CrossCulTour

Aims and purpose

The project “CrossCulTour – Cross Marketing for Cultural Tourism” was realized between December 2008 and November 2011. After this project lifetime, the partnership continues its activities within the TRANSROMANICA Association.

CrossCulTour stands for “Cross-Marketing Strategies for Culture and Tourism”. The European Cultural Route TRANSROMANICA, initiated during a former project in 2003, connects our common Romanesque heritage and had prepared the ground for CrossCulTour:

The approach was to take the results and partnership of TRANSROMANICA on to the next level. Based on the Romanesque heritage, CrossCulTour embraced further stylistic periods and cultural elements of the regions, established collaboration with marketing partners linked to cultural heritage and promoted cross-sector cooperation.

Objectives

The project’s aim were:

  • Preservation and promotion of cultural sites and landscapes by means of an appropriate cross-marketing approach to cultural tourism
  • Making cultural destinations more competitive by establishing cooperation with small and medium sized enterprises
  • Opening access to markets and connecting disadvantaged regions with cultural centres by using innovative communication technologies
  • Increase in employment and income
  • Creation of a stronger regional and European identity for 7.6 million citizens from partner regions based on common cultural-historic roots

Achievements

The project documentation brochure, summarizing all activities of the CrossCulTour project in the past three years, is available as e-paper.

Projects in the following fields are presented here:

  • Conferences and Workshops

 

Final Conference in Brussels

 

On 7 September 2011, the Final Conference of the CENTRAL EUROPE project CrossCulTour was held in Brussels. The Regional Representation of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany) invited for the workshop “CrossCulTour achievements, European cultural tourism and best practice in heritage management and Cultural Tourism Management”.

The workshop was followed by an evening event at the same location. A political debate on “Future policies and funding for cultural tourism” constituted the preface of a country buffet with regional specialties, a small tourism fair and medieval spectacle.

Find the report here.

Policy Making Event in Modena

On 4 November 2011 the Policy-Making Event “Policies, ideas and funds for cultural tourism” was held in Modena. Starting from the results of the CrossCulTour project, international and national experts in territorial promotion and marketing together with regional and local representatives discussed about strengths and weaknesses as well as perspectives of policies for cultural tourism promotion. Find the report here.

Best Practice Workshop on Cross-Marketing in Cultural Tourism

The workshop was held in Berlin on 9 June 2009. 22 participants including project partners, TRANSROMANICA members and associates from the German National Tourist Board, Tourism Marketing Saxony-Anhalt, Carinthia Promotion and the European Route of Brick Gothic presented several models of cross-marketing in cultural tourism and discussed possibilities of partnerships within CrossCulTour. A report written by dwif Consulting summarizes the results of the workshop.

Based on the analysis of existing best practice examples, the project partners had contacted suitable companies and institutions to evaluate possibilities and chances for joint marketing. Among others, first steps of cooperation with the Federation of Christian Hoteliers in Germany VCH, Baedeker travel guides, the Wine Growers’ Association of Freyburg-Unstrut-Region in Saxony-Anhalt, the Marathon from Luther to the Pope, the Italian tour operator Modenatur and other cultural routes and networks such as Via Francigena or VIA REGIAhad been established.

  • Knowledge Transfer

Trainings in Austria

“History. Culture. Tourism.” was the title of the 2-week-course organised by the University of Klagenfurt from November 14 to 25, 2011. Find the report here.

„Architecture and Symbolism – History and Marketing Strategies” was the title of the second Summer School, taking place from 13 to 16 September 2011 in the Cathedral of Gurk, Austria. 40 guests from Austria, Germany and Norway, among them students and representants of cultural institutions, had the chance to listen to presentations of international experts.

Central themes were medieval cultural history and symbolism, architecture of Romanesque and Gothic times and their possibilities of marketing in modern cultural tourism. The Summer School was organized by the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt with the support of the EU-project CrossCulTour. Read the texts of all contribitions in the second online magazine.

“Culinary Art – History and Marketing Strategies” was the title of the first Summer School in Friesach, Austria. From 14th to 17th September 2010, 24 participants attended the seminar to learn more about medieval history, alimentation and marketing. During the practical part the participants cooked medieval meals using authentic techniques. The Summer School was organised by the University of Klagenfurt, all lectures are available as online magazine.

Creative Management of Monuments in Italy

From March to June 2010, the course “Creative Management of Monuments” was held in Modena, Italy. 40 students – most of them postgraduates in history of art or architecture – attended the course of 82 hours, organized by the Province of Modena. The course gave young postgraduates the chance to broaden their horizon in relevant topics related to Romanesque heritage: cultural animation, marketing, networking, tourism, enogastronomy as well as guided visits of the Romanesque churches in the surroundings of Modena were on the agenda. A report summarizes the achievements of the course.

