The Via Dinarica international project is designed to contribute to the social and economic development of a 1,300 kilometre long Dinaric Alps stretch running from Slovenia to Albania, by promoting mountain tourism, sustainable development and local production.
The trail covered by the Via Dinarica project is intended for trekkers, cyclists and holiday makers who visit the Dinarides as tourists. One of the goals of the project is also improvement of the necessary infrastructure and support to small producers and providers of services in rural and less developed regions.
The project involves travel agencies, producers and associations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. In Croatia, Via Dinarica includes six national parks, four nature parks, two nature reserves and numerous nature attractions.
The Via Dinarica project was presented at the European Parliament by the project heads for Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alan Caplar and Kenan Muftic respectively.
"Activities of Via Dinarica are not aimed at developing mass tourism but at connecting the existing and new potential into a functional whole, in line with the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism concept. Via Dinarica contributes to closer ties between peoples living in the Dinaric Alps, notably between Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Skrlec.
The Via Dinarica exhibition features some 80 photographs and after Brussels it will be staged at various locations in Croatia.
The tourist magazine Outdoor has named Via Dinarica the world's best new trail and it was also featured in Lonely Planet and National Geographic. The National Geographic Travel magazine has named Via Dinarica one of the world's top ten destinations for outdoor activities in 2017.
The Via Dinarica project was launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). As the UNDP closed its office in Croatia at the end of 2016, project activities were taken over by the Via Dinarica Croatia association.