The official opening and presentation of the project 'Business Cooperation and Skills Improvement for the Development of Outdoor Tourism' was held on March 4, 2011 at Hotel Petka in Dubrovnik.

The representatives of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro, the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic Croatia, the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, local tourism organisations, tour operators, rescue services and environmental protection services and tourism NGOs attended the event. Additionally different stakeholders have taken this opportunity to find out more of designed goals and activities.

The event is organized to officially launch the project and announce the steps that will be undertaken within next 18 months. A part of the Centre for Sustainable Tourism Initiatives (CSTI) and the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service as functional applicants, NGO 'Sunce' and UNDP Montenegro will as partners participate in the project implementation. The presentation familiarized the general public with the project, its activities and objectives. Also, the presentation confirmed the justification of the need to connect the cross border areas in the field of outdoor tourism and improve tourism offer by increasing the level of safety of visitors.

During the coordination meeting held after the official opening and presentation of the project, the main applicants, their partners and the representatives of joint operational structures of IPA CBC Croatia - Montenegro program agreed on many important details for coordination and successful project implementation.

Development of Outdoor Tourism (DOT) project is funded by the European Union contributing 84.09% of the total, 14.48% from UNDP Montenegro and 1.43% from the Ministry of Tourism of Montenegro, and will be managed by the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro and implemented by CSTI.

Press release you may download here.