In the first part of the international project, in which Harghita County Council participates as a partner, the information and knowledge of partners were collected and accordingly was elaborated the database on architectural and cultural religious heritage and the General Guide for the development of these. In four counties, including HarghitaCounty, the project implementation has been put into practice. As part of the pilot project, a common training programme and training curriculum was elaborated in order to improve the knowledge of the stakeholders from religious - tourism field (religious and civil organizations, public authorities and accommodation providers). This knowledge and the collaboration can improve and make their activity more fruitful to offer best services for the pilgrims and tourists visiting our regions.
This training curriculum was finalized on 18-19 April 2013, during the project meeting held in Piatra Neamț, Romania; the translation and adaptation of the material at local level is in progress now. According to the plans, the training programme will be implemented in HarghitaCounty during the period of September-October, and the development of Via Mariae programme (also known as ‘The way of Mary’) will also be discussed.
The main objective of the pilot programme in HarghitaCounty is the development and management of tourism products taking into account the county level tourism development strategy. The Via Mariae programme represents the framework of religious-tourism development activities in HarghitaCounty, containing also the RECULTIVATUR project. These are all part of the tourism axis of economy development programme of Harghita County Council entitled ”Together for a stable future!”, complementing the county council’s church assistance programme, which was successfully implemented during the past years as well.
Until the end of the year, the RECULTIVATUR project team wants to promote together the pilgrimage routes and tourist services in Harghita county and, thus with the aim of increasing the interest of pilgrims. As part of this initiative a guide for pilgrims was elaborated and several other promotional materials will be sent to the tour operators and religious communities from the country and abroad as well. Other tourism product is for example represented by Șumuleu Ciuc – the sacral center, emphasizing not only the activities of Pentecost pilgrimage period, but also during the whole year, including the thematic spiritual programmes addressed to the large public. In this regard the long term objective is the enforcement and concentration of the rich tourism offer at county level, including the religious-tourism attractions, through the establishment of tourism destination management organization.
As follows, a short presentation about RECULTIVATUR project is going to be addressed to those interested:
The main objective of the RECULTIVATUR international project is the elaboration of a tool for the inclusion of religious-related cultural values in the planning and development processes of urban centers, systems of settlements and surrounding rural areas. The project aims to use the religious thematic cultural value jointly with local assets, human resources, infrastructures and services to develop a religious tourism able to create new job positions and generate additional income.
The lead partner of the project is Mid-Pannon Regional Development Company Ltd., from Székesfehérvár, Hungary. The other partners are from Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Miercurea Ciuc, 30th of May 2013
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