Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
50
funding, as in the case of walking and hiking trails in Europe where hiking federations
contribute to the maintenance funds of these trails. 142 As such, MDTC funding sources, as
shown in the following figure, can be classified as either internal or external funding sources.
Internal funding is from either public or private sources within the TC countries, while external
funding refers to funding received from entities, not members of the corridor.
Internal public funding includes membership fees paid by the corridor countries towards the
joint budgets as well as domestic funds committed by local and national authorities towards
corridor related activities within their destinations. In the case of the Transromanica TC,
membership fees, from regional government bodies, are used to cover the operational costs of
the TC secretariat, which is based in Germany. Internal private funding refers to funding from
professional associations and tourism businesses in corridor countries; it can be in the form of
sponsorship of events and activities or membership fees. In addition to public organizations
membership fees, the Transromanica TC also receives membership fees from private bodies in
the seven corridor countries in return for using the TC logo and having their information on
the website.143 Internal funding can be challenging for smaller destinations along MDTCs. With
fewer resources, smaller destinations are not making significant contributions to overall
corridor marketing activities and are also facing financial constraints when considering local
marketing and capacity building activities.144
Figure 15: Tourism Corridor Funding Sources
For smaller towns along the Destination Napoleon Corridor145, covering sites of Napoleonic
history from the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte to the defeat of Napoleon III at Sedan in 1870, to
they have faced these constraints by encouraging collaboration between members in the area
of capacity building as well as raising funds from tourism professionals and local
communities. 146 The European Mozart Ways get funding for activities from the various
142 Ibid.
143 Council of Europe. 2010. Impact of European Cultural Routes on SMEs’ innovation and competitiveness.
144 UNWTO (UNWTO) and European Travel Commission. 2017. Handbook on Marketing Transnational Tourism Themes and
Routes.
145 Destination Napoleon includes 50 towns and cities from France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland,
Lithuania, the Russian Federation and Egypt.
146 UNWTO (UNWTO) and European Travel Commission. 2017. Handbook on Marketing Transnational Tourism Themes and
Routes.