People Powered Tourism
Tourism that connects
Connecting people, places and purpose
Across the Danube Region, 14 project partners from 10 countries are joining forces to put people at the centre of tourism. With the support of 12 Associated Partners, we’re rethinking how tourism can work for communities — not just for visitors.
Our mission
To empower local communities — including marginalised groups — in under-visited urban neighbourhoods and remote rural areas to rediscover and revitalise their cultural and natural heritage. Through social innovation, we co-design sustainable, experience-based and transformative tourism services that support the growth of a locally driven visitor economy and create tangible socio-economic benefits.
Our Vision: New Tourism for Real Impact
The project embraces the concept of the visitor economy, a fresh approach to tourism that values people, stories, and lived experience just as much as destinations and attractions. At its heart are human connections, authentic encounters, and tailored experiences — the elements that make travel meaningful.
Instead of asking “What can visitors see?”, we ask:
"What impact can tourism have — for both visitors and local communities?"
Why It Matters: Global Challenges, Local Action
We're tackling some of the most pressing challenges in modern tourism:
Sustainability – Balancing environmental, economic, and social impacts.
Overtourism – Alleviating pressure from overcrowded hotspots by strengthening lesser-known places.
Community involvement – Empowering local people to unlock and shape the potential of their own heritage.
Ecotourism – Building up the rapidly growing nature-based tourism sector with forward-looking, sustainable solutions.
What We Deliver
PPT Toolbox – Practical tools to support communities in designing tourism services with real local value.
PPT Guidebook – A hands-on guide for developing sustainable, nature-based tourism services.
Danube Visitor Economy Platform – An online hub for tourism providers, policymakers and innovators to exchange knowledge and access best practices.
Visitor Economy Roadmaps – 10 co-created action plans to guide local tourism transformation based on visitor economy principles.
Why We Believe This Works
This project is about more than tourism. It’s about sustainable local change, community pride, and a new way to connect with places — for both visitors and residents. By shining a light on hidden gems and supporting grassroots initiatives, we're building a stronger, more social Danube Region.
Let’s rethink tourism — together.
Start date:01 April 2025
End date: 31 March 2028
Budget: €2,538,365
Countries: 10
Partners: 14
Result 1
PPT is built on a benchmarking and capacity building process enabling PPs (incl. ASPs) and local stakeholders (authorities, NGOs, SMEs, knowledge institutions, business organisations and residents) to map/valorise cultural/natural assets within the - innovative - visitor economy framework, and based on them, to co-design novel tourism services and contribute to creating/enhancing local and regional/national strategies/actions plans. The Danube Visitor Economy Platform will accelerate this knowledge across the entire region. Key capacity building events for PPs and/or stakeholders (S) (or both):
Masterclass (D1.1.4, PPs)
Capacity building (D1.2.3, S)
Place branding workshops (both, D1.3.1)
Peer reviewing the mapping process (D1.3.2), PPs
Peer reviewing the pilots (D2.1.3, both)
Co-designing local portfolios (D2.2.2, S)
Transnational portfolio evaluation (D.2.2.3, PPs)
Local dissemination
Result 2
The project results in two Solutions. 1.(O2.2). PPT Toolbox(solution 1) 2.(O.2.3) PPT Guidebook(Solution 2) These will be verified by 13 pilot actions (O2.1). Solution 1/2 will be directly taken up by PPs within 1. local visitor economy guidelines (D3.1.1), 2. Visitor Economy Roadmaps (D3.1.5) and 3. regional and/or national visitor economy strategies enhanced (D3.2.1). #In addition, the above Solutions will be published on the Danube Visitor Economy Platform (D3.3.2), jointly created by the partnership, enabling a whole range of service providers within the DR to adapt, re-use and upscale these solutions. D3.3.2 will be disseminated (and hopefully taken up) on EU level by P5. As the above solutions will be meticulously crafted in an integrated manner, thoroughly tested, they possess significant potential for replication and are highly likely to be adopted by third parties within one year