Zadar, January 23, 2025 – The second ADRIJOROUTES public event has set a relevant milestone for the cultural network of 8 ports involved in the project. The partnership has unveiled today the 7 all-crossborder thematic routes to promote ports and destinations between the Italian and Croatian shores of the Adriatic sea. The 7 itineraries are: The route of taste, dedicated to food and wines traditions; Hidden Gems, to present not well-known cultural heritage; different historic paths, to promote alternative itineraries in marquee destinations; natural heritage, presenting the natural treasures surrounding the port areas; travellers and trade, to rediscover historic connections across the Adriatic sea; the route of architecture, gathering the most relevant masterpieces of the involved territories; UNESCO route, linking the sites reachable from the involved ports.

Through these itineraries, ADRIJOROUTES reaffirms the role of ports not only as gateways for passengers and freight but also as cultural hubs to increase awareness before landing in the surrounding territories of ports.

ADRIJOROUTES builds upon this foundation by creating seven thematic cross-border itineraries that integrate physical and digital experiences. These routes serve as pathways to explore the rich heritage of Italian and Croatian ports and territories involved, fostering a seamless journey to navigate from one place to another.

Developed with input from key stakeholders in the maritime and tourism sectors, the seven routes aim to provide alternative, sustainable, and socially inclusive tourism experiences. These routes highlight the Adriatic Italian and Croatian territories as a set of destinations with a network of local points of interest, sharing a common foundation of history, culture, and tradition.

In addition, partners are reinforcing the port-city relationship, creating a sense of belonging in local communities to port culture and making port areas more attractive to different target groups.

The backbone of ADRIJOUROUTES remains the cross-border portal ADRIJO.eu, a unique example of 8 interactive virtual port museums on a single interoperable platform implemented by project partners since 2021.

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Zadar Port Authority hosts the ADRIJOROUTES second public event

Zadar Port Authority organized the second cross-border event of the ADRIJOROUTES project at the Center for Creative Industries premises. A place strongly related to the topics of ADRIJOROUTES as it became evident during the morning presentations, focused on underwater archeology and digital twinning, virtual museums, tourist flow management and innovative solutions for sustainable cruises.

The event focused on the future of cruise tourism and sustainability, the overall objective of the ADRIJOROUTES project.

The event began with a warm welcome from the General manager of Zadar Port Authority Željko Knežević. Keynotes speeches were delivered by Iva Bencun, the Director of the Zadar Tourist Board, Hrvoje Grancarić, Project Manager Interreg VI IT-HR 2021-2027 – Joint Secretariat, Silvia Renda of the Central Adriatic Ports Authority, Dino Županović, University of Zadar – Maritime Department, Mladen Pešić, Director of International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar, Josip Rukavina, Director, Vectrino d.o.o. Rijeka.

A final panel involved the MedCruise President Theodora Riga, Guido Vettorel, Head of Development, Promotion, EU fundings and Communication in Central Adriatic Ports Authority, Hrvoje Anić, Director of Zadar Region Tourist Board, Ervin Pajić, master of RCCL, Dragan Šimac, General manager of Falkensteiner Hotels, Rebeka Pevec, General Manager, Zadar Cruise Port.

For anyone involved in cruise tourism or sustainable travel, the event provided an opportunity to learn, connect, and contribute to a more responsible and thoughtful future for the tourism industry.

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About ADRIJOROUTES

ADRIJOROUTES wants to increase the sustainability, social inclusiveness and digitalization of the Italian and Croatian territories involved and leverages the ADRIJO network and platform. The project concerns the virtual museums of eight major Italian and Croatian passenger ports along the Adriatic Sea: Ancona, Ravenna, Venice, Trieste, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik.

These actions, summarized in the ADRIJOROUTES action plan, are the means to achieve the objectives set in the project’s cross-border strategy to promote Italian and Croatian ports and their local cultural heritage as a joint, sustainable, and inclusive tourism destination.

The project, financed by Italy- Croatia Programme 2021- 2027 with a total budget of €2.662.685,40 (of which €2.130.148,32 relating to the ERDF contribution), has a duration of 30 months starting from the 1^st February 2024 and involves the following partnership:

• Central Adriatic Ports Authority – Lead partner (IT)
• North Adriatic Sea Port Authority (Ports of Venice and Chioggia) (IT)
• Port of Ravenna Authority (IT)
• Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea (IT)
• KIP- Intermodal Transport Cluster (HR)
• Dubrovnik Port Authority (HR)
• Port of Zadar Authority (HR)
• Public Institution RERA SD for coordination and development of Split-Dalmatia county (HR)