Meeting in Kurdari Village for Promoting the Initiative to Strengthen the Tourism Actors Network at Regional Level & Creating a DMO in Dibër

With steady steps toward the initiative for creating a DMO (Destination Management Organization) at regional level in Dibër County. On June 29, 2022, in Kurdari village, at the newly opened guesthouse "Çeliku", the main actors of the tourism supply chain in Dibër County gathered, from hotel and guesthouse owners and managers, tourist guides, artisans, travel agencies and representatives of local government institutions, the Prefect's Office, the County administration, the Protected Areas Agency, media and civil society to promote the initiative to strengthen the network of tourism actors at regional level, and the creation of a DMO, Destination Management Organization at regional level for Dibër County. For 18 months, all tourism actors in the municipalities of Mat, Klos, Bulqiza and Dibër worked together, exchanged experiences, analyzed the flow of strategic visitors in their area, developed a document with strategic guidelines, tourist products of nine multi-day trails, lasting 5 to 7 days at regional level, and are now ready to strengthen their network and create a strong DMO structure to manage the Dibër-Mat destination. In this way, the Dibër region will be one of the first pilot regions in Albania to have a DMO, expressed Dhurata Gazulli, GIZ representative in Albania, a model that GIZ is working to establish at national level by helping the Albanian government develop an appropriate legal framework and create DMO models in other regions. Participants at this meeting were introduced to the Dibër-Mat destination tourist brochure, the tourist map, the brochure of 9 regional trails lasting 5-7 days, the document with strategic guidelines for tourism development in this destination, and with open hearts and minds they emphasized with optimistic notes that tourism will develop in the Dibër region, and the Destination Management Organization (DMO), which will be created and formalized, will be the promoter of the best values of hospitality, nature and tradition of the areas in Dibër County. Dibër-Mat a magical tourist destination, where