Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
105
Passau. Given the worldwide boom in the cruising/river cruising segment, Danube itineraries
have seen a strong surge in popularity but also stiff price competition and are less upscale than
they once used to be.
Corridor Planning and Establishing
In terms of demand analysis, the DCC incorporates market intelligence into the focus of its
project and activities, and in this framework, aspects of demand and seasonality are addressed.
One example is drawing tourists to a particular place by promoting one of the local festivals,
many of which do not take place in the peak season. As an overarching effort, it is worth
pointing out Danube Day 346 , a day with activities in multiple Danube countries that also
involves the local population to a high degree.
In terms of infrastructure, it varies substantially along the Danube, with the upper Danube
presenting a much more advanced infrastructure than the middle and lower Danube. In
general, the density and quality of roads decrease as one moves from the Upper Danube
towards the Lower Danube. In general, there are more bridges in the Upper Danube, with cities
like Budapest offering lots of possibilities to cross the river; but the situation is much more
challenging in countries like Bulgaria and Romania. In Bulgaria, there are only two bridges in
Vidin and Russe, and the ferry boats that used to be more common in Soviet times are now only
sporadically in operation. This implies long driving times to get fromone place to another, often
on country roads that are not well maintained.
The strongest airport in the Danube region is Vienna, with many connections to Eastern
European cities, but within Eastern Europe, seamless connectivity is not always a given. Some
tour operators within their packages offer flights to one destination, for example, Belgrade,
Serbia, and return from another like Sofia, Bulgaria, with the land portion in between covered
by ground transportation. These triangular arrangements tend to be pricey and drive up the
cost of tourism packages
With regard to the Danube cycle pathway, Austria 347 is the most advanced country with
excellent infrastructure in terms of cycling paths, information, orientation signs, support
material like apps or maps, support services like places to stay, or bike repair services, followed
by Germany. In contrast, in countries like Bulgaria, the pathway may appear on a map but is
not recognizable because it leads along heavily transited roads used by trucks that can make it
dangerous to travel along these roads by bike. Facilities to take along a bike by train are also
better in countries like Germany, Austria or Hungary and more difficult in the countries of the
Lower Danube. In addition, bike rental can vary substantially in terms of quality of bikes and is
usually less common and sophisticated along countries of the Lower Danube.
Corridor Governance and Management
As an overarching platform for the Danube Region, the Danube Competence Center was
established in 2010 to respond to the demands of the wider European and global tourism
market. The Danube Competence Center is a public-private partnership association. It consists
of eighty-five members from public and private entities as well as NGOs from the Danube
346 "Welcome to Danube Day 2019," Danube Day, accessed October 12, 2019,
347 "Danube Cycle Path," Donau Oesterreich, accessed October 12, 2019,
cycle-path/.