A conference was held the 27-28th of April in Vilnius in cooperation between the County Administration of Gotland, Sweden and the Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency, introducing the concept Grand Tour of the Baltic Sea. The Grand Tour of Baltic Sea Region could be described as a way to offer people and acting partners, a diversity of reasons to travel and visit World Heritage sites in the Baltic Sea Region. It is also a way to create networks and cross border exchange between World Heritage Sites.The project network of today consists of eight World Heritage sites that has been in contacts between the years of 2013-2016. At the conference there were presentations from experts on tourism sectors, cultural heritage research and sustainable tourism as well as input from UNESCO and National Geographic, to inspire and influence key person of the involve sites. They are all important to make Grand Tour of the Baltic Sea come true as an innovative and sustainable project during 2017.
Presentations:
Developing sustainable tourism in the Baltic Sea Region, UNESCO consultant Cecilie Smith Christensen, former NWHF.
Introductions Grand Tour of Baltic Sea, GTBSR concept (Lennart Edlund/Louise Hoffman Borgö)
International Tourism and Travel behaviour, Björn Arvidsson, Razormind, Sweden Tourism Behavior_Razormind
Member cities, projects and opportunities for collaboration, Matthias Ripp, Head of the North West European Regional Secretariat of OWHC, Germany
National Geographic- possible co-operation, Frank Biasi, Director of Digital Development and Geo tourism from Colorado, USA
Swedish Embassy in Vilnius – partner of the Conference;
Main sponsor – UAB „BALTISCHESHAUS
