On 27 November and 15 December 2025, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vratsa (CCI Vratsa) organised two training seminars in the pilot locations of Bistrets District (city of Vratsa) and Zgorigrad Village within the project “People Powered Tourism: empowerment of local communities through co-designing experience based transformative travel to enhance visitor economy”, funded by the Interreg Danube Region Programme (DRP) 2021–2027.
The partnership brings together 14 organisations from 10 countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe, led by the Municipality of Szeged (Hungary). The project addresses contemporary challenges in tourism by promoting a “visitor economy” model—an approach that places visitors and local communities at the centre of development. This model positions people as the main drivers of sustainable development, highlighting the importance of human relationships, local identities and personalised experiences that generate added value for the local economy.
The two events aimed to revisit the project’s key concepts and introduce stakeholders to the methodology that will be applied in the next phases. Participants mapped the most important natural, cultural and historical resources in their local areas and developed a shared vision for future cooperation and economic development at each location.
During the group work sessions, ideas and knowledge were exchanged, and participants shared their perspectives on potential partnerships for developing each location as a tourist destination. The need for stronger cross-sector cooperation was once again emphasised as a key factor for advancing sustainable tourism.
