Winners of the Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism Awards 2021

The winners were announced during the Award ceremony that took place in Athens, Greece, on 21^st October 2021.

The ‘Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism’ Awards enhance the visibility of European cultural tourism destinations, create a platform for sharing experience and knowledge and promote networking between destinations. The 2021 edition is focused on the theme of ‘Regenerating European Tourism through Culture, Heritage and Creativity’ and is supported by the Via Francigena Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), the Creative Tourism Network, FEDECRAIL – European Federation of Museum and Tourist Railways and E-FAITH – European Federation of Associations of Industrial and Technical Heritage. The Awards contest was open to tourist destinations across Europe, to showcase their results and outputs in sustainable cultural tourism under seven categories.

The winners and runners-up were selected by the Jury (composed of representatives of ECTN, the European Travel Commission, Europa Nostra, NECSTouR and the Directorate General for Education and Culture, European Commission), out of 36 applications received from 14 European countries. Angela Gerekou, President of the Greek National Tourism Organization and ETC member as well as Eduardo Santander, Executive Director of the European Travel Commission were among the jury members of this edition, bringing their extensive expertise on sustainable tourism to the evaluation of the applications.

Three of the winning projects were submitted by ETC members – the German National Tourist Board and the Romanian Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism:

• The German National Tourist Board launched a digital image campaign on social media called Feel Good to promote Germany as a destination with reliable and diverse sustainable tourism products. The campaign has direct synergies to cultural tourism due to topics like local traditions and regional products (arts, exhibitions, handicraft, regional food, urban gardening, organic restaurants) and engagement of the local population. Customers were inspired to use public transport and diverse possibilities for slow travel like hiking and cycling.
• The marketing campaign #WanderlustGermany by the German National Tourist Board addressed nature and active travellers with a focus on cycling and hiking which is just around the corner from major cultural highlights or even pass those. Following the standstill in global tourism caused by the coronavirus pandemic, studies revealed that customers considered the COVID-19 risk being particularly low nature-oriented holidays and individual forms of holiday. Accordingly, the campaign focused on the diverse range of products with well thought-out hygiene and safety concepts and first-class service. Through the focused use of digital communication measures and events in local markets with great potential, the campaign focused on targeted impulses for the new start of incoming tourism for Germany.
• The Romanian Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism has created a voluntary system for the recognition of National Cultural Tourist Routes, developed by tourism organizations or by local public authorities. The initiative derives from the recognition of the local potential in promoting the historical and archaeological heritage, as well as religious or gastronomic traditions in Romania. The Cultural Tourist Route of the Wooden Churches in Romania and in the Republic of Moldova is a transnational network connecting villages, cities, counties, districts in which local communities built their own churches over the centuries. It is an extraordinary journey into history and local legends.

The full list of winners:

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MUSEUMS AS CULTURAL TOURISM ATTRACTIONS

1^st prize:

Krapina Neanderthal Museum and and Site Hušnjakovo
by Museums of the Croatian Zagorje, Croatia

2^nd prize:

Nerezinac Lugger – sailing interpretation center of maritime heritage of the island of Lošinj
by Mali Lošinj Tourist Board, Croatia

3^rd prize:

Zenica City Museum
by Zenica City Museum, Bosnia and Herzegovina

WALKING TOURISM AND SLOW TRAVEL – SYNERGIES WITH CULTURAL TOURISM

 1^st prize:

Rab Archaeological (T)races – open-air museum
by Lopar Cultural Centre, Croatia

2^nd prize:

Feel Good – Campaign to promote sustainable tourism products and services in Germany 2020
by German National Tourist Board, Germany

3^rd prize:

Breakfast at Margina
by Association for the Promotion and Development of Tourism (APDT) in Timis County, Romania

DIGITALISATION IN SUSTAINABLE CULTURAL TOURISM, TOWARDS SMART DESTINATIONS

1^st prize:

Old Vine House Renovation and Digitalisation
by Maribor Tourist Board, Slovenia

2^nd prize:

Digitalisation of Cultural Heritage throughout Slovenia
by Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Slovenia

3^rd prize:

Digital story-telling on coastal and maritime cultural heritage in Marsaxlokk, Malta
by Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands

Special mentions:

Ghent Altarpiece Visitor Centre: Lam Gods Sint-Baafs
Saint Bavo’s Cathedral Ghent, Flanders, Belgium

NollaMap – Mapping Nolla’s mosaic around the world
by Nolla Ceramics Research and Dissemination Centre (CIDCeN), Spain

TRANSNATIONAL THEMATIC TOURISM PRODUCTS, INCLUDING EUROPEAN CULTURAL ROUTES

1^st prize:

Development and Sustainability Strategy of the Way to Santiago in Barcelos
by Barcelos City Council, Portugal

2^nd prize:

Cultural Tourist Route of the Wooden Churches in Romania and the Republic of Moldova
by Ministry of Economy, Business Environment and Tourism, Romania

CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES (CCIS) CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURAL AND CREATIVE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Joint 1^st prize:

Enhancing Cultural restructure of Sustainable Tourism’s Perspectives on Kimolos Island
by “Kimolistes” NGO, Greece

Joint 1^st prize:

ReGeneration Festival 2020 in the Boboli Gardens, Florence
by Fondazione Mascarade Opera ONLUS – The New Generation Festival, Italy

 3^rd prize:

Naoussa Strategy as “The City of Wine” and Grape Harvesting Week Festival
by Municipality of Naoussa, Greece

Special mention:

Chocolate Museum Zagreb
by Chocolate Museum Zagreb, Croatia

RAILWAY HERITAGE ASSETS FOR CULTURAL TOURISM

 1^st prize

“Railway and Steam” Educational and Interactive centre
by Gulbene Municipality Agency “Gulbene Tourism and Cultural Heritage Center”, Latvia

2^nd prize:

Baťa under the Tatras Museum in the Svit railway station
By Museum Baťa under the Tatras, Slovakia

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – ADDRESSING THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC

National level:

WanderlustGermany campaign to discover the nature highlights on walking and cycling tours
by German National Tourism Board, Germany

Regional level:

Maramureș Museum Heritage Trail – Cultural Tourist Route
By Maramureș County Council, Romania

Local level:

ReGeneration Festival 2020 in the Boboli Gardens, Florence
by Fondazione Mascarade Opera ONLUS – The New Generation Festival, Italy