TIRANA, March 2 – A joint Czech Republic, Austrian and Slovak project is planning to turn the Dajti national park, situated just 25 km east of Tirana, into a more accessible and attractive destination.
The project aims to mark almost 100 km of trails across the entire territory of Dajti national park and its surroundings, to print brochures, flyers and touristic maps, to develop a web mobile phone application, and also to create educational programmes for children and young people.
Czech Ambassador to Tirana Bronislava Tomasova said the project will lead to the park’s greater use, not only among Albanian families, but also among international tourists.
“I’m quite confident that ecologically friendly enhancement of the trails, promotion and increase of awareness in terms of showing real amiability towards the nature, and especially children’s education on loving and protecting the environment, will surely lead to the Park´s greater use,” she told Tirana Times.
Some ten new trails in Dajti National Park and its surroundings will be marked by the Dajti Alpine-Tourism Association and will enable – together with 3 trails marked already in 2014 in the framework of the bilateral development cooperation of the Czech Republic and Albania – access to the most attractive sites of the area for local residents and tourists who can spend their leisure time among nature enjoying fresh air while walking, mountain biking, or hiking, says the Czech embassy.
A set of printed materials for the promotion of the natural and touristic values of the Dajti National Park will be issued. These will include touristic maps, posters, flyers and postcards containing the most scenic views from the Park. These will also contain information about local culture, cuisine and other traditional aspects of the Park’s communities. The project will make efforts to digitalise the selected trails in an online platform operating in both: app for smartphone and an online web page.
The project also includes an educational component for school children which will focus on raising awareness about the importance of protecting the attractive environmental sites in the national park.
Located atop Mount Dajti, Dajti national park is a magnificent and beautiful park spanning a 3,000 ha area. It boasts much lush vegetation and has groves of 200 year-old beech trees. There are significant archaeological monuments nearby, and opportunities for hiking and climbing, as well. A cable car built a decade ago transports visitors from the outskirts of Tirana to the park in just a few minutes. This area, known locally as “Tirana’s Balcony” , features several restaurant which offer spectacular views of the city. What are some of the novelties of the project and its impact on the tourism development in the park for local and foreign tourists?
“Dajti National Park – an accessible and attractive touristic destination” project, we signed on March 1, 2016, will be implemented within the trilateral Austerlitz/Slavkov Cooperation. This is a new platform of cooperation of three neighbouring countries established in 2015 by the Premiers of Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The project will be finalized within 2016 in cooperation with the Regional Environmental Center (REC) in Albania, which also includes a partnership with Dajti Alpino Turistik Association. Two round-tables with the stakeholders such as the Albanian National Agency for Protected Areas and the Tirana Municipality Agency of Parks and Recreation were organized during process of drafting the project. Its goals include the marking of 100 km of trails in the whole territory of Dajti Park and its surroundings considering the best international practices in place and the know-how of our three countries with more than a hundred years of experience in this field. Also, maps will be printed and the latest online technology will be developed to assist the users of the Park. Inclusion in the primary and secondary school curricula of visits of the pupils in the Park as part of their physical training hours will be one of the targets to be reached. It is my belief, also based on the positive results of a similar bilateral project Czech Development Cooperation successfully implemented in Dajti Park two years ago in partnership with an Albanian association, that the enhancement of the touristic infrastructure of the Park and its surroundings, raises awareness of its beauties, and promotes culture and natural monuments. This will increase the Park’s accessibility and will awaken the interest of the local people, and attract the foreign tourists, as well.
What are your impressions of the Dajti Park and is the project expected to increase the number of foreign visitors, especially Czech tourists who have a special attraction to the Albanian nature and adventure tourism?
Being in Albania for a few years now, and a Czech, I have had the opportunity to hike in many Albanian mountains, and also few times in the Dajti Park and its vicinities, and I would say that I was genuinely impressed by its beauties. Czech tourists love Albanian mountains and their number is increasing every year. In fact a group of young students helped to revive a northern remote village, Curraj e Epà«rme, last summer when they voluntarily marked more than 100 km of trails in an integrated way. I’m quite confident that ecologically friendly enhancement of the trails, promotion and increase of awareness in terms of showing real amiability towards the nature, and especially children’s education on loving and protecting the environment, will surely lead to the Park´s greater use, not only by the Albanian families, but by the international tourists, as well. This is surely proven by the lifelong experience of the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia, and that is why we want to share it with Albania. In this perspective, I am quite assured that this project will reach its goal.
