Development of tourism with emphasis on the twin transition
Koprivnica Križevci County (KKC) is located in Northwestern Croatia and has a lot of natural and cultural resources that represent the potential for the development of sustainable, innovative tourism products in the field of cultural, active, religious, wine, cycle, gastro tourism, traditional manifestations, etc.
Due to the favorable climate and geographic location, cycle tourism is one of the forms of tourism that is developing very quickly. KKC develops this form of tourism through various projects, and one of them is the “Amazon of Europe Bike Trail”, in which 5 neighboring countries (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia) have developed a 1,250 km long cycling route "European Amazon" that follows Mura Drava and Danube rivers. To discover more about this route, tourists can use the Amazon of Europe Booking Center through which guests can book their cycling holiday.
A new project in which KKC participates as a project partner started in 2023 and it is called "Innovative participatory sustainable business model for cycling along the Iron Curtain Route". The project is based on the development of an innovative tourist product and business model for cycle tourism along the Iron Curtain Cycling Route, EuroVelo 13, and strengthening the innovative capacities of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in tourism with digital solutions and mentoring.
KKC also has a lot of traditional and cultural events. Some of the most famous events are: “Renaissance Festival” (reconstructs the period 667 years ago when the city of Koprivnica became a Free Royal City, and it is held inside the Renaissance ramparts), “Picokijada” (held in the Old Town of Đurđevac, and revives the legend of the defense of town Đurđevac from the Turks), “Podravski motivi” (fair of naïve art), Great Križevci Spravišče (it is connected with the legend of the Croatian-Hungarian king Bela IV. who took refuge in the Old Town of Kalnik before the invasion of the Tatars), “Easter egg from the heart” (creating of large painted Easter eggs in the manner of naive art) etc.
Through the project TOURBO - Boosting the transition pathway of MSMEs in tourism with green and digital transformation, PORA Regional Development Agency of Koprivnica Križevci County wants to contribute to the digitization and personalization of the tourist offer, networking of MSMEs, strengthening integration with the local community and developing new sustainable tourism products with high added value that will positively affect other economic activities, branding and strengthening the visibility of KKC. By bringing together local stakeholders important for the development of the tourism offer of Koprivnica Križevci County (Koprivnica Križevci County, Administrative Department for Economy, Communal Services and Agriculture, tourist boards, institutions for supporting entrepreneurship), the project will detect the main problems in the tourism sector, contribute to stronger mutual cooperation of local stakeholders and jointly solve shortcomings in the tourism offer of KKC. The first meeting of local stakeholders was held on 18th May 2023 in which the TOURBO project was presented and the main strengths and opportunities as well as weaknesses and challenges in tourism in the area of KKC were discussed. Through the inputs of local stakeholders, a regional analysis of the state of tourism in the area of KKC was prepared, and one of the main results of the project will be the prepared base for future development documents in the tourism sector for Koprivnica Križevci County.