Deadline: 1-Jun-22
Nominations are now open for the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) Award with the 2022 theme is: ‘Relaunching European Tourism through Cultural Heritage & Digitalisation’.
Cultural tourism is the fastest growing sector of European tourism and can contribute both to the sustainability and competitiveness of tourism in the European Union and beyond, as well as to the sustainable future of cultural assets, heritage sites and local communities.
These Awards enhance the visibility of European cultural tourism destinations, create a platform for sharing experience and knowledge and promotes networking between destinations. The Awards Contest is open to tourist destinations across Europe, to showcase their results and outputs in sustainable cultural tourism under several selected categories each year.
The Awards will be given for achievements by cultural tourist destinations which have produced significant results related to enhancing visitor experience while respecting traditions and involving local host communities.
Aspects and Themes
The 2022 Awards address the following heritage-related aspects of sustainable cultural tourism development and promotion:
- Cooperation between Museums and Cultural Heritage Sites (including European Heritage Label sites), in relation to the ‘ReInHerit’ Horizon2020 Coordination and Support Action (CSA)*
- Medieval Heritage and Archaeology (supported by EAA – European Association of Archaeologists)
- Digitalisation in Sustainable Cultural Tourism, towards Smart Destinations
- Transnational Thematic Tourism Products, including European Cultural Routes (involving at least two countries)
- Promoting European Heritage to Young Visitors and Travellers (in the framework of the ‘European Year of Youth 2022’).
This is a non-profit initiative. Therefore, the Awards do not consist of any type of monetary prize and does not aim to give any type of economic advantage to the applicants and winners. No financial or contractual obligations will arise neither for ECTN, nor for the partner organisations (Europa Nostra, the European Travel Commission and NECSTouR), nor the supporting organisations (European Association of Archaeologists, Interpret Europe & ReInHerit Horizon2020 CSA).
The applicants must address one of the above themes and present projects/initiatives that have been completed during the past 3 years. Award winners will be recognised as examples of excellence inspiring other tourist destinations and stimulating further development of sustainable cultural tourism initiatives.
Additional Award Details
Award winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony to be held during the 15th International Conference for Cultural Tourism on the theme of ‘Relaunching European tourism through Cultural Heritage and Digitalisation’, organised by ETCN on 19-22 October 2022 in Krk, Croatia.
The selected finalists will be invited to the ECTN Conference 2022 and to the Awards Ceremony. The organiser and partners will not reimburse any costs for attending the Awards Ceremony, but the conference fee will be waived for up to two persons per finalist.
Eligibility Criteria
The Joint Awards are open to all tourist destinations across Europe, national, regional and local authorities, tourism boards and associations, destination management organisations, museums, interpretation centres, cultural routes, festivals and cultural NGOs.
Awards Criteria
The Awards Jury will assess the quality of applications according to the following criteria:
- Relevance to the selected category and content quality
- Evidence of success (number of visitors increase in the off-peak season, visitors’ satisfaction, locals’ satisfaction, increase in the average spend of tourists, increase in the spend to the local product, contribution to employment, publicity)
- Tourism Sustainability – Sustainable Development of Tourism (Economic, Social, Environmental)
- Ability to attract foreign visitors, including from outside Europe and to lesser known destinations
- Innovative character, techniques or tools
- Involvement of the local community
- Synergies with the EU Green Deal and Climate Action (SDG 13)
- Inclusive Tourism aspects (facilitating family holidays, social tourism)
- Contribution towards post-pandemic tourism recovery and resilience.
For more information, visit https://www.culturaltourism-network.eu/award-2022.html