Atlantic legacy

The Atlantic cultural and tourism network to be created in the project aims at generating new business opportunities, enhancing economic growth and employment creation. Based on the interpretation of a key Atlantic heritage and supported by an ambitious promotional programme, AGREE is a promising transnational project to increase the tourism attractiveness of the participating territories.

Our common challenge is to share a transnational strategy and network for tourism promotion which can hold quality, continuity and strengths thanks to the good acceptation of the concept by the tourism market. The added value of this cooperation stands also on the innovative capitalization through Council of Europe cultural Route.

Enabling long term effect is meant in the project by the intensity of cooperation, based on partners’ contribution at local level and network level. Long term effect can only be expected when the project objectives apply in the territorial strategies and policies for tourism, culture and heritage. The collaboration of local and regional stakeholders from each territory should also contribute to increase the intensity of cooperation. Long term effect will be boosted by the design of the Atlantic transnational strategy.

AGREE has vocation to grow and AA transnational cooperation framework should allow the project to reach the desired critical size both in services and visibility. The strategy of capitalization around the project Atlantic network is holding legal identity and the model of governance most adapted to the objectives and needs of its territorial members. The continuous assistance of the Council of Europe to structure and certified the Atlantic network as Cultural Route is a long-term effect of the cooperation process.

By combining the Atlantic cooperation framework and the Cultural Route framework, long-term effects are clearly expected for the project outcomes. Such synergy will support the collaboration among professional staffs locally engaged for the blue cultural tourism and the long-term impact on local tourism promotion strategy addressing the legacy of the great nautical explorations.

The Atlantic network can be expanded in the future because there are many territories with a similar legacy out of the project. For the same purpose, the constitution of the network is a powerful instrument to apply for funding through territorial cooperation projects. The concentration of tourism services and recourses strengthening the Atlantic identity and an ambitious strategy of promotion are promising tools to achieve the long-term effects of the project.