2.2. Increasing the cross-border tourism potential by developing common destinations

The main objective of the project is to create competitive advantages for tourism in the cross-border region leading to long term sustainable growth and development of the tourism destination Edirne (Turkey) -Burgas (Bulgaria).

The specific objectives include creating transnational culinary itineraries related to the cultural traditions and gastronomy of the cross-border region; developing culinary tourism products (multi day tours) in order to enhance low and medium season tourism in rural cross-border area, improving transnational cooperation between rural areas of Bulgaria and Turkey in order to enhance competitiveness in the field of tourism and healthy food production. The envisaged activities are fieldwork and ethnographical study, analysis of the supply/ demand of rural tourism products in the border area of Turkey. Two Joint Capacity Building Trainings - for public sector representatives in Pomorie, Bulgaria and Tourism SME representatives in Keshan, Turkey and two Food Festivals - in Pomorie, Bulgaria and in Keshan, Turkey will be held.

The project will contribute to promotion of the agriculture and tourism in the cross-border area by popularizing specific local cuisine and culinary. On the other hand, the transnational cooperation between rural areas in Bulgaria and Turkey  will increase the competitiveness in tourism and production of healthy food products.

Project status: Finished

The project partners have implemented the activities according to the schedule.

In 2017 the project Culinary Neighborhood Network was implemented with the financial support of the Interreg-IPA CBC Programme Bulgaria-Turkey. The main driving forces behind its realization were the Bulgarian  Association BIO NETWORK and the Turkish Tradesmen Chamber of Keshan Restaurants Cafes and Hotels. The two organisations managed to successfully build a united team that wanted to spread the word about their common and diverse traditions related to food, cooking and home recipes. Thus they wanted to attract more tourists in the cross-border region in the spring and autumn and to turn it into a well-known culinary destination. The approach was clear - the more visitors come, the more time they spend here and enjoy the food and the cultural and natural beauties of the area, the more opportunities for jobs and income for the local residents will be created.

For this one year the partners explored and widely promoted the enormous cultural potential and tourism offering of the region. The project began with research and analysis that have provided the information ground which the partners needed in order to provide relevant guidelines for sustainable tourism development to the local community and policy makers. This happened during the two joint trainings organized in Pomorie and Keshan. The events gathered more than 60 public sector and SMEs representatives and managed to raise their awareness on the benefits of using local intangible cultural heritage in developing all-season alternative tourism products in the border region. The two events brought the regional tourism stakeholders together and helped them establish useful business contacts and friendships. Thanks to the events restaurant owners arranged staff exchanges, chefs learned how to cook new recipes, food producers tried new tastes. During the trainings they all worked together and contributed actively in turning the region in unique tourism destination.

The culmination of the project – the two culinary festivals in October and November proved that the project approach was successful. The two events were widely covered and attracted hundreds of visitors outside the active tourism season. They came to taste traditional Bulgarian and Turkish dishes, prepared and served by culinary experts from both countries. Delicious dishes and recipes were demonstrated. Some of them can be found in the cook book, created by the partners with the support of the local community and young people from the region.

The two successful festivals proved that the project accomplished its mission – to raise the quality of life of the local residents. It has established permanent contacts, exchanged experience and improved cooperation in the tourism industry in the region. It promoted among the potential visitors the typical places where they can taste the wonderful food that is being prepared here, explore the landmarks and appreciate the culture.  Fragments of the most important moments of the project and in particular the culinary festivals in Pomorie and Keshan, as well as comments of experts and representatives of the local community were included in a subtitled film in Bulgarian and Turkish. The film was produced to spread the word about the project, the festivals and the remarkable dishes and culture the cross-border region carries and keeps through the ages and generations. It can be found on the following link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZadoL8JiD00&t=0s&index=12&list=PLwe1R4BMZjDsodEAMWnG6_lawYFnf4qtw.

Project website:

http://culin.eu/

Facebook page of the project:

www.facebook.com/culinaryneigborhood/

Materials from the project:

The Project leaflet is available HERE.

Project products:

Analysis of the supply/demand of rural tourism products in the border area (English version) are available HERE.

Analysis of the supply/demand of rural tourism products in the border area (Turkish version) are available HERE.

The Cook book "What do you put into it, dzhanym" is available HERE.

The Cross border culinary tourist map is available HERE.

The Cross-border culinary routes are available HERE.

The Cultural Calendar for 2018 (in Bulgarian language) is available HERE.

Fieldwork and ethnographical study is available HERE.

Video clip created under the project "Culinary neighborhood Кулинарен комшулук  Aşçılık komşuluğu [HD, 1280x720]" is available HERE.

Presentation from the press-conference held on 11 September in Pomorie is available HERE.