The fifth training seminar within 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; Galati county, Romania)", BSB-817, a took place inside the Cahul District Council, on Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, 2022. Thus, tourism service providers from Cahul district, Republic of Moldova, and from Galati county, Romania, were informed about the management of human and financial resources in the provision of cross-border green tourism services.

The topics examined during the seminar focused on: the concept of human resource management, the problems of the green tourism sector from the perspective of human resources; the main activities of human resources management: planning, staffing, employee development, labor relations, etc.; financial management, how to increase the income of a pension; financial management for less busy periods in pensions, economic forecasts, and budget planning and performance management and control.

On the first day of the seminar, the participants were on a documentary visit to the village of Slobozia Mare, at the “Domeniile Pană” Winery, at Valeria din Vale. Accompanied by the mayor, the participants in the seminar also went to the Museum of History and Ethnography, the House of Culture, and the local market. The next day, visits were made to the "Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel" Cathedral and the Cahul County Museum.

Nicon Pîslari, project coordinator from the Cahul District Council, Republic of Moldova: "We regret that we do not have our Ukrainian colleagues with us. We want them to have the patience and strength to endure. We hope that shortly the situation will return to normal and we will have the opportunity to continue the project as we started it. Only with the full team will we be able to achieve all the objectives and tasks that we have proposed in the project. All the information that was sent to this seminar will be very useful for the tourist service providers, but also us, to enrich our knowledge.”

Liubomir Chiriac, project manager IDIS ”Viitorul”: “The situation we have today in the region is less favorable for such events. Unfortunately, our colleagues and friends in Ukraine, to whom we are attached, are not with us. We hope it is for a short time. Even if things are not clear, the implementation of the project continues. We are here, at this seminar, to see how green tourism is developing here in Cahul. I very much hope that the relations between the service providers from the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, and Romania will be strengthened within this project. We will certainly reach the level when the authorities will also cooperate on that segment."

Cristian Munteniță, project coordinator from the “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galați, Romania: "I want to thank you for being here with us these two days, to achieve the objectives of the project together. Certainly, everything that is happening now is not a favorable moment for our project, but we express our hope that shortly the state of affairs will return to what it was at the beginning of the project implementation. The topics addressed yesterday and today are of great interest to tourism service providers."

Natalia Ponomariov, head of the culture department at the Cahul District Council: "We are interested in promoting culture and tourism. I can say that the project you are implementing is very useful for our region. We are here to help you with its implementation, possibly to develop some policies if necessary. We are the ones who support you. We here in Cahul have elaborated, and will soon be approved, the Tourism Development Strategy in Cahul district, through which we want to promote tourism and I hope to do it together.”

Florin Ghinea, from Tecuci, Galați County, Romania, a businessman in fish farming and lavender producer: "I'm interested in human resource management. In these two days, I even learned new things, such as streamlining business with quality staff, carefully trained and selected, including the financial part. The way we were received during the documentary visits, with those wine tastings, and jams, they had a story behind them and each of these stories impressed me. I'm looking for ideas to create such stories for my business as well. These stories are like product labels. What you want to sell to others needs to be wrapped up in a story."

Nicolae Căpraru, administrator of the leisure and recreation base "La Cotihana" from Cotihana village, Cahul district: "I have been present at all the seminars that have been organized so far. I had and still am interested in participating and learning new things. I'm on my way and I need to know as much as I can. The experience shared in these trainings helps me a lot."

Due to Russian military aggression against Ukraine, Reni project partners and tourism service providers in the region were unable to attend. As a sign of solidarity, the project team developed a banner to support Ukraine and its citizens in this complicated period. 

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 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, and two festivals, and create several podcasts on green tourism in the region. A study on good neighborliness along the Danube sector of the Black Sea basin was developed but also created the project site. 

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 BSB 817, and can not be, in any way, considered to reflect the views of the European Union.