Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
109
Future Development of the Danube TC
Rather than creating new products, the challenge is to enhance the existing ones in terms of
quality, service, connectivity, and variations of the same basic product. In some instances,
countries and regions have been involved in project activities that are not immediately
bordering the river but that are part of the wider Danube region.
Railways services within and among countries should be improved over the next few years, as
well as opportunities to take bikes along to facilitate cycling along the Danube cycling path. The
same applies to coach services and equipping them with bike carriages. The most needed
immediate improvement concerns establishing or improving cycle paths, their proper paving,
and signage, as well as establishing services around them. More fundamentally, infrastructure
requirements are necessary mostly for the middle, and lower Danube in terms of roads, port
facilities, air connectivity as well as railroad/coach connectivity, but much of that is outside the
scope of intervention of the Danube Competence Center.
Another aspiration is to involve more stakeholders in the nascent product clubs that constitute
the “Danube Pearls” that emerged out of the Transdanube Pearls project. This refers to adding
newmembers to each Pearl as well as incrementing their economic contribution. Furthermore,
the goal is to involve new Pearls in countries like Moldova. Fundamentally, destination
management structures on the subnational level still require much more institutional
strengthening and market orientation. In the same line, cultural routes like the Roman
Emperors Route and the Danube Wine Route will gradually extend and include new
stakeholders while improving the level of quality and service.
Evaluation of the Danube TC
Continued investment in infrastructure (roads, bridges, cycle paths, signage, port/mooring
facilities, ferries, tourism services in general), in quality, in the differentiation and
improvement of existing products as well as capacity development will be required. Value is
not only provided by bringing an increased visitor flow to certain regions of the Danube but
also by creating greater cohesion in Danube regions and among the regions, as evidenced by
project activities, emerging product clubs, exchanges of best practices, etc. But is also a greater
understanding of roles, for example, as demonstrated in the river cruising master class, an
event which helped both the river cruise industry and small and medium-sized enterprises
along the river to have a better grasp of what the other side requires for successful product
development. The perception of a common Danube destination nurtured through activities
such as Danube@ITB, also translates into economic benefits for the Danube region although
these are hard to measure at this stage.
Tourism can be improved by focusing on enhancing market readiness of products, improving
the linkages between those products, and by improving the quality of services and tourism
establishments in around attractions, to positively influence visitor satisfaction and therefore,
arrival numbers, average length of stay and average daily spending. Higher quality products
attract target groups with higher spending power so quality and infrastructure developments
will, over time, contribute to positioning the Danube as a high-quality destination.