CBC Audio Travel Guide PRO-ETC Code:

The CBC Audio Travel Guide offers the solution to the tourist retention problem, by improving the sustainable use of natural heritage and cultural heritage and by better promoting the tourism attractions and activities in the cross-border area. The Romanian-Bulgarian cross-border region is extremely rich in cultural and natural heritage (which is the basis for numerous tourism activities, an important source of added value for any vacation) but suffers from a poor promotion of this heritage with negative effects on the number of tourist overnights in the area. The project objectives will be achieved through the design of 5 comprehensive tourism products specific to the RO - BG cross- border area and the provision of a new, integrated audio travel guide service.

The project results: - an inventory of the main tourism attractions in the region, divided into 5 categories: cultural; religious; entertainment; sport and health; - an integrated audio travel guide service, offering information about the tourism attractions. This service will be available by calling a dedicated phone number or, for those who have an Internet connection, by downloading a mobile devices application that integrates the GPS tracking function by using the dedicated audio guide section on the project’s website.

Beneficiary in the project: 1.Lead Beneficiary - CENTER OF CONSULTANCY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT – EUROPROJECT(CCPM – EUROPROJECT); 2.Beneficiary no.2 - Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vratsa 3. Beneficiary no.3 - Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Project activities A1. Project management and coordination activities( start month 1 – end month 24) are crucial for ensuring the daily technical and financial management and monitoring for all planned activities at the cross-border partnership level, making sure deadlines are being met and deliverables are being produced in accordance with the Subsidy contract. Activity responsible beneficiary: CCMP EUROPROJECT CCMP EUROPROJECT(LB) Staff: 1 Project Manager (RO), 1 Project Assistant, 1 Financial Manager Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling CCI VRATSA (Beneficiary 2) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling CCI RUSE (Beneficiary 3) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling

Project activities A.1.1 Establishing the project implementation team Each partner will form its own project implementation team. CCMP EUROPROJECT as the Lead Beneficiary (LB) of the project will also name the Project Manager. For carrying out the project management activities, 2 portable computers will be purchased by each partner. A.1.2 Preparing the project Implementation Plan (IP). The LB has the responsibility of implementing the project according to the provisions of the Subsidy contract, of the application form and its annexes, of the Partnership Agreement, of the Programme’s Implementation Manual and of the national and European legislation in force. The overall PM will be based on a critical tool: an Implementation Plan (IP). A.1.3 Monitoring and reporting The project reporting will also be the LB’s responsibility. CCMP EUROPROJECT will submit to the JS every three months progress reports, being also responsible for collecting documents and information from every beneficiary. At every progress report, a financial audit will take place and 1 project meeting.

Project activities A2. Project information and promotion( start month 1 – end month 24) Information and promotion activities will be organized for promoting the project and the INTERREG V-A Programme, according to the EC Regulations and observing the Visual Identity Manual and also for disseminating the project results. Activity responsible beneficiary: CCI RUSE CCMP EUROPROJECT(LB) Staff: 1 Project Manager (RO), 1 Project Assistant, 1 Financial Manager Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling CCI VRATSA (Beneficiary 2) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling CCI RUSE(Beneficiary 3) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling

Project activities A.2.1 Organizing press conferences. 2 press conferences (at the beginning and the end of the project), by each of the 3 partners. Invitations will be sent to relevant stakeholders in the tourism field in the cross-border area, public authorities, and media. A.2.2 Preparing and disseminating printed information and promotion materials. LB and Beneficiary 3 will purchase design and print services for the following materials: flyers (15.000), roll-ups (3), CBC Audio Travel Guide booklet (30.000), and stickers/plates (1.500).All 3 partners will be involved in disseminating the material, through the project activities, as well as through their own networks and partnerships. A.2.3 Planning and implementing the online promotion of the project. The project website will be developed and regularly updated. On the website, a special section will be included, presenting the 5 tourism products and the tourism attractions with the corresponding relevant description (text/audio guide/video presentation – if the case). An online promotion campaign will also be carried out. The entire partnership will contribute by providing the necessary information for the project online visibility.

Project activities A.2.4 Planning and implementing media campaigns for promoting the project idea and results, with a special focus on the developed tourism products and services. 2 media campaigns (radio, TV, press, outdoor) will be carried out, 1 in each country. A.2.5 Organizing information seminars. 6 information seminars will be organized, 2 in RO and 4 in BG, for the relevant stakeholders in the tourism sector. They aim to promote the new tourism products and travel guide service among the organizations that can become further dissemination agents.

