Final conference “Fortified Cultural Heritage – Generator of Tourism Development in the Region” of the project Historic Fortresses Intensifying Cross-Border Tourism Development (FORTITUDE) was held on 9 June 2022 in Banja Luka. The conference attended over 50 cultural and tourism stakeholders of which representatives of institutions and localities that participated in the project implementation.
The purpose of the conference was to present the results achieved during the project implementation.
The project aimed to improve fortification facilities in three partner countries with modern equipment, design new specialized tourist tours, and hold the first edition of „Night of Fortresses“ event in order to popularize and promote cultural heritage in cross-border area.
Check the video of the first edition of the Night of Fortresses here.
In the past two years of the project implementation, four visitor centers in historic fortifications in Šibenik, Karlovac, Banja Luka and Bar were upgraded with stone stairways, accent lighting and heating systems, and equipped with installation of permanent setups, exhibitions and various multimedia contents, workshops on the topic of cultural heritage management based on the transfer of knowledge and best practices for more than 70 stakeholders in culture and tourism were organized, employee training was provided and new specialized tourist fortification routes were designed. The first successful regional “Night of Fortresses”, an annual manifestation on four partner locations, is completed and has achieved more than planned with all other project activities that will contribute to fortresses becoming a living heritage, a place of meeting, socializing and events.
The project FORTITUDE is an example of a regional project that has contributed to the strengthening of regional cooperation and the branding of cultural heritage, which was recognized by the Forte Cultura and EFFORTS, two large European networks that gather over 150 members, who also participated on the Final conference and signed a Letter of Intent on cooperation with the aim of continuing the organization of „Night of Fortresses“, which will become an integral part of the European Fortress Summer event, which was initiated, organized and promoted by the EFFORTS and Forte Cultura networks.
