Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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NGOs. 354 Stakeholders were initially engaged either because of their importance on the
national level (NTOs) or because they are geographically or thematically linked with a Danube
region in some way.
In terms of capacity building, it is mostly done in alignment with project activities and focuses
on both individual capacities as well as collective capacities by supporting the formation of
cooperative networks, for example, product clubs in the context of the Transdanube Pearls
project. Since these product clubs enable local stakeholder constellations to work more
effectively on product development and marketing, capacity and innovation are increased on a
subnational destination level.
In terms of stakeholder collaboration, the Danube Competence Center is a facilitator of
different initiatives that can involve different partners focused on fostering cooperation
between stakeholders, for example, through so-called Floating Conferences on the Danube that
bring together different stakeholder groups and that contribute to better coordination. 355
General Assembly meetings organized by the Danube Competence Center take place at least
once a year. Meetings for specific project-related activities are organized for partners typically
every fewmonths. Meetings between corridor partners are also held in parallel to international
fairs, especially ITB. These meetings often take place as part of the side program or within
politically driven forums.
In terms of travel facilitation, the Danube unites 10 countries, each with its own legal
framework. For countries belonging to the European Union, EU legislation applies in addition
to country legislation, but even in this context, there are some relevant differences. For
example, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Romania are not Schengen countries yet.356 However, there are
some specific regulations that facilitate travel within the Danube region. Among these, Chinese
tourists that have a Schengen visa are allowed to enter a Non-Schengen country like Bulgaria,
without any additional requirement from the Bulgarian side. According to Wikipedia, Bulgaria,
Romania, and Croatia all accept Schengen visas, although they are not part of Schengen.357
In terms of monitoring performance, there is no centralized data collection, data
harmonization, or measurement of visitor flows within the Danube region. Statistics, such as
visitor metrics and satisfaction, are only available individually at the country level and are not
broken down for the Danube region within national statistical frameworks. This issue has been
acknowledged as a fundamental pending challenge, and the Danube Competence Center is
considering setting up a project that would help to institutionalize a Danube tourism
observatory, to make progress on this issue. This would include different measurement points
of tourism flows along the river in strategic locations with tourism activity.
In terms of funding, in the case of the Danube Competence Center (DCC), which on average
implements 3 to 5 projects (like the EU Interreg - Transdanube Pearls and the EU COSME
project), 80% of funding corresponds to donor organizations and 20% of funding corresponds
to membership fees. With regard to the membership fees, 80% of funding corresponds to the
354
355 "Floating Conference 2015," Romanian Government - Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration,
accessed October 12, 2019,
356 Benjamin Elisha Sawe, "Which European Countries Are Not in the Schengen Zone?," WorldAtlas, last modified December
21, 2018,
357 "Visa Policy of the Schengen Area," Wikipedia, last modified October 13, 2019,