Bucharest, 26 May 2011

1. The elements of the transnational strategy of tourism development of Danube Region. Preliminary results of the DATOURWAY Project Bucharest, 26 May 2011

2. Danube region – for a place based policy Danube – an important territorial element, because is the second international river basin in the world, the longest river from Europe (2.857 Km), is navigable in 87% being one of the major EU inland waterway, it passes trough 10 countries, and it’s hydro geographical basin includes territories from 18 countries and has a surface of 1 million Km2 and 81 mil inhabitants; Until now Danube had been generally treated within a sectoral approach (transport, environment, tourism etc) or national (with different interests accordingly with national needs and interest). Furthermore Danube, as a geographical element, has a significant contribution in shaping and maintaining of the borders between riparian countries with a negative impact on integrated basin development Name, Place

3. European Union Strategy for the Danube Region • As one may observe Danube has a strong European identity, but was never approached in a corresponding European policy. We can identify two main reasons of this situation: - First of all Danube is the common element that integrates states with different history and interests from the western countries to new EU member states and associated countries and several times Danube represented a conflict reason. - Second, the EU didn’t have the policy tools to propose appropriate solutions to solve the problems of the Danubian region. • European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) • Second European macro-regional strategy after the Baltic Sea; • A territorial strategic programming exercise for a functional area, having 3 main principles: No new legislation, No new institution, No new money; • Approved by European Commission in December 2010 and by Council for General Affaire in February 2011, the final version will be approved by the European Council in June 2011 Name, Place

4. European Union Strategy for the Danube Region • EUSDR covers parts of 8 EU countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania) and 6 non-EU countries (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova). • The region is facing several challenges: • environmental threats (water pollution, floods, climate change) • untapped shipping potential and lack of road and rail transportconnections • insufficient energy connections • uneven socio-economic development • uncoordinated education, research and innovation systems • shortcomings in safety and security Name, Place

5. Danube region priorities 1. Connecting the Danube Region • To improve mobility and multimodality: Inland Waterway +Road, rail and air links • To encourage more sustainable energy • To promote culture and tourism, people to people contacts 2. Protecting the Environment in the Danube Region • To restore and maintain the quality of waters • To manage environmental risks • To preserve biodiversity, landscapes and the quality of air and soils 3. Building Prosperity in the Danube Region • To develop the knowledge society through research, education and information technologies • To support the competitiveness of enterprises, including cluster development • To invest in people and skills 4. Strengthening the Danube Region • To step up institutional capacity and cooperation • To work together to promote security and tackle organised and serious crime Name, Place

6. DATOURWAY project – general characteristics Datourway project (Transnational Strategy for the Sustainable Territorial Development of the Danube region - www.datourway.eu) - a project started in 2009 and financed under the South-East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme 2007-2013; The project has 16 partners from 7 countries (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia), coordinated by the Lead Partner VATI- Hungarian Public Nonprofit Liability Company for Regional Development and Town Planning, from Hungary. The project implementation period is 34 months (01.05.2009-29.02.2012) with a total budget of 2.888.952 EUR; Name, Place

7. DATOURWAY project - expected results • elaboration of a transnational strategy for the sustainable territorial development of the Danube area studied in the project (from Slovakia to Romania) with special regard to the valorisation of tourism resources; • development of action plans and pilot projects in five distinct areas of interest, with an important tourism potential (4 projects on crossborder areas and 1 for the entire length of the Danube); • Creation of a commondata base; • Development of a network of experts and localities within the Danube region. Name, Place

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9. The DATOURWAY project area covers altogether 182.265 km2 (of six countries) the number of inhabitants is 20,409,444, one third of which is the share of Romania and a quarter is of Hungary. Name, Place

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18. In Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia the provision of accommodation is insufficient along the Danube. A detailed analysis of the territorial distribution of accommodation reveals that Constanta, the great seaside resort centre comprises one third of the total number of bed places in the DATOURWAY region. It is followed by the concentrations in Budapest and in County Baranya, and then by the other capital cities (Belgrade and Bucharest). Name, Place

19. It is in line with the distribution of bed places that the majority of guest nights were spent in the riverside areas of Hungary and Romania. There is, however, some shift of proportions due to the seasonality of tourism. Tourist turnover is the highest, where there is abundant offer of accommodation and also where the tourist attractions of the capital cities are less dependent on seasonality. For example, Constanta comprises 32 % of accommodation and 17 % of tourist turnover, while Budapest has 12 % of accommodation and 26 % of tourist turnover in the DATOURWAY region Name, Place

20. DANUBE IN ROMANIA • Romania is the country with the widest area crossed by the Danube River, there are 1.075 km from Baziaş to Sulina. Along this area, Danube is either a state border (760 km) with Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, or a watercourse inside Romania, crossing various natural relief forms, from the mountains to the plains and the delta; • At the same time, the provisions of the framework documents at the European level in the field of territorial planning are aimed at overcoming the dividing factors and at structuring the territory in relation with its functional, not administrative limits. Considering these aspects, as well as the characteristics given by economical activities and social aspects, the territory crossed by the Danube in Romania can be divided in five zones of distinct characteristics: • Bazias – Iron Gates II sector • Iron Gates II – Calarasi Sector • Călărasi – Tulcea sector • The Tulcea - Marea Neagră (Danube Delta) sector • The Danube-Black Sea Channel Name, Place

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22. Towards the common transnational strategy 1st step: Identifying set of indicators 2nd step: Identifying the Danube region 3rd step: Data collection 4th step: Position of each indicator 5th step: Scenarios 6st step: Set objectives 7st step: Connection of objectives and programs Name, Place

23. Teofil Oliver GHERCĂ Head of unit Ministry of Regional Developement Directorate General for Territorial Development Unit for Strategy and Territorial Cohesion Tel .0372114515 Fax. 0372114587 GSM: 0752196153 E-mail: teofil.gherca@mdrt.ro Name, Place