SI-HU PRO

Strategic institutional cooperation for coherent use of project results in the Slovenian-Hungarian border region

INTERREG V-A Austria-Hungary Programme 2014- 2020

340.000 EUR which the share of the Vas County Government Office 180.000 EUR

01.03.2020. - 28.02.2022.

Contact person(s): Anita Bálint - balint.anita@vasmegye.hu

Program website:

The project will focus on the establishment of a joint cross-border coordination network to bring together the sustainable tourism developments of the 2014-2020 period, which have been selected for funding under the INTERREG V-A SI-HU Cooperation Programme. At the beginning of the project, the project partners have assessed all the knowledge, information and results generated and available in the programme period through targeted and active involvement of projects implementing direct tourism developments, by conducting in-depth interviews. A workshop with experts was held to prepare the in-depth interview template.

The analysis of the interviews and surveys was compiled in a fact-finding report. This report helped the SI-HU Programme to define the new development directions for the region for the period 2021-2027.

The results of the report and the changes in tourism sector post COVID-19 and their impacts were presented by VVÖH at an online conference with a record number of participants and famous speakers on 18 May 2021.

The first working group meeting of the Coordination Network took place in June 2021. During the 5 meetings held so far, the members of the network have learned about the results of previous tourism developments and identified common solutions related to their maintenance and further developments. They identified areas for improvement to enhance their own competences, which were developed by VVÖH and ITC project partners and then implemented in 4 - 4 bilateral online modules. Between 25 and 30 participants attended each training session.

VVÖH and ITC put the technical documents and marketing tools, produced during the previous developments that could be further exploited, into a common internal platform and shared them with the network members. This comprehensive knowledge base can serve as a basis for future developments in the region. As well as a series of e-publications on the following 3 themes produced by the VVÖH:

E-communications in practice
Coordinated communication between projects
Bilateral Coordination Working Group

The future steps, the proposed actions, and the main development options achieving coordinated communication across projects based on synergies were formulated by the VVÖH in a policy recommendation and sent to the 7 INTERREG cross-border programme managers.

The tourism developments and attractions of the destination were presented to the general public via a Slovenian-Hungarian online marketing campaign. Many were delighted with promotional items won in prize draws. A press trip organised by VVÖH and a closing conference concluded the project. But the project lives on, with the 22 organisations that signed the cooperation agreement continuing to work together developing the region.

With the bilateral coordination network – the working group and its common internal platform –, the project has created a comprehensive knowledge base and has implemented strategic planning based on synergies and joint capitalisation that will be useful for all relevant actors in the border region.

Project partnership: