MURA-DRAVA.BIKE

Good practice:
MURA-DRAVA.BIKE
www.mura-drava.eu
Pomurje region
Slovenia
Sinergija Development Agency
Razvojna Agencija Sinergija
Stanislav Sraka, Director

[email protected]
 www.ra-sinergija.si
THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
The Republic of Slovenia is a country in Central Europe with a territory about
20.300 km2 and population over 2.000.000 people.
Slovenia is bordering on Italy,
Austria, Hungary and Croatia.
Slovenia is a member of the
European Union since 2004.
POMURJE REGION
Pomurje is covering 6,6% of the total Slovenian territory,
and has about 124.000 inhabitants.
• Sinergija Development Agency was Established on February 1998.
• DA Sinergija is non-profit and non-government organization; body governed by
public law with legal status of non-profit Ltd owned by founders municipalities &
chambers.
• The Sinergija Development coalition / partnership consist of:
- 11 Municipalities
- SPIRIT, Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign
Investments
- Employment office
- Regional Development Agency Mura (RDA Mura)
- Chambers (commerce, crafts, agriculture)
- Clusters (Energy cluster, ENIDO group)
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Pomurje Region, Slovenia
The most important issues
in the region/ country regarding rural area development
Weaknesses:
 High unemployment in rural areas
 The emigration of young people
 No incentives for self-employment
 Lack of development-oriented financial resources
 Overgrowing of cultivated land
Opportunities:
 Education of the rural population
 Preservation of the rural population
 Promotion of local self-sufficiency
 New touristic offer based on local potentials = natural & cultural
heritage
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THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
More on www.slovenia.info/
THE POMURJE REGION
Mura-Drava.bike ID card
The MURA-DRAVA.BIKE project incorporates Slovenia (Pomurje
and Podravje regions) and Croatia (Međimurska and Varaždinska
counties), developed a common touristic product in this border
regions.
Cycling tourism is a sustainable and perspective form of tourism,
which has also remarkable positive effects on the development of
rural areas of Pomurje.
Total cost
1.799.066,90
EU contribution
1.494.503,48
National public financing
263.735,92
Private financing
40.827,50
(excluding VAT)
Co-financed through
IPA Cross Border Cooperation Programme: Slovenia-Croatia 2017-2013
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Project partners
o Mura Regional Development Agency, d.o.o.
o Murska Sobota Centre for Health and Development
o Prleška Development Agency, Giz
o Bistra Scientific Research Centre in Ptuj
o Međimurje County Tourist Board
o Međimurje Regional Development Agency, d.o.o.
o Čakovec City Development Agency - Čakra d.o.o.
o Varaždin County Tourist Board
o Varaždin County
o Maribor Development Agency
Ireland, March 2014
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Description of the GP Mura-Drava.bike
Establishment of bicycle paths along the river Drava and river Mura
named “Mura-DRAVA.BIKE” and comprehensive GPS navigation
system for bikers.
www.mura-drava.eu
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Description of the GP Mura-Drava.bike
Also the off-road GPS probing and relevant map was carried out that
users can transfer from the web to self mobile devices, to take with
or to print on paper.
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Description of the GP Mura-Drava.bike
There are a variety of useful information - from basic cycling tours to their
versions, impressions of providers of local gastronomy, cultural and
natural attractions, with contacts and some additional information.
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Description of the GP Mura-Drava.bike
Users can choose between different views (or just inspect the cultural
sightseeing, or choose another view) according to their needs and interests. In
addition to the maps the portal offers also video clips of the main trails and other
important travel information.
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Project goals
Up to 3 goals and objectives:
• Goal 1: to establish an attractive cross-border tourism cycling
destinations along the Mura and Drava
• Goal 2: to encourage the development of enterprise (tourism)
activities at the bike path and thus will contribute
to rural development
• Goal 3: summarized, the overall objective of the project is the
ensuring of sustainable economic and social development
in the border area of Slovenia and Croatia
Short overview of addressed target groups:
– tourism workers
– tourism providers in the area (existing and potential)
– tourists, particularly bikers
– development planners, representatives of local communities.
