The main objective of this project is to preserve and celebrate authentic heritage offered by the two regions through smart and innovative tourism solutions meant to bring the two regions (Korce and Kastoria) closer together. These two regions that have so much in common especially in terms of the authentic experiences that they have the capacity to offer are going to be working together to create an AuthentiKK tourism product (Single AuthentiKK Destination) that will encourage the visitors coming to each individual region to explore its “sister” region and to get a taste of two regions that are unique in some ways but also similar in others; it would offer the beneficiaries new business opportunities due to radical increase in overnight stays and a tourist inflow both of which could be instrumental in tackling unemployment problems and the continuous ‘brain drain’ that the two communities face. Although both Korce and Kastoria regions are incredibly rich in cultural and natural heritage, they fail when it comes to the strategic management and promotion of their tourism offer. The challenge is to promote and revitalize the unique cultural assets of each area by using new means and by creating new trends in order to attract more domestic and international tourists who will select the CB area for their stay. With the overall number of tourists increasing, the local economies will be provided with the much-needed boost to develop further as well as allow the younger generation to gain a better understanding and deeper appreciation for their heritage. By working together on the issues that the two communities face and by utilizing the management plans developed during the project, heritage preservation and promotion is certain to become a model to follow for other communities and put in place permanent solutions. The PBs would be able to utilize their shared expertise, know-how, creative capacity in order to increase the attractiveness of the CB region thus ensuring the steady economic growth and strategic development thereof. By restoring and preserving the selected cultural and natural heritage sites and upgrading them with sustainable tourism and digital innovation at the core of the efforts and then by packaging the two regions into one Single tourism offer, the project is meant to change the way the visitors and locals alike view &interact with the two regions.The main expected outputs of AuthentiKK are the following: 1) Comprehensive Tourism Management Plan & Sustainability Strategy document; 2) Four Cultural Heritage sites preserved, rehabilitated and improved-National Park Bredhi i Drenoves, Morava Mountain Paragliding point, Mountain Theater and the pre-historic settlement ‘Limneous Ikismos’ 3) Two joint public cross-border activities (Music Festival & a Paragliding Competition) 4) Five innovative ICT products and bi-lingual audio-guide solutions; 5)AuthentiKK tourism product and a Comprehensive Promotion and Communications Plan.
