An internet platform supports the development of tourism in the cross-border regions of Haskovo and Edirne, Turkiye. The Geographic Information System (GIS) of the Cross-Thracian Connection project was developed within the framework of an initiative of the Interreg-IPA CBC Bulgaria-Turkiye programme, said here on Tuesday Milena Trendafilova from the Alliance for Regional Cooperation and Development-Haskovo, a partner of the project with Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Kesan, Turkiye, and Haskovo’s Regional History Museum (RHM).
The Project is valued at EUR 475,643, Trendafilova pointed out. The GIS-platform is available in the country through the mobile applications Cross Thrace Connection and Mapping Thracia, or on the website of RHM-Haskovo.
The database includes 80 cultural, historical and nature sites in the two regions of Haskovo and Edirne. Most of them are popular tourist destinations,but there are some that need further socialization, renovation and promotion, Trendafilova explained.
The main idea and goal is to increase the tourism potential of the sites included in the project by using various digital means, which can be beneficial to professionals, citizens and travel agencies, she added. Paper catalogues have been printed and are available in the history museums in Haskovo and Kesan. The general role of GIS is to improve the exchange of information between people and to provide conditions for the development of sustainable tourism, as well as for the promotion of culture and traditions.
The navigation of the platform allows you to get detailed information about each tourist site with its exact location. It is possible to track and create routes between different sites with distance data, travel time and route outline.
The app gives the opportunity for a virtual tour of sites in Bulgaria and Turkiye – 9 in each country. 3D models of 14 sites in the cross-border region have also been created. The positive thing is that each municipality in it can build on the platform not only with new sites, but also with significant events, Trendafilova pointed out. This can be done upon request to the project organizers in both countries.
Many expert meetings were held both in Bulgaria and in Turkiye within the framework of the project, Milena Trendafilova said. She added that the established lasting ties between the specialists open the field for new ideas and initiatives.
An attraction with “magic” mirrors is operating in the museums in Haskovo and Kesan. Located in the Hall of Ethnography in the RHM Haskovo, an interactive installation with augmented reality offers visitors the opportunity to dress up digitally in 10 traditional costumes from the Haskovo region. The “mirror” tracks the visitor’s movements and replaces his clothes with the costumes on display in the Ethnography Hall. Thus, visitors have the opportunity to dress digitally in authentic costumes, some over 100 years old, without compromising their integrity.
The installation in Kesan, on the other hand, offers visitors not only traditional costumes, but also the outfits of the participants in the so-called grease wrestling bouts, which are typical of the region. The two mirrors are free to use and enjoy huge interest from visitors of all ages, the project team said. In the future, RHM-Haskovo plans to enrich its digital costume collection with more traditional costumes, as well as clothing from different historical periods, which the museum stores in its collections.