IN PAPHOS - THE 16th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN CULTURAL TOURISM NETWORK - 18-21 OCTOBER
After the efforts of the Tourism Development and Promotion Company of the Paphos Region (ETAP) which presides over the European network, it has become possible to organize the said conference in Paphos which will take place on October 18-21, 2023 in the Attikon shopping center and in a hotel in Paphos.
As stated by the President of the European Cultural Tourism Network (European Cultural Tourism Network, ETCN), Nassos Hatzigeorgiou-Executive Director of ETAP Paphos, the conference acquires special importance this year since in the year 2023, Paphos holds the title of European Capital of Smart Tourism and this conference deals mainly with its pillars this year Digitization, Sustainability, Cultural Heritage - Creative Tourism.
Entitled Smart Tourism/Smart Destination the conference in question has attracted international range speakers and dozens of participants from more than 20 countries. The conference is under the auspices of of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism of Cyprus and is organized in collaboration with the ReinHerit project at European program Horizon 2020, where ECTN is a partner coordinated by the Cultural institution of the Bank of Cyprus. The conference is supported by the EU Capital of Smart Tourism institution and the European Year of Skills. At the same time, within the framework of the conference, the ECTN 'Sustainable Cultural Tourism Destination' awards ceremony took place for 10 consecutive years, in a partnership with the European Tourism Council, the NECSTouR network and the Europa Nostra organization.
As planned, the President of ECTN noted, the conference is expected to present important aspects in the new trends in creating smart destinations, presentation and transfer of good practices in the fields of sustainability, digitization, and culture heritage/ creative tourism.
Additionally previous European Smart Capitals Tourism will present their destinations and there will be a valuable exchange of knowledge and experiences. Speakers from the cultural heritage digitization foundation Europeana participate, from the Council of Europe's Iron Age Danube cultural route, from the service European Parliament culture committee, by Europa Nostra, by European Travel Commission, from universities and research centers in Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Austria and the Czech Republic, as well as from the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK) - headquarters of UNESCO.
The European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN), based in Brussels, consists of more than 45 regional tourism development agencies, university institutions, cities, communities, etc. from 22 countries. Its main purpose is the exchange of knowledge as well as networking with the main goal of development of regional economies through cultural tourism.
