04 May 2023
Black Sea Silk Road Cultural Route Develops Regional Tourism Potential
The Silkroad Cultural Tourism Route prepared by the Eastern Black Sea Development Agency (DOKA) for the HERIPRENEURSHIP Project, financed under the Cross-Border Cooperation Program in the Black Sea Basin, was introduced.
The aim of the HERIPRENURSHIP Project is to establish long-lasting partnerships to develop heritage-based values and create new investment opportunities in tourism and cultural and creative industries in historical areas in the Black Sea Basin. It aims to provide local development on the basis of cultural heritage and to offer culture-based solutions for tourism. The project offers an alternative to traditional tourism by reshaping supply and demand in places of natural and cultural importance and includes activities for the development of cultural tourism.
There are 6 partners within the scope of the project; Kavala Development Agency (Greece), Danube Black Sea University Foundation (Romania), Bulgarian Black Sea Union of Local Authorities (Bulgaria), Moldova National Domestic Tourism Association (Moldova), Iakob Gögebaşvili Telavi State University (Georgia) and Eastern Black Sea Development Agency (Turkey) ).
Within the scope of the project, 10 cultural heritage sites from the provinces of Trabzon and Gümüşhane were selected, and a cultural route theme and pilot project including these areas were created. Within the scope of the project, UNESCO declarations of importance were prepared for these areas and storytelling studies were carried out. With this and similar promotion and development activities, these cultural heritage sites have been turned into a cultural tourism route under the Silk Road theme and efforts have been initiated to market this Silk Road route under new tour packages with the contribution of regional tourism stakeholders. The Silk Road Cultural Route will be introduced to tourism agencies from North Africa, the Far East and Central Asia with fam-trip organizations to be held in the upcoming period.
Within the scope of the project, the project partners held a press conference with representatives from the Eastern Black Sea Development Agency and the Tourism Council on May 2, 2023, within the scope of the study visit held in Trabzon on April 30-May 3, 2023. In the meeting, Head of Economic and Social Development Unit Mehmet Bozdoğan and project partners made speeches and expressed their opinions about the project and the pilot project. In addition, the Tourism Council made a presentation about its work and carried out network development studies for possible cooperation activities in the future.
Art Historian Dr. Necmettin Erbakan University, who served as the expert of the project. In the study visit, which was completed in a very informative and productive way with the narration of İlker Mete Mimiroğlu and a professional guide, ideas regarding the evaluation of the potential of the region were put forward.