Volunteering in Germany

In 2009, the Tourism Association of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany) has supported a series of conferences to encourage volunteering for churches in rural areas. In a first step, ten volunteers from different villages were selected by a jury. They were honored by the participation in conferences and excursions treating the topics of local history and culture in connection with volunteering. In the future, the volunteers will help to raise awareness of honorary offices and assist in communicating offers to the public in Saxony-Anhalt.

Courses for tour guides in Germany

Romanesque art in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, was the focus of a 120 hours training course which took place from September 2010 to May 2011 in Magdeburg. The course addressed German-speaking tour guides and dealt with the history of Saxony-Anhalt, tourism structures and presentation skills. Two additional weekends in monasteries were planned to broach the issue of spiritual tourism in cloisters. The training was organized by the Tourism Organization of Saxony-Anhalt, Evangelical and Catholic Adult Education. A flyer providing further information can be found here.

Online Knowledge Portal

The Department of History of the University of Klagenfurt (Austria) has created an Online Knowledge Portal which contains a substantial bibliography and a link list on issues relevant for the project (architecture, pilgrimage et al.). The first edition of the Scientific Online Magazine featuring the lectures of the first Summer School is available on the Knowledge Portal.

  • Studying and Analyzing

The cultural-historic study “With wagons across the land, mounting the Alps, on ships and rafts down the rivers and by foot to the sanctuaries – Pilgrimage, Streets, and Traffic from a Cultural Historical Point of View” was published by the University of Klagenfurt and is available as download.

A market analysis compiled by dwif-Consulting examined the CrossCulTour-region’s focus on cultural tourism, their main markets for overnight tourism, a possible monitoring scheme and the consequences for the further proceeding of the project CrossCulTour.

Several policy papers summarize the activities of the project CrossCulTour. Currently available are “Growing Market Cultural Tourism”, “Medieval Mobility and Contemporary Tourism”, “Themed Marketing as Strategy for Success”, “How remote Regions can access US and Chinese Markets”, “How to enlarge Cross-Marketing Potentials”, “How to implement recognizable signposting at cultural sights”, “Improve cultural heritage marketing and services through training” and “How to guide cultural tourists in remote regions”.

The CrossCulTour Strategy has provided the basis for several communication measures, development and promotion of products. Its development refers to a moderated transnational discussion process and the results of several analysis which have prepared the ground for the development of CC Strategy, namely the analysis of the market, research on cross-marketing and best practice examples, cultural-historic expertise as well as the analysis of G2B-structures.

  • Visitor Guidance Systems: Signposting, Audio Guides and Maps

CrossCulTour has made efforts to equip Romanesque monuments with a consistent and recognisable signposting in front of the sites.

A professional guideline has defined the frame of visual appearance for signposting of Romanesque heritage sites. Tourists now receive information on 70 outdoor signboards in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany), Thuringia (Germany) and the Province of Modena (Italy) will follow. Information on history, UNESCO sites, crossing cultural routes and tourist offers in the surroundings as well as a map of CrossCulTour-partners are integrated in the signs.

Around 70 monuments in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia (Germany) and the Province of Modena (Italy) can now be experienced with new audio guides. While multilingual versions enhance the service for international visitors, CrossCulTour has also developed special tracks for children. The tracks contribute to a unique experience of the Romanesque abbeys, churches and further monuments and are available free of charge on the central download-portal and on the Italian portal. The concept for this activity is available here.

The Province of Modena has also developed two maps (downloadable from internet and available in the tourist information offices operated by the Province of Modena) about two different tourist thematic itineraries: on linking Romanesque art with the main local eno-gastronomic excellences and the best outlets for purchasing these typical products; the other one proposing cycle routes linked to the Romanesque sites of the Modena area.

The “Romanesque with taste” map illustrates the main Romanesque sties of the province of Modena and by means of new IT technologies, such as QR codes, satellite navigators and smartphones one can find out about all the places of production and direct sales for the best Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, Prosciutto of Modena, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Lambrusco wines, not to mention the restaurants of the Modena a Tavola tour… in order to enhance one’s Romanesque journey with plenty of tasty stops.

The “Romanesque by bike” map presents two cycle paths departing from Modena with the Modena Cathedral, Piazza Grande and the Ghirlandina tower (included in the Unesco’s World Heritage). While one winds its way through the flatland, the other one travels across the hills, but both offer the visitor a special experience between art and nature, riding on the trail of the Romanesque.

