24 Aug DiscOver55 International Final Event in Izola, Slovenia
At the beginning of July representatives of all DiscOver55 partners gathered in Izola, Slovenia, for the international final event of the project.
After discussing the final steps in the Project Steering Committee meeting, on Monday 3rd of July they joined local and international guests for a day of presentation and dissemination of DiscOver55 results.
In the morning, Nina Golob, hotel Delfin’s director, guided the group in a walk through the green parks of Izola, a new tour developed by the Slovene partners during the project, suitable for 55+ tourists and also for low and medium seasons.
In the afternoon, the beautiful Besenghi Palace, in Izola old town, hosted the final conference titled “Senior Tourism in Europe”. The building is now home of a school of music, and local students introduced the conference with pleasant performances of classical music.
Alenka Ogrin from ZDUS, the Slovene partner of DiscOver55, together with representatives of Izola Tourism Board, welcomed the guests and presented the programme of the conference.
Alan Vella, Project Adviser at the European Commission for EASME (Executive Agency for Small and Medium-size Enterprises), presented the funding opportunities for the tourism sector offered by the EU-COSME Programme, which financed DiscOver55 among other projects across all Europe. Suggestions and tips on how to present and manage a successful proposal were discussed with the audience.
The Project general Coordinator, Monia D’Amico from Timesis Ltd – Montepisano DMC, Italy, illustrated the development of DiscOver55 through its different stages, its main activities and expected results, with the help of experts from Municiaplity of Capannori, Italy, that coordinated the communication activities among partners.
Andrea Grabher from GEFAS STEIERMARK presented the Handbook “Lessons learnt and recommendations for devising a senior tourism product” produced by the project, which collects the results of analysis and evaluation of the pilot tests, a research-action that involved 56 senior people from the four countries involved. The audience also had the chance to hear directly from one of the participants what it meant to be part of the pilot test, when Nevenka Dobljekar, member of the Slovene group of senior that visited Vulkanland, narrated her experience.
Finally, partners responsible for design and commercialization of DiscOver55 final product presented the four destinations and the 16 packages created, which will be available on DiscOver55 website and on a specific brochure printed at the end of the project.
Izola: Nina Golob, hotel Delfin
Vulkanland: Gabriele and Barbara Grandl, Spirit of Regions
Monte Pisano: Monia D’Amico, Timesis Ltd– Montepisano DMC
Lake Saimaa: Pellervo Kokkonen, SYKE