PROWAD LINK

Flagship sustainable tourism project in Norfolk awarded €16 million

23 March 2020 - Published by Harald Marencic
Norfolk County Council has recently been awarded a record €16 million in funding by the Interreg FCE programme to put into practice sustainable tourism concepts developed in Prowad Link. This flagship project will create new off-season tourism based on Norfolk’s natural and cultural assets, designed specifically to connect protection and prosperity across the County.

EXPERIENCE – experiential tourism to extend the visitor season - was developed by Norfolk County Council (NCC) based on new knowledge gained as a project partner in Prowad Link. Learning from UNESCO World Heritage sites the Wadden Sea and Geiringer Fjord, EXPERIENCE aims to take a fresh approach to the challenge of seasonality. The unique heritage of the 6 project pilot regions will be used to attract new visitors, inviting them to become immersed in nature and culture. New tourism products will be created with the NBBC at their core, to ensure lasting benefit for both people and place.

Sustainability is key to the project, which will use insight and tourism models from Prowad Link to encourage tourism whilst protecting natural and cultural assets for future economic and social resilience. NCC will develop branding to raise the profile of Norfolk to international visitors, supporting and growing the local, rural economy. SMEs are at the core of this project, with businesses engaged via Prowad Link invited to shape the future of off-season tourism through bottom-up development of new sustainable products and services.

EXPERIENCE unites 14 project partners across France and England, focusing on the pilot regions of Norfolk, Kent, Cornwall, Pas-de-Calais, Compiègne and Brittany. This collaboration ensures the outputs of Prowad Link are shared widely across Europe and utilised by as many stakeholders as possible.