  • Events

 

TRANSROMANICA. A fascinating journey through the Middle Ages

The Province of Modena (Italy) presented the event “TRANSROMANICA. A fascinating journey through the Middle Ages” which aimed at promoting and valorising the Romanesque and Medieval elements that characterise the artistic and architectonic patrimony of the territory of Modena.

This initiative was articulated in three weekends in autumn 2010 and involved not only the city of Modena, but also other local realities that are characterised by the presence of many interesting examples of Romanesque art and architecture.

Addressed to a wide and heterogeneous public, the programme was particularly rich, including many different proposals of excursions and guided tours, lessons of important professors, conversations, literary meetings as well as conferences on history and culture of the year 1000. Many convivial and gastronomic moments contributed to the success of the event and presented Modena and its territory as a very attractive destination.

More than 7.000 participants, among them many young people, confirmed the wide interest in and appreciation for the multi-disciplinary approach that characterised all the events. Videos are available on the YouTube-Channel of the young initiative “Walkin Talkin”. (images by Comune di Modena)

A comprehensive report about the background, aims and implementation of the event is available here.

  • Cooperation with Business

Products for Tour Operators

Partner regions of CrossCulTour and TRANSROMANICA have developed attractive offers for tourists. Starting from the Romanesque, the products consider further topics with a relation to regional specialties and attractions such as biking/hiking, culinary, wine as well as spiritual tourism. A range of these products is available on www.transromanica.com. A summary of the products can be downloaded here. Two newsletters addressed at business can be found here (edition summer 2011) and here (edition autumn/winter 2011/12). A sales manual with available contact data of tourism service providers was created in 2011, a database can be found here.

The image brochure offers additional touring proposals and motives for travelling, addressing business and end consumers at the same time.

Addressing Chinese and American Tour Operators

The promotion of the partner regions on the Chinese and American market was a key project within CrossCulTour: its aims were to prepare service providers for welcoming guests from overseas through workshops, to assist in suitable product development, to create apt sales documentation and to meet with Chinese/American tour operators to establish sustainable B2B-partnerships. Claudia Tscherne was managing this activity which ran until the end of 2011, its concept is available here.

Does European cultural heritage attract tourists from overseas, especially from China and the USA? First answers were given during two workshops on 31 January and 1 February 2011 in Berlin: Experts Wolfgang Arlt and Al Merschen presented characteristics and needs of the Chinese and American source markets and discussed consequences with 30 participants from Germany, Italy, Austria and Slovenia. The presentation of Wolfgang Arlt on Chinese outbound tourism can be found here, Al Merschen’s presentation on US travel trends is available here.

On April 14th, 2011 the cultural route TRANSROMANICA, promoting the Romanesque heritage of seven European countries, received the “Chinese Tourists Welcoming Award”.

For the eighth time, the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute presented the award ceremony in Beijing.

Within the category of “Product Innovation”, TRANROMANICA’s concept to pull tourism flows off the beaten track to remote regions with rich Romanesque heritage was awarded by the Chinese jury.

Budget and duration

  • Project Duration
    • December 2008 – November 2011 (36 months)
  • Area of Intervention
    • Capitalising on Cultural Resources for More Attractive Cities and Regions
  • Budget
    • Total Budget: 2.261.771,40 €
    • ERDF contribution: 1.715.923,55 €

 

Structure

 

 

Partners

Ministry of Regional Development and Transport of Federal Land Saxony-Anhalt (Germany)

  • mlv.sachsen-anhalt.de
  • Julia Mayer
  • mayer@mlv.sachsen-anhalt.de

TRANSROMANICA – The Romanesque Routes of European Heritage (Germany)

  • transromanica.com
  • Christin Leser
  • info@transromanica.com

Tourism Association of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany)

  • tourismusverband-sachsen-anhalt.de
  • Roland Johannknecht
  • romanik@ltvlsa.de

German Economic Institute for Tourism at Munich University – dwif (Germany)

  • dwif.de
  • Michael Deckert
  • deckert@dwif.de

Thuringia Tourism GmbH (Germany)

  • thueringen-tourismus.de
  • Martina Maass
  • maass@thueringen-tourismus.de

Local Development Agency Langhe Monferrato Roero (Italy)

  • lamoro.it
  • Marta Ferrero
  • progetti@lamoro.it

Alpen Adria Universitaet Klagenfurt (Austria)

  • uni-klu.ac.at
  • Gerald Krenn
  • Martin Gabriel
  • crosscultour@uni-klu.ac.at

Province of Modena (Italy)

  • provincia.modena.it
  • Lauretta Longagnani
  • l@provincia.modena.it

International Tourism Institute (Slovenia)

  • turizem-institut.si
  • Nina Pečoler
  • pecoler@ntz-nta.si