in order to create sustainable links between the two communities and the promotion of tourism in the region, as an instrument of local sustainable development. The City Hall shall facilitate the tourism structures in the region of Chernivtsy and shall back up the organization of activities which shall undergo in Ukraine, by offering the necessary human resources, materials and informatics.   
This is the first project of cross border cooperation for both applicants.
After the unfolding of this project, we also have in view the continuation of the cooperation activities in tourism, between Voloca and Sucevita, through the organization of joint annual meetings of the two public local administrations.
The City Hall will try to include in the local budget for next year a special chapter destined to tourist promotion of the area at an international level and will support the appointment in the future of an informational tourist centre equipped in a modern way, in order to offer up to date information to the tourists who visit the area. Even after the present irredeemable financing stops, the cooperation between the applicant and the Ukrainian partner will continue, through the union of the two communities and the organization of joint events.
The informational point established within the project, the rehabilitated tourist routes and the cultural manifestations for promotion of traditions and customs will ensure the local “owning” on the project’s results, because there are activities destined to the local community. Even after the unfolding of the activities, the informational tourist point will function, because there is the intention to develop it in an informational tourist centre.                      
            Through the activities unfolded and the results achieved after the implementation of the project, new sustainable bonds will be created at the level of the two regions and the basis of some future cross border cooperation projects will be laid. The meetings between the representatives of the two communities will allow the local actors to support some measures of regional development  as concerns tourism, represented by an assembly of measures planned and promoted by the local public authorities, in partnership with different private or public actors from tourism, with the view to ensure a dynamic and sustainable economic growth, through an efficient capitalization of the local and regional potential, with the purpose of improving life standards.
            The creation of partnerships between different tourism structures from the two regions will contribute to planning some joint development strategies regarding tourism, new partnerships and future projects that are meant to continue the idea of the present application.
            The joint events of promoting the customs and traditions from the area and the tourism fairs organized will allow a reciprocal knowledge of the two cultures and of the practices used in tourism.  
            The web page designed with the purpose of promoting the tourism from the two regions and the results of the project will be considered as an information tool both for tourists and for other public administrations or institutions that want to implement future cross border cooperation projects.   

Project presentation

The general objective of the project is the eco touristic promotion of the regions Sucevita and Voloca, of their traditions, customs and touristic attractions, as well as the facilitation of cross border communication by consolidating sustainable relations regarding tourism, between the Romanian and the Ukrainian communities.
The activities of the project correspond to the objectives and priorities of the program, namely they contribute to the extension and growth quality offers within the tourist sector regarding the cross border perspective, to the sustainable development of the touristic sector on both sides of the border and to the development of cross border cooperation with the view to discover the joint socio- cultural inheritance related to history, traditions, customs and the local environment. [ more ]

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