The final part of Rediscover project focuses on the implementation and testing of instruments supporting the introduction and successful market entry of the products and services defined and selected in work package 4 (WP4), and contributes to sustained cultural tourism in the partner cities. Partners selected from 3 types of tourism products and services for testing – defined by the Application Form. Our aim was to derive valuable operation experience, and also to identify replication possibilities/criteria. 

The AF describes that each partner city should implement one or more of the products and services described above, however, the partnership created altogether 36 pilots.

For Rediscover project one can say that not only the usual problems occur that can threaten a project implementation one way or another, but the partnership had to face a much bigger hardship. While we were planning largescale street festivals and events, agreeing on clusters and joint thematic routes with already LSG suggested and approved plans for pilots, Covid-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down. Because of it, the partnership indeed had to make serious changes regarding their plans in no time. These effects lead to certain activities being postponed, resized, or even migrated from the physical to digital space; some planned pilot activities were forced to be cancelled. In some cases, the changes were an indirect impact of the pandemic in the organisational capacity of the partner cities. The pandemic has accelerated the shift toward digital technologies beyond even the most ambitious forecasts. After all, despite the difficulties and the shortness of time the partners have managed to come out with new, innovative and creative ideas, and one can say that the online thematic working teams established for all types of joint routes worked even better in this situation, because the partners could lean on each other, exchange good practices more than we ever imagined in the beginning of the activity.

This document served the purpose of showcasing the final pilot products carried out by the nine participating cities of the Danube Region, acting within the Rediscover partnership. These pilots were arranged along five, so-called Rediscover thematic routes highlighting the gems of Jewish a) gastronomy, b) built heritage, c) guided tours, d) virtual museum and exhibition and e) events and festivals. All pilots were tested and most of them proved to be viable touristic products/services strengthening both the local and the regional tourism market with creative and innovative niche elements. Most of these pilots proved to be sustainable, replicable and easily transferable which will be elaborated on in the Community-sourced Jewish Cultural Heritage Valorisation Handbook.

You can the comprehensive, illustrated report of our pilots on the Rediscover website's Library section: http://dtp.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/rediscover/outputs

Also please feel free to check our project's results on our Facebook page and YouTube channel:

https://www.facebook.com/rediscover.interreg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYakCwzrv_8I_PlG6yWOMhg