Discovering New: Durres and the TOURBO Project Partnership
The Durres region in Albania joined the TOURBO project consortium in 2024. As one of the three main pillars of the region’s economy, alongside transport and agriculture, tourism is a key focus for Durres, which considers its sustainability crucial for the region.
The Regional Council Durres held a meeting on December 26, 2024 to discuss significant matters of the year and plan for the upcoming year. The meeting was attended by the President of the Regional Council Durres, Mr. Alfred Mullaraj, along with other Council members from the municipalities of Durres, Kruje, and Shijak, and the staff of the Regional Council Durres.
One of the topics was the participation of Durres in the TOURBO project. Mr. Mario Shahini, the financial manager of the EU projects department, highlighted the region’s involvement as a discovery partner in TOURBO starting from March 2024. In addition to knowledge exchange on promoting sustainability in tourism, this partnership offers also valuable project management experience from a new program, like Interreg Europe.
During the meeting, Mr. Shahini presented the achievements of the TOURBO project, including the participation of the Regional Council Durres staff in the third interregional meeting and study visit in Marche Region, Italy, on September 24-25, 2024. This event, an important highlight for the Regional Council Durres regarding the TOURBO project, enabled the staff to meet the project partners and stakeholders and exchange knowledge on how the project fosters growth through sustainable digital innovation, while also exploring some of the good practices collected during the project.
Looking ahead, the project partnership will organize interregional meetings in Greece and Bulgaria in 2025 to further implement development projects for MSMEs through Pilot Actions and identify additional valuable good practices. The participants were invited to attend the future local and interregional meetings in order to gain a closer look and understanding of the project works and good practices offered.