An international initiative - Digital Carpathian Europe - has been launched, aimed at the lovers of tourism and historical monuments of the Carpathian region. Its initiator is the former Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski.
Video: https://www.facebook.com/CentrumGovTech/videos/714235289446667
Digital Carpathian Europe is a joint initiative of the Polish Parliament and the GovTech Center at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. Its aim is to increase the recognition and attractiveness of the region, to build awareness among residents and tourists, and to strengthen cooperation in the region, also within the framework of the European Union or Tri-Cities. The originator of the idea is the former Marshal Marek Kuchciński.
"The project is meant to encourage young people, tourists, regional residents interested in geocaching, Carpathian caches and digital tourism," - Kuchciński said. He added that as part of the cooperation with GovTech, activities are planned to target tourism companies and cultural institutions from the region that will be involved in Digital Carpathian Europe.
As part of the project, three pillars of Digital Carpathian Europe are planned: a special tourist application and two community-engaged actions: a tourist marathon and a geocaching marathon, i.e. connecting the digital world with the real one through special boxes.
As conveyed by the Prime Minister's Plenipotentiary for GovTech Justyna Orłowska, the application based on gamification will encourage people to share their knowledge about the attractions of the Carpathians.
"The application will allow everyone to add new attractions to the nationwide database, configure their own routes and gain knowledge about the places they visit. Digital Carpathian Europe does not replace our tourist traffic, but it is supposed to support it and make it even more interesting," said Orłowska.
Orlowska added that this will make tourism in the region even more modern than Alpine.
"We're already starting with the most cutting-edge solutions that engage communities. And where there are engaged communities, that's where the most ideas are," she emphasized.
The application will be developed for the most popular cell phone operating systems.
"We will invite developers to be the ones to create the application. The experience of the GovTech Center, which has developed a special competition procedure friendly to start-ups and small companies, will be used for this purpose" - Orlowska added.
The app is scheduled for release in the upcoming 2022 travel season.
Photo by M. Olejnik
