Med Pearls is a cross-border project that aims to internationally position the Mediterranean as an integral destination of quality and excellence for Slow Tourism (ST), by accelerating innovative initiatives built from public & private cooperation. Slow Tourism invites travellers to tourism at a reduced pace, one that is sustainable and responsible, and to discover new destinations while respecting them and having direct contact with local communities. The project covers Spain, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine, through a partnership of 8 complementary organizations:
- Catalan Tourism Board (Spain)
- Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt)
- Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce – Alexandria Chamber (Egypt)
- Municipality of Thessaloniki (Greece)
- Discovery Travel & Tourism LLC (Jordan)
- APS Mediterranean Pearls (Italy)
- Palestine information & Communications Technology Incubator (Palestine)
- Palestine Wildlife Society (Palestine)
After the 36 months of implementation, the project will deliver a network of 26 new ST products / experiences; this is the "Med Pearls".
To achieve this result, local Destination Management Companies (DMCs) will be supported (financially & technically) to create their own ST products and local start-ups & entrepreneurs to develop ICT solutions (Apps, Virtual Reality, Games,) and integrate them into the new Pearls, adapted to the tourism of the 21st century.
A real network of homologue experiences throughout the Mediterranean region will be created allowing visitors to live similar experiences, of same quality, in any of the 13 areas in where Med Pearls will be deployed, thus ensuring that the Mediterranean is commercialised as an integral tourist destination, and not simply as a sum of different markets.
The project has a total budget of 3 million euros and will be funded up to a maximum of 90% through the “Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme” ENI CBC Med 2014-2020.
The 2014-2020 ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme is a multilateral Cross-Border Cooperation(CBC) initiative funded by the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI). The Programme objective is to foster fair, equitable and sustainable economic, social and territorial development, which may advance cross-border integration and valorise participating countries’ territories and values. The following 13 countries participate in the Programme: Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia. The Managing Authority (JMA) is the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Italy). Official Programme languages are Arabic, English and French.
For more information, please visit: www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/med-pearls.
Top photo: © Gianluca Ricceri