Project activities A3. Research carried out in order to identify major tourist attractions in the cross-border area and to develop the common tourism products( start month 2 – end month 3) This activity will provide essential input for A.4, the development of the CBC Audio Travel Guide service. Activity responsible beneficiary: CCI RUSE CCMP EUROPROJECT(LB) Staff: 1 Project Manager (RO), 1 Project Assistant, 1 Financial Manager; 2 Tourism experts for identifying the tourism attractions - salary, travel and accommodation costs x 3 days/ county 1 Expert to moderate the validation seminar, event organization services Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling

Project activities CCI VRATSA (Beneficiary 2) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant 1 Tourism expert for identifying the tourism attractions - salary, travel and accommodation costs x 3 days/ district 1 Expert to moderate the validation seminar, event organization services Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling CCI RUSE (Beneficiary 3) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant 1 Tourism expert for identifying the tourism attractions - salary, travel and accommodation costs x 3 days/ district 1 Expert to moderate the validation seminar, event organization services Material resources: office space, office equipment, vehicle for project activities involving traveling

Project activities A.3.1 Organizing documentation and information visits on both sides of the border in the entire eligible area: 7 counties from Romania (Mehedinti, Dolj, Olt, Teleorman, Giurgiu, Calarasi, Constanta) and 8 districts from the Republic of Bulgaria (Vidin, Montana, Vratsa, Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse, Silistra, Dobrich) in order to identify and inventory approximately attraction points/ places of interest. Each partner will allocate experts in tourism/ geography to identify the most important attraction in their respective side of the border. They will need to travel approximately 3 days per county/district in order to reach their objective. A.3.2 Organizing 3 validation seminars by each project partner, in order to design the 5 different tourism products resulting from the tourism attractions previously identified and for the selection of the top 100 most important attractions which will benefit from a video presentation, in addition to the audio guide one. At the seminars will be invited specialists in tourism, geography, history, sociology, public authority representatives. We estimate approximately 20 participants/ event.

Project activities A4. Development and operation of the integrated travel guide service accessible by calling a dedicated phone number or by downloading an application for mobile devices( start month 4 – end month 24) Activity responsible beneficiary: CCMP EUROPROJECT CCMP EUROPROJECT(LB) Staff: 1 Project Manager (RO), 1 Project Assistant, 1 Financial Manager; Material resources: office space, office equipment CCI VRATSA (Beneficiary 2) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant Material resources: office space, office equipment CCI RUSE (Beneficiary 3) Staff: 1 Local Project Coordinator (BG), 1 Local Project Assistant Material resources: office space, office equipment

Project activities A.4.1 Acquiring the equipment and services necessary for developing the audio travel guide service (month 4-12). For developing the service offered by phone. Services: Elaborating the texts, Translating the texts from RO to BG and EN, Recording audio guides, Recording video presentations, Developing the IVR platform; Equipment: Multimedia server and peripherals for the IVR application. For developing the service offered by mobile application: Equipment: Multimedia server to run the mobile devices application. For the operation of both systems are necessary services for data transfer, data storage and internet communications.

Project activities A.4.2 Putting the audio travel guide into service (month 12-24). The Audio Travel Guide it will be accessed: 1. by calling at a dedicated phone number. After calling the dedicated number, the tourist needs to type the identification code for the specific tourism attraction. A robot (the IVR application) welcomes the tourist and asks him/her to select the preferred language in which they want to listen to the audio guide. After selecting the language (RO/BG/EN), the tourist will be played the audio guide. At the end, the tourist will have the option to terminate the phone call or to introduce the identification code for another attraction. The service is offered to all interested tourists, free of charge. 2. by downloading an application for mobile devices. An application for smart mobile devices will be developed, integrating audio guides in RO/BG/EN that can be listened directly from these devices. The application, once installed on the respective mobile device, will track the user’s location by GPS and will notify the tourist about the available audio guide for the nearby attraction. 3. by accessing the dedicated section from the project website. While the system is being developed, the project team travels across the 15 counties to sign partnerships with the tourism attractions administrators and signalize the respective attractions with stickers/ plates.

The CBC Audio Travel Guide project’s main goal is to jointly promote the tourism attractions in the cross border area. This goal will be achieved through the development of 5 tourism products focused on a specific type of tourism (cultural, religious, entertainment, active, health) and through the implementation of a phone call/ ICT based travel guide service. These project outputs will generate an increase in the number of visitors to the supported tourism attractions in the cross-border area.

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