ICTr-CE - Innovative participatory sustainable business model for cycling along the Iron Curtain Trail – Central Europe
Duration: March 2023 - Februarz 2026
Brief project description:
The potential of transnational cycling routes for tourism is still underdeveloped in central Europe. This includes the Iron Curtain Eurovelo Trail, which connects regions from Poland to Croatia along the European Green Belt. The ICTr-CE project improves the business case for this route by developing new tourism products. These result from a newly developed participatory business model, which strengthens the innovation capacities of local businesses.
Funded by the Interreg Central Europe Program 2021-2027, the ICTr-CE project covers 8 countries and 3,000 km of the EuroVelo 13 - Iron Curtain Trail, funded by Interreg Central Europe. ICTr-CE - short for Innovative participatory sustainable business model for cycling along the Iron Curtain Trail - Central Europe - is a three-year project that aims to develop an innovative tourism product along EuroVelo 13 in Central Europe, from northern Poland and Germany to Croatia.
The EuroVelo 13 long-distance cycling route has significant historical and cultural importance for contemporary European history. Since 2019, EuroVelo 13 is a certified cultural route of the Council of Europe and overlaps with the European Green Belt. EuroVelo 13 has a high potential to become a successful tourism product, but there is a lack of innovation, capacity and awareness of the impact of cycle tourism at the local level. These challenges mainly affect SMEs and sectoral agencies from regions along the Iron Curtain, which face the challenge of implementing the necessary green and digital tourism solutions.
ICTr-CE will develop a program to strengthen the capacity of SMEs and other stakeholders with digital solutions and mentoring. The project will develop an innovative collaborative cycling tourism product for the Iron Curtain Trail and a participatory business model, followed by an impact measurement system and a good-impact valorization program for NGOs. The results of the project will be transferable to all EuroVelo routes.
The route in Germany managed by Ö.T.E. e.V. in the ICTr-CE project starts in Stralsund and ends at the German-Polish border. From there on, the route will be managed by our Polish partners all the way to Gdansk. The entire route from Stralsund to Gdansk is referred to in the project as the northern pilot area. The execution of the project in Germany takes place in close cooperation with the Tourism Association of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Tourism Association of Vorpommern.
Project website:
www.interreg-central.eu/projects/ictr-ce/
Donors:
The project is supported by the EU from the Interreg Central Europe program 2021-2027.
