On 5 and 6 October 2026, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vratsa organised and held demo days at the two pilot locations – Zgorigrad village and Bistrets neighbourhood – within the framework of 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 events aimed to showcase the developed pilot concepts in practice and introduce visitors to the history, culture and natural assets of the two locations.
At the rural pilot location – Zgorigrad, participants followed the route “Journey through the Hidden Valley of Zgorigrad”, which included the Borov Kamak eco-trail and the waterfall of the same name, as well as the “Probuda 1926” Community Centre in Zgorigrad, where a culinary demonstration took place. Participants also visited the “Garden of the world”, where each visitor planted a flower.
At the peripheral urban pilot location – Bistrets neighbourhood, visitors followed the “Bistrets path of Traditions”, learning more about the history and significance of the St. Ivan Pusti Monastery, discovering traditional recipes and dishes in the centre of the neighbourhood, and leaving a positive mark by planting a flower in the local “Garden of the world”.
The partnership includes 14 organisations from 10 countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe and is led by the Municipality of Szeged, Hungary. The project addresses contemporary challenges in tourism by introducing a “visitor economy” model — an economy that places visitors and local communities at the centre of development. This approach turns people into the main driver of sustainable development, highlighting the importance of human relationships, local identities and personalised experiences that bring added value to the local economy.