Ireland, March 2014
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Project objectives
The specific objective was to establish an attractive cross-border tourism cycling
destinations along the Mura and Drava. It will allow the continuation of a very
successful cycle paths in Austria ("Murradweg" and "Drauradweg") in Slovenia
and Croatia, all the way to the mouth of the River Drava and River Mura. This
will also exploit (Marketing) potentials of the existing channels, as they will also
be enriched and it closes a gap, which connects these two river cycle paths to
the Danube River cycle path. Tourist products, which are primarily related to
cycling, but can also be used independently, were also developed In the frame
of the project. Project implementation has produced a large, documented base
of natural and cultural attractions in the project area. There was also an
education and training of providers for tourist cycling routes (including a study
tour for the quality cycle track in the foreign country) and hiking guides carried
out.
Summarized; the overall objective of the project is the ensuring of sustainable
economic and social development in the border area of Slovenia and Croatia.
Project Mura-Drava.bike will have positive effects on economic growth, on
reducing emigration and the creation of a pleasant and stimulating environment.
Experience and knowledge that we gained in the project in general and
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particularly in this action may help similar projects in the border regions.
Implementation process
The project implementation is associated with the interaction of ten project
partners, with a precise and comprehensive definition of development
potential, the motivation of key stakeholders, relevant professional
education and target marketing activities.
The project is implemented in the period between 2009 and 2012.
Main phases of execution:
a) determination of the place of bike paths and preparation of GPS
navigation
(2009 - 2011)
b) provision of road and creation of tourist facilities
(2011)
c) dissemination of project activities
(2011 - 2012)
Key project activities:
management and coordination, identification of bike routes, provision of
cycle paths, establishment of tourist products, education and training of
target groups, marketing and PR activities.
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Project implementation
• The project implementation is associated with the interaction of 10
project partners, with a precise and comprehensive definition of
development potential, the motivation of key stakeholders, relevant
professional education and target marketing activities.
• The project was implemented during a period of 36 months with a total
cost of €1.799.816,90. The implementation required the involvement
of key stakeholders, organizations, relevant professional education
bodies and target marketing activities for the achievement of project
results.
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Project results
The main result of the project is a transversal cycle path, which is one of the
most interesting in Europe, and ranks in the list of bike paths of Europe
that can offer multi-day exciting, interesting marketing and tourism
products. This cycle path is becoming a brand , which attracts cyclists
who prefer long tours. At the same time, the cycle path has become "the
spine", which is interesting for the teams. "Hub" cyclists, localized in one
place use daily and circular tours for local residents. The cycling route
was promoted in three trade fairs abroad, promotional material, photos
and short film presentation were also designed and the path was also
presented in the specialized press. There is also a website (www.muradrava.eu) created together with a GPS navigation system for
autonomous guidance along the way.
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Dissemination and Exploitation
1) Main benefits of this GP:
 developed (new) tourist products, which are primarily related to
cycling, but they can also be used independently
 carried out was an education and training of providers for cycling
routes and hiking guides
 designed attractive promotional material (short film presentation,
web site, GPS navigation system for autonomous guidance
along the way)
 contribution to rural development
2) knowledge will help residents of rural areas in a more effective
marketing of tourism products and potential
3) exploitation levels: local + regional + national + cross-border level
Ireland, March 2014
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Transferability
The Pomurje region is characterized by agriculture, fertile soil, thermal
spas, rich culinary and cultural tradition, friendly people, etc. the
combination of all these provided good conditions for development of
traditional and news service activities in tourism, agriculture and other
appropriate sectors. Natural features for health tourism, hunting and
rural tourism at the wine trails, accompanied by the Mura River,
contribute to the tourist recognition of the region that creates almost a
tenth of total overnight stays in Slovenia.
A comprehensive approach to service integration and Points of Interest
can be transferred in the navigation system also in other border
regions. For the establishment of GPS navigation in two countries with
different legal bases and a variety of input data, it was necessary to
include the various actors and levels. Experience and knowledge that
we gained in the project in general and particularly in this action may
help similar projects in the border regions.
Experience and knowledge that we gained in the project in general and
particularly in this action may help similar projects
in the border
regions.
Ireland, March 2014
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Thank you very much
for your attention!
Contact information:
Development Agency Sinergija
www.ra-sinergija.si
[email protected]
[email protected]
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