A day before our official Amazon of Europe Bike Trail project kick-off, on Thursday, 8th November 2018, majority of our project partners attended the international event "Drava as an opportunity" ("Drava kot priložnost"), organized by the Drava Bike partnership. 

This was the first international meeting of Drava bike trail stakeholders from Slovenia, Croatia and Austria and it represents the beginning of joint, collaborative efforts to extend Drava bike trail from Austria, all the way to Osijek, Croatia. Sofar, the planned bike trail has been extended by 510 km to Legrad in Croatia, which is already being promoted as a tourism product in Austria. Future plans include a formation of a similar partnership in Croatia, as well as a 4-country cooperation agreement, which will help the future sustainable development in the regions along the Drava river. 

The main goal of this international event was to connect organizations and individuals, who are working in the area of sustainable tourism development and Drava river preservation in Slovenia and Croatia. Our project and future sustainable tourism product - Amazon of Europe Bike Trail, was also presented in the first part of the event. 

All the presentations: 

- Drava Bike Trail partnership presentation, Mrs. Mateja Softič, Iskriva, Institute of Development of Local Potentials

- Drava Bike Trail in Slovenia, Mr. Uroš Rozman, Koroška region Development Agency (RRA Koroška)

- Promoting Drava Bike Trail in Slovenia, Mrs. Karmen Razlag, Maribor - Pohorje Destination Management Agency (Zavod za turizem Maribor - Pohorje)

- Drava Bike Trail in Austria, Mr. Paco Wrolich, Kärnten Tourism Marketing Organization (Kärnten Werbung, Austria

- Drava Bike Trail in Croatia, Mrs. Lidija Vrečar Mišćin, Cycling Tourism Agency of Croatia (Koordinacijsko tijelo za razvoj cikloturizma Hrvatske).

- Amazon of Europe Bike Trail, Mrs. Urška Dolinar, Iskriva, Institute of Development of Local Potentials

- Interpretation and preservation of the natural environment along the Drava river, Mr. Andrej Grmovšek, Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation (Zavod RS za varstvo narave)

After the presentations, all the stakeholders were split into several groups, where we discussed our past and present work, as well as discuss the future plans and possible synergies and opportunities for cooperation. There were great discussions and a lot of motivation for future sustainable tourism development, with the main focus being on cycling, as well as other types of active, outdoor tourism. 

Unfortunately we couldn't join the actual cycling trip along the Drava Bike trail, but we will make sure to try it out next time. We encourage you to do the same, if you get a chance! 

To get more info on Drava Bike trail, click here: https://dravabike.si/