TACTICAL TOURISM

The TACTICAL TOURISM project aims to unify all the Regions of the Cross-Border area by creating a network of bodies capable of materialising policies and actions for the preservation of the cultural and natural resources in the interests of touristic development. In fact, this project was initiated by the legal representatives of all seven regional authorities of the region (Regional Councils of Vlore, Berat, Gjirokaster and Korce in Albania, Regions of Ionian Islands, Epirus and Western Macedonia in Greece). The provisional consortium decided to prioritise the actions included in this proposal selecting those that would have the biggest impact in assisting tourism within the available budget, whereby the final consortium was agreed upon the basis of the bodies that were best fitted to implement the proposed actions.

The main outputs of the project can be categorised in three clusters:  (1) The creation of new touristic points of interest such as the reconstruction of the birth-house of Ali Pasha in Tepelene and turning it into a Museum, The restoration of a building in Lefkas and turning it into a Cultural Center, a museum in the island of Lazareto in Corfu, and the creation of two diving parks in Thesprotia and Preveza (2) The improvement of accessibility to touristic points of interest such as a Footbridge in Tepelene and the island of Lazareto in Corfu, and (3) to focus on the preservation of cultural heritage such as byzantine churches in Kastoria, the legend of Ali Pasha, the beautiful paved neighborhoods of the UNESCO protected city of Berat.

Another unifying aspect of this project is that it brings together all the UNESCO protected cities in the cross-border region (Corfu, Gjirokaster & Berat), creating another important cluster along with the city of Kastoria, aiming to join them through the actions of this project. The main novelty about the project is that for the first time all cross-border regional authorities come together to work on a single cause: assisting touristic development by creating the infrastructure and basis for it to flourish. This is extremely important, and even though all the actions do not necessarily immediately connect with each other, they are in fact pieces of the same greater puzzle. This will be for the benefit of the general public, for tourism, and particularly for touristic activity and entrepreneurial efforts related to tourism in the entire programme area.

Kick-off meeting: