The capacities of tourism service providers and public authorities in Soroca (Republic of Moldova) and Yampil (Ukraine) will be strengthened within a cross-border project. Thus, the project "Rural tourism - a sure step to increase the cross-border cooperation between Soroca and Yampol", implemented with the financial support of the European Union, was launched today, January 31st, in the Soroca municipality.
The project is implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", in partnership with the Soroca Rayon Council and the Yampil Rayon Administration. It is co-funded by the European Union in the framework of Moldova – Ukraine cross-border cooperation Eastern Partnership Territorial Cooperation Support Programme. The aim of the project is to strengthen the capacity of tourism service providers and local authorities in the Soroca and Yampil rayons to develop and promote rural tourism through cross-border cooperation.
"Moldova's rural tourism needs a new approach, to bring benefits and to become attractive. Therefore, this cross-border initiative will provide an impetus for tourism entrepreneurship and will make it possible to exchange best practices in the field to be implemented by the authorities in the Soroca and Iampil rayons, which will visibly improve their image", said the Project Manager, Liubomir Chiriac.
"Soroca is a beautiful tourist region, and for this reason, it is necessary to promote this sector so that the fame of the Soroca rayon to be taken further away from its borders. The raion administration together with the local authorities and communities will make the effort necessary for the project to have continuity", said Ghenadie Muntean, president of the Soroca rayon.
"Through this project, we want to demonstrate to the authorities that we have the same culture, the same traditions, the same history that deserves to be written on. We have in our rayon many communities with beautiful traditions, which are visited by the inhabitants of the towns in order to see and feel the history alive", stressed the president of the state administration of the Yampil rayon, Mihail Vdovtov.
According to Catalina Arghir, the representative of the Technical Secretariat for Eastern Partnership Territorial Cooperation (EaPTC), the cross-border project is part of the Moldova – Territorial Cooperation Support Programme, along with 15 other initiatives. The overall contribution of the European Union to the implementation of the EaPTC program is 12.5 million euro, out of which 3.3 million euro are intended for the Republic of Moldova - Ukraine Programme.
In turn, the Director of the Tourism Agency of Moldova, Stanislav Rusu, who attended the event, argued the importance of tourism for regional development: "Tourism is an economic activity that brings wealth to the population, can stop migration and generate jobs, especially in rural zone. I am glad that tourism at the level of local authorities has begun to be perceived as an activity promoting national authenticity. I assure you that our institution will give you all the necessary support for this cross-border project to bring effective results for the country". According to the official, the Republic of Moldova ranks fifth in the world as a percentage increase in the number of tourists visiting our country.
The cross-border project includes a series of training sessions, study visits to boarding houses, a guide for tour operators, support for four festivals, a tourist map, and even a documentary film to highlight the tourist heritage of the Soroca and Yampil rayons. The infrastructure of some public cultural institutions will also be improved, and 30 tourist boarding houses and representatives of local authorities in both regions will strengthen their tourism marketing capabilities.
In this context, the representatives of cultural institutions from Soroca rayon present at the launching conference, support the initiative of the local public authorities to promote the tourism potential.
"I'm glad this project was launched, because it's a premiere for the rayon. The community from Vadeni village can contribute to the development of tourism with the old school offered by the local administration to create a museum of history and ethnography and two peasant farms that we can arrange as centers of handicraft", believes Simion Lungu, director of the Cultural House from Vadeni, the Soroca rayon.
And Cristina Ursachi, who is an artistic director in the village of Solcani, believes that rural traditions can become an attraction for tourists. "We can enthuse the tourists with our authentic seating, we have an old wooden church renovated for more than 100 years, we have a museum where we serve guests traditional dishes and we can certainly find other beautiful places that would attract tourists".
The project "Rural tourism - a sure step to increase the cross-border cooperation between Soroca and Yampol" is implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", in partnership with the Soroca Rayon Council and the Yampil Rayon Administration (Ukraine). The project is co-funded by the European Union in the framework of the Moldova-Ukraine Eastern Partnership Territorial Cooperation Support Programme (EaPTC).
For more information, please contact the Press Officer of the project, Ana - Maria Veverita: ana.veverita@viitorul.org or by phone (0 22) 221844.
