The 500-kilometer international cultural tourism route “The Balts’ Road” invites tourists not only from Lithuania and Latvia but also from other parts of the world to learn, discover, experience and to have a taste of the uniqueness of the Baltic cultural heritage in the traditional and modern ways. The route will extend in the territories of two neighboring Baltic countries – Lithuania and Latvia.
“The Balts’ Road” will not only motivate to be interested in the culture of our ancestors, but will also form an attractive and hospitable image of tourism in Lithuania and Latvia. According to Rūta Stankuvienė, the director of Šiauliai Tourism Information Center and the head of the project, the ambitions of the route makers are really high – the future goal of the project is to integrate “The Balts’ Road” into the map of the European cultural roads in order to have the whole of Europe enjoy the exclusiveness of Lithuania and Latvia. According to her, the route is being developed in using the principles of harmonious tourism development: a huge emphasis is on the fact that the quality, diversity and accessibility of cultural tourism services and products Lithuania and Latvia will be improved and ensured.
During the implementation of the “The Balts’ Road” project, in accordance with special programs, training and seminars are organized for craftsmen, folk artists and tourism service providers from both countries. A lot of attention is also paid to businessmen as well as catering and accommodation institutions in order to ensure the quality of services provided to those who travel through the cross-border tourist route “The Balts’ Road”. According to the project manager, feasibility studies have been launched, which should, in particular, contribute to the practical implementation of the current project and its future opportunities. “There is a plan to set up interactive tourist attraction centers in the center of Šiauliai city, which will be based on information and communication technology solutions. The tourists will be able to visit the ancient Baltic village in a virtual way, demonstrate their knowledge of the Baltic culture or at least get a glimpse of Baltic customs and traditions”, said Rūta Stankuvienė.
During the two years of project implementation, Šiauliai Tourism Information Center, National Regions Development Agency, Zemgale Planning Region, Kurzeme Planning Region, Jelgava Municipality, Talsi County Municipality will help to discover what has not been discovered yet and will introduce tourists to the regions of Lithuania and Latvia, ancient Baltic traditions, their relevance to people and culture nowadays.
Cross-border project International Cultural Road “The Balts’ Road”, LLI-187, Balts' Road is sponsored by 2014-2020 Interreg V-A Latvia-Lithuania Cross Border Cooperation Program. The main activities are carried out in four regions of Lithuania (Klaipėda, Telšiai, Šiauliai and Panevėžys) as well as two regions of Latvia (Kurzeme and Zemgale).
The total budget of the project is EUR 763 402.35, of which EUR 648 892.00 is the co-financing of the European Regional Development Fund.
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