Via Hanseatica Plus #1 Newsletter - July 2020

#1. June 2020

ER48 Extending, Strengthening the network and smart marketing of Via Hanseatica (Via Hanseatica Plus) - financed by the Estonia – Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 Via Hanseatica is an international tourism route connecting Estonia, Latvia and Russia, highlighting the unique sights, history, culture, events and flavours of each country. The route is based on the historic Hansa trade corridor and includes the part from St Petersburg to Riga through Tartu. In Estonia and Latvia, the tourism route connects more than 80 food producers and providers whose products and dishes value the centuries-old traditions, forming the Taste Hanseatica food route.

More info on Via Hanseatica plus www.viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/

We had a plan to extend Via Hanseatica just a little bit outside our original route, because Via Hanseatica has such great neighbours! Vyborg just north of St. Petersburg, one of the oldest Russian towns Pskov, which hosted International Hanseatic Days in 2019, charming Viljandi and Rakvere in Estonia, which are both famous for their medieval castle complexes.

From 2019 those neighbours are part of the Via Hanseatica community themselves and we call those extensions Plus routes. Plus - meaning a great addition to our journeys.

This summer most of us will not travel far, so it’s great time for discovering local routes!

#1. June 2020

#1. June 2020

Pskov Pskov is a city of ancient culture, a spiritual centre of Russia. The city owes its distinctive image and rare charm to the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin, the defensive walls, the white stone chambers and the ancient churches, some of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The modern infrastructure of Pskov offers accommodation and catering of high quality, as well as entertainment centres.

While in Pskov region you should feel the spirit of the Russian land in one of the largest and oldest monasteries – the Holy Assumption Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery. Take a leisurely delight in the untouched beauty of the architectural and landscape complexes in the suburbs of Izborsk and Malskaya valley, promising breathtaking views and lasting impressions after activity and adventure holidays.

Rakvere Not far from the Via Hanseatica route, there is a lovely small town that is known for its beautiful castle, where you can find yourself travelling to the Middle Ages, and for the modern Aqva spa that brings you back into the 21st century. Rakvere Theater and the traditional night runs are prominent parts of the cultural calendar.

While you discover the largest city in Lääne-Viru County, you can’t miss the beautiful nature what surrounds it! Lahemaa National Park is the Estonia’s largest, and some say most stunning national park as it serves as an authentic taster of natural and cultural landscapes in Estonia. It is the perfect place for a hiking trip and nature watching. You will find stony and sandy seashores, picturesque bogs, pine and cliff forests, rivers that cut into the limestone cliff as well as erratic rocks left over from the last Ice Age and also several wild animals. Several old manor houses have been restored to their original glory. Stop by to learn more.

www.viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/

Vyborg An internationally interesting and still relatively uniform example of a Northern European city – an ancient gateway between the East and the West. The historical core of the town is formed by the castle and nearby buildings. The city’s major tourist attractions are unique monuments of military architecture dating from the 13th to the 18th century, the authentic medieval spirit of the Old Town and magnificent landscape of park Mon Repos with the 19th-century estate.

Vyborg district is located at the intersection of sea, rail, road ways linking Russia and countries of the European Union. Through the territory of the district pass such important highways as an international high way “Scandinavia”, the Saimaa Channel.

Vyborg has direct rail ways to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki. Sea routes from the port of Primorsk, Vysotsk, Vyborg lead through the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea to the largest ports in Europe.

Viljandi

A small town in the Plus region boasts ruins of the former magnificent Viljandi Order Castle that is surrounded by the beautiful views of Lake Viljandi. Cosy cafĂŠs, hiking trail by the lake, tennis courts, boat rent and beach delight the visitors. The cultural calendar includes the annual folk festival which is the biggest in Estonia, Ugala Theatre shows as well as numerous smaller events. www.viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/

Pskov-Tartu There are a lot of good sights to discover while you are on the road between Tartu and Pskov.

In Estonian side you can discover Põlva and Võru Counties fulled with many family and nature attractions. Near to the Russian border you can visit an “unique kingdom” Setomaa. Setos have preserved their history that accentuates their culture, language, food, folk costumes and the traditions connected to the Orthodox Church.

In the Russian side you will be enchanted by the tranquility of Pechory monastery, the spiritual centre of Pskov land, and will fall in love with the beauty of Malskaya valley and ancient Izborsk fortress, seeped in history and legends. On your way to Pskov you will probably stop at the Flax or retro-car museum or take pleasure in trout fishing or watching the ostriches. You will recollect the taste of Russia as the taste of pancakes, honey and cheese.

