Tourism Pilot Project - European Destinations of Excellence

The European Commission launched, in 2006, the first phase of the pilot project "European Destinations of Excellence". The broad aim of this initiative is twofold:

• to draw attention to the value, diversity and shared characteristics of European tourist destinations;
• to promote destinations where the economic growth objective is pursued in such a way as to ensure the social, cultural and environmental sustainability of tourism.

For the year 2006, the theme of the pilot project was related to rural tourism. The subtitle of the award for this specific year was “Best Emerging Rural Destinations”. Eligible destinations are those which have implemented in any of the last 3 years initiatives that have contributed to the promotion of the local tourist offer through a better appreciation of the rural natural and cultural heritage. Moreover, each participating Country has outlined more specific criteria of eligibility. The European Commission has recently launched the second phase of the project with the new theme "tourism and local intangible heritage". Those destinations which have developed a new tourism offer based on the appreciation of their specific local intangible heritage will have the possibility to compete at national level and be selected as 2007 destination of excellence. 18 countries will be participating in the project this time.

More on the pilot project here.
Visit the 2006 winning destinations here.