Connect2tourism

Connect2tourism is a project whose starting point is a new railway connection and cross-border solutions for sustainable mobility - new opportunities for the economic development of the common region based on tourism and cultural potential. The Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark area is an attractive area for spending free time, so the offer of free time and tourist activities is diverse. The planned imminent opening of the Koralm railway (under Golica) will improve the accessibility of visitors to the passenger terminals in the immediate vicinity of the geopark, which must be followed by the offer of other public transport connections for visiting the park.

Project info card

Project title: New high-speed rail connection and cross-border sustainable mobility solutions - opportunities for the development of a common cross-border region based on tourism and cultural potentials
Acronym: Connect2tourism
Lead partner: EVTZ Geopark Karawanken mbH
Project partnership: Verkehrsverbund Kärnten GmbH, Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung – Abteilung 7, KSL Tourismus Marketing GmbH, RRA KOROSKA Regional Development Agency for the Koroško Region doo, Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Public Passenger Transport Management Company doo
Period: 1. 10. 2024–30. 9. 2027
Project value: €1,364,330.81
Source of funding: European Regional Development Fund (€1,091,464.63); National public contribution (€226,592.92); National private contribution (€46,273.26)
Contact person: Peter Zajc

The project aims , among other things, to introduce a new public transport connection in the form of a cross-border bus service "Geoparkbus", including the development of multimodal transfer points along the route. By involving key regional and national/provincial institutions in the project and involving the tourism industry in the cooperation, we will ensure the sustainability of the results.

The vision is to pilot the new public transport connection to include the public utility system on the Slovenian and Austrian sides. Additionally, the project will test the implementation of a last mile solution. The active role of key public transport management institutions on both sides of the border during the design, testing and ensuring sustainable results gives the project special weight and could offer a model for how to approach this in other cross-border areas.

Who is the project intended for:

local communities,
ministries and government departments,
public passenger transport operators,
carriers of the tourism economy,
tourists,
local population.

Project benefits:

New cross-border public transport connection “Geoparkbus” with pilot arrangement of multimodal transfer points
The concept of cross-border mobility in the wider Geopark area Karavanke

Success stories:

The project connects and builds on the good practice example of the established cross-border public transport connection Štrekna bus (Velenje-Lavamünd/Labot).

More about Interreg programs Slovenia-Austria 2021-2027 >