New developments in Via Hanseatica

From April 2019 until March 2021 Via Hanseatica tourism route is being actively developed further with the help of EstoniaRussia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme by 8 organizations from Estonia and Russia.

Involvement of new regions has put a positive pressure also on “old� Via Hanseatica stakeholders, because all the destinations and sites want to show off with their great attractions.

Lately, Via Hanseatica has been very active on social media, making beautifully designed and informative posts about out attractions and sites on Facebook and Instagram.

Partners has been active also on face-to-face promotion events. For example, International Hanseatic Days in Pskov in June 2019, where Via Hanseatica Plus had its own stand, Boating Festival in Vyborg in September 2019 and Tourest in February 2020 in Tallinn introducing the route tailor made pop-up stand. For such events a new plus map was produced in our target languages (www.issuu. com/viahanseatica/docs/ via_hanseatica_map_eng), which are now available at tourism information centres of Via Hanseatica regions.

Last but not least, we have successfully involved Estonian, Russian and Latvian Via Hanseatica entrepreneurs at local and joint workshops to create new contacts, strengthen the joint product and learn the skills of social media marketing. The opinions of our entrepreneurs are helping us to design our promotion and product development.

#1. June 2020

6 top activities of Via Hanseatica Plus for 2020/2021 2020 campaigns to promote our attractions in more active manner to our visitors. The campaign also serves as source of information to our travel agencies.

1

Produce 3D tours of six objects, so all of us could visit Via Hanseatica also from home – Rakvere Castle, Kohtla-Nõmme Mining Museum, Estonian Aviation Museum, Vyborg Castle, Ivangorod Castle and Pskov Kremlin.

Update web-based travel planner in travel.viahanseatica.info. It is our aim to provide our visitors good travel planning experience and as technology evolves then also travel planner must evolve. Until then use Mark and Nastja’s family recommendation for your travel on Via Hanseatica. Read the book at: www.issuu.com/viahanseatica/docs/travelbook_eng_low

2

Produce promotion videos of the route, so we all get visual summary overview of our best attractions.

4 3 Update thematic routes offered at our travel planner to include new regions and new tourism offers, so the planning could be even easier depending on our visitors’ interests:

Set up information boards and traffic signs directing to our objects in Russia and Estonia, so we know where to go along the route.

5

Family Fun Adventure in Nature Culture to Greet and People to Meet Taste Hanseatica

6

www.viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/

#1. June 2020

WHAT WE DO Despite the restrictions in our countries, we have several interesting events happening in Estonia, Latvia and Russia during summer of 2020. In order to get news information on event happening nearby planned travel itinerary please visit our regional webpages.

In Estonia

In Russia

You can find all events on the official Estonian tourism page: www.visitestonia.com. Use filters to find what is going on in different regions. You can filter Rakvere, Viljandi, Ida-Viru and all the Southern counties very quickly. The Estonian official tourist information is always up to date, but please check the organiser page to be sure that all information is up to date!

We are having hard times at the moment. In some regions the limits about organizing public events are very hard, but in some regions the situation is getting better and events are going to take place. Please be sure that you check with event organizer about all the details and please follow all the rules that are provided by law.

Information about Vyborg and Vyborg region events can be found at: vyborg-gid.ru vyborg-info.ru visitvbg.ru/afisha vk.com/vyborg_interesting All information about Pskov and Pskov region main events can be found at: ps.pskovadmin.ru/tourism_/Tourist_event_calendar_ instagram.com/pskov.tourcbc tourism.pskov.ru/docs/docs/2019/12/MEa33m.pdf vk.com/pskov_2019 vk.com/pskovhoneyfest2019 vk.com/vevoda_shuiskiy_psk

In Latvia State of emergency in Latvia has ended on 9th of June, but restrictions are still effective, although eased. Beginning on 3 June 2020, citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Area, and the Swiss Confederation, as well as people who are permanently residing in those countries, when travelling from their home countries to Latvia, are no longer obligated to go into a 14-day self-isolation period, so long as their home countries have maintained an incidence of 15 individuals in 100,000 who have fallen ill with COVID-19.

COVID-19 and travelling to Latvia You can find information about events in Latvia: latvia.travel/en/article/top-events-latvia Should you have any interest in Via Hanseatica or would like to propose ideas for its development, please find our contacts in viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/

www.viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/

Estonia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 aims to foster cross-border cooperation across the borders between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation to promote socio-economic development in the regions on both sides of the common borders.

“This publication has been produced with the financial assistance of the Estonia– Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 20142020. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of Foundation Tartu County Tourism and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the Programme, Programme participating countries alongside with the European Union”.

More info on Via Hanseatica plus www.viahanseatica.info/via-hanseatica-plus/