Five tourist routes from Bella Dvina 2 project

VITEBSK, 6 May (BelTA) – Results of the joint initiative of Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania aimed at promoting transboundary tourism Bella Dvina 2 have been summed up, BelTA learned from representatives of the Interaction Foundation, which is intent on promoting the development of international dialogue and cooperation.

The project titled as Bella Dvina 2 was meant to promote tourism in the bordering areas of Latgalia, Utena, and Vitebsk. The project was officially ended on 6 May. The results include the development of five new routes for active recreation and family recreation, the organization of six large-scale festivals and the installation of over 700 information signs and road signs. The project lasted for 27 months, with over ?1.5 million allocated for its implementation.

Increasing the quality of travelling in the bordering regions of the three countries was one of the key tasks of Bella Dvina 2. With this in mind the infrastructure of 12 public recreation sites has been improved, including six beaches in Vitebsk Oblast. Five tourist routes along the Zapadnaya Dvina River, the Baltic lake district, architectural and historical monuments of Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania. Guidebooks describing these routes in Russian, English, Latvian, and Lithuanian have been published. For tourists to more easily find their bearings in the diversity of natural and cultural landmarks, to find hotels, cafes, and restaurants without any difficulties hundreds of information signs and road signs have been installed in Latgalia and Vitebsk Oblast.

Close attention was paid to promoting travel opportunities in the Zapadnaya Dvina River region. More 12,000 people visited and participated in six transboundary festivals, including the music and sport festival Viva Braslav and the medieval culture festival Rubon in Polotsk. Visitors of eight international expos were made familiar with how they can spend their time in the bordering areas of Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania in an interesting and affordable manner. Four special promotion tours for reporters and travel agencies of Moscow and Saint Petersburg have been arranged for the sake of penetrating the Russian market. Several Latvian radio stations and TV channels have launched advertising campaigns meant to encourage tourists to go to the bordering areas.

The project Bella Dvina was accomplished in 2008-2010. Latvia’s Latgalia and Belarus’ Vitebsk Oblast took part in it. The first two syllables of the two territories are used to make up the project’s title Bella. The title also underlines the natural beauty of the Zapadnaya Dvina River. The German-French Rhine park Pamina was the prototype of Bella Dvina. Experts of the German-French Rhine park Pamina consulted Latvian and Belarusian specialists. The initiative continued in 2012 on a larger scale. Lithuania’s Aukstaitija joined in, with the funding up from ?562,000 to ?1.8 million. As much as 90% of the sum was provided by the European Union as part of the program for transboundary cooperation between Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus in 2007-2013. In Belarus the project’s partners included six area administrations, including the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee, as well as the Interaction Foundation, which initiated the first Bella Dvina project.