Project Title: Development of water tourism on waterways connecting Hungary and Serbia
Acronym: WATERTOUR
Project ID: HUSRB/1602/31/0204
Total Project budget: 464.553,77 EUR
EU contribution (IPA): 394.870,70€EUR
Start Date: 1 May 2018
End Date: 31 Octobar 2019
Lead Beneficiary: University of Szeged (Szegedi Tudományegyetem)
Other Beneficiary: From Serbia (Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management;Hungarian Language Teacher Training Faculty, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education) i from Hungary (Institute of Physical Education and Sport Science, Institute of Applied Social Sciences and Minority Policy, Institute of Applied Sciences, Department of Economic and Social Geography – University of Szeged)

Contact information:
University of Szeged (Szegedi Tudományegyetem)
Address: Dugonics squer 13, 6720 Szeged
Contactperson: Mr. Szabo Gábor, rector
Email: rektor@rekt.sztr.hu
Telephone: +3662544001;

Project summary:

The aim of the project is the encouragement of engagement in water tourism as well as the investigation and popularization of the common traditions and cultural heritage of Hungary and Serbia. In addition, the exploration of the natural resources and social values of the region by the Tisza River, together with the natural and artificial waterways of the Tisza basin will be focused on within the framework of the project. We also aim to elaborate a joint tourism and marketing strategy and action plan for the cross-border region and formulate recommendation for the implementation of marketing activities at regional level.
We would like to help the stakeholders of tourism to elaborate packages of joint tourist programs and identify tourism services, all of which are built on the Tisza river connecting our nations and cultures. High attention will be paid to connecting the attractions, sites and venues of the two sides of the border. Complexity of WATERTOUR is granted by a variety of interrelated and intertwined attractions of sport-, eco-, and cultural tourism.
Starting a new tradition, we aim to organize and implement water tours which also create opportunities for the students of the participating Hungarian and Serbian universities to meet, to get acquainted and liaise with each other within the framework of jointly orgainzed programs in the area of their specialization, partnership, culture, sport, recreation and environmental protection. The implemented water tourism programs serve as model programs. By popularizing water tourism and strengthening the touristic potential of riverside settlements, as well as by implementing project outcomes in practice, the program will contribute to enhancing the regionally integrative role of the rivers of the Hungarian Southern Great Plain region and of Voivodina in Serbia. The project will solidify the geostrategic position of these regions and, in addition, it will also serve to prepare Serbia’s full integration into the EU.

This project is co-financed by the European Union. The content of this page is the sole responsibility of the Faculty of Sciences – Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union and/or the Managing Authority.