20/06/2023
On June 19 and 20, 2023, the team of Mobility Bitola composed of the president prim. Dr. Niko Jankov, project manager Ivona Jankova and prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski, Rector of the University "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola, chairman of the board of Gauss Institute - Bitola, expert in information technologies and associate member of Mobility Bitola, participated in the final conference for the project "Alternative Touristic Experience – Alter Trip" in Thessaloniki. The event was held at the "Ioannis Velidis" Congress Center in the Thessaloniki fair "Helexpo", where the representatives of the three partners presented the work done in the past almost two years. Those present were greeted by the project officer from the Joint Secretariat of IPA Interreg Cross-Border Cooperation Program "Greece - Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020" - Župan Martinovski, who pointed out that our project is the only one in the entire program that successfully and timely implemented all activities. After the welcome speech, the three partners continued with the presentation of the work done during the project. The representative of the leading partner - the Institute for Research and Development of Businesses and Exhibitions (IEE) - Marita Papaiani and the project managers of the Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs (Sector Macedonia and Thrace) and Mobility Bitola - Ioannis Kotziambasis and Ivona Jankova made a brief overview of the realized activities, and more time was allocated for the experts who explained in detail the developed tools and pilot projects for accessible tourism. Lead Partner Consultant Spiros Chioteris presented the Thessaloniki Accessible Tourism App, where users can find 10 accessible tourist locations in the city, as well as all accessible routes leading to them. The second partner's expert demonstrated the use of the project's platform, where all accessible tourist attractions and catering facilities in the cross-border region are mapped, each location rated according to the degree of accessibility for people with physical disabilities, people with visual impairments and people with hearing impairments. The expert of Mobility Bitola, Dr. Nedelkovski, explained how the tools made in Bitola work: the tactile signage for the 10 most important tourist monuments in Bitola, a printed tourist guide with Braille in Macedonian, English and Greek and the self-guided tour - an application with audio and video narration in sign language. Since the tactile signage is large and heavy, made of stainless steel, a life-size poster of the signage was printed for the conference, and with the QR code attendees could test the application and see how it works. It is interesting that, since our project is the only one in the program that has successfully completed its implementation, the project officer suggested that we request an extension of the project and implement more activities that would further promote accessible tourism in the region. After an agreement with the partners, that idea is already being considered, and the potential request for an extension should be approved in Athens. Whatever the decision, Mobility Bitola has proven to be a worthy partner in the implementation and implementation of cross-border projects, and we hope that in the future we will get another chance for a new project. Activities continue.
