TOUR

Project overview:

TOUR strengthened cross-border cooperation between Italy, Albania and Montenegro to promote environmentally responsible tourism in the South Adriatic. Funded by the Interreg IPA South Adriatic Programme 2021–2027, the project helped public authorities, tourism operators and local communities identify practical approaches to ecotourism and address pressures associated with overcrowding, seasonality and tourism development. Through workshops, business exchanges, stakeholder consultations and conferences, the four partners developed a shared ecotourism strategy and Joint Action Plan. These outputs connected environmental conservation, cultural heritage and local economic opportunities, providing a framework for more sustainable destination management and continued cross-border cooperation.

My contribution:

Contracted by: Tourism Organisation of Kotor
Geographical scope: Montenegro

As Tourism and Conservation Specialist I provided expert support for activities addressing tourism’s influence on natural landscapes in Montenegro. The assignment covered the preparation, facilitation and reporting of an ecotourism workshop, coordination of an incoming mission exploring ecotourism business opportunities and conservation practices, and preparation of a conference on responsible relationships with the environment. Responsibilities included developing supporting event toolkits, engaging project partners and local stakeholders, and contributing to progress and activity reports.

Selected results:

• Joint ecotourism strategy: Developed a shared framework for sustainable tourism governance, certification, green infrastructure, community participation and environmental education.

• Territorial needs assessment: Collected and analysed 54 questionnaires across Italy, Albania and Montenegro, identifying common constraints, territorial strengths and priorities for ecotourism development.

• Joint Action Plan: Consolidated territorial analyses and national contributions into a cross-border framework covering strategic priorities, implementation arrangements, monitoring and replication.

• Stakeholder validation: Tested and refined the proposed approaches through the international conference “Responsible Relationship with the Environment” in Kotor on 20 May 2025, using three territorial working groups and interactive stakeholder voting.

• Montenegro’s contribution: Integrated proposals addressing visitor management, institutional coordination, inland tourism development and digital tools, alongside a proposed action-plan structure and partner evaluation questionnaire.

• Continued cooperation: Formalised the four partners’ commitment through a Memorandum of Understanding supporting implementation, dissemination and further development of the joint methodology beyond the project.