A group of about 30 tourism service providers from Cahul district, Republic of Moldova, Galați county, Romania, and Reni territorial community, Ukraine, found out what are the necessary standards in developing cross-border tourism services and drafting a business plan. The third training seminar within the cross-border project "Development and promotion of green tourism in the Danube sector of the Black Sea basin", BSB 817, took place in the Reni territorial community, Ukraine, on 10 and 11 September.

Liliana Ivanova, the project coordinator from Reni, stated during the opening session of the seminar that the promotion of green tourism is a possibility, offered by the European Union, to find out and learn something new, to discuss cross-border regional tourism, but also to develop the regions in which we live.

"We are glad that we managed to meet in this beautiful town of Reni, a place with old traditions, and one that still remains to be discovered. This beautiful region, situated in this part of Ukraine, I hope will give us interesting impressions. In this way, we will be able to connect business people and offer our contribution, so that businesses in the cross-border region of Reni, Cahul, and Galați would prosper at the desired level and people would enjoy and discover the most beautiful places ", stated Liubomir Chiriac, project manager, executive director of IDIS "Viitorul".

"The Romanian delegation present in Reni is visiting Ukraine for the first time. During the days of this workshop, we will surely find out interesting things and we will achieve the results that each of us has set for ourselves individually and within this project. The team from Galați is aware of the fact that colleagues from Reni are taking steps to strengthen ties with their partners in Romania. Certainly, the bilateral or trilateral projects that will be developed in the future will be successful, giving us the opportunity to identify the common goods that we already have, but which are not yet valued at the appropriate level ", mentioned Cristian Munteniță, project coordinator from the “Dunărea de Jos” University, from Galați, Romania.

"Our regions have many things in common, both historically and culturally, socially, economically, personally, etc. It remains very little for us to do in order to also have common tourism, which should be developed by promoting those relations between tourism service providers, which will attract welfare and better opportunities for all citizens of our regions. I am confident that the objectives established by our project will be met, successfully, thanks to our joint efforts ", mentioned Nicon Pîslari, project coordinator from the Cahul District Council.

"Those meetings are useful for economic agents from several points of view. First of all, we get to know and establish cooperation relations with the tourism service providers in the field of tourism from the  Cahul-Reni-Galați cross-border region. Secondly, we learn a lot of new practical things concerning the development of eco-tourism, such as efficient business management, ways to develop a business plan, how to perform certification, what are the standards, etc. In this way, we very much hope to succeed in setting up a profitable cross-border business in the field of eco-tourism ", says Nicolae Minciună, an economic agent from Cahul district.

The topics examined during the seminar held in Reni focused on: business development in the sphere of cross-border green tourism; the role and importance of the elaboration of the business plan, and the general structure of the business plan; arrangement of accommodation spaces in rural areas according to eurocities quality standards; the quality certification system in the development of ecotourism (green tourism) in Moldova, Ukraine and Romania; ecotourism standards: international accreditation and certification at the local level and indicators and recommendations on the implementation of ecotourism standards.

On the first day of the seminar, the participants visited the entertainment area - Eco-Club "Dervent" in the village of Novoselskoie and the ethnocultural complex - "Destination Kotlovina" in the village of Kotlovina. The local groups have prepared various artistic activities to promote the culture and traditions of the area. On the second day of the seminar, when the municipality of the Reni marked the town's anniversary, the participants attended the opening of the festivities and visited the fair of local producers.

The activities of the BSB-817 project are focused on creating and consolidating a cross-border tourism cluster in Cahul, Reni, and Galați, which will stimulate the development of green tourism at the border, increase the quality of tourist services, the number of tourists in the region, and will improve the overall quality of life in the region. A cross-border tourism guide will be created within a project, as well as a map with three cross-border tourist routes, an information brochure for tourists, and also a joint program for the development of cross-border tourism in Cahul, Reni, and Galati. Training, round tables, and workshops will be organized in order to strengthen the capacities in the field of cross-border green tourism of tourism service providers and local and regional authorities.

The implementing entities will also organize study visits, two festivals, and create a number of podcasts on green tourism in the region, as well as a study on the good neighborhood along the Danube sector of the Black Sea basin.

The cross-border project "Development and promotion of green tourism in the Danube sector of the Black Sea basin (Cahul district, Republic of Moldova; Reni territorial community, Ukraine; and Galati county, Romania)", BSB 817 is implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", in partnership with the District Council of Cahul (Moldova), Executive Committee of the Local Council of Reni (Ukraine) and “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galați (Romania).

The project is part of the Joint Operational Program "Black Sea Basin 2014-2020" and is co-financed by the European Union through the European Neighborhood Instrument and by the participating countries: Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine.

This press release was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the cross-border project "Development and promotion of green tourism in the Danube sector of the Black Sea basin (Cahul district, Republic of Moldova; Reni territorial community, Ukraine; and Galati county, Romania)" BSB 817, and can not be, in any way, considered to reflect the views of the European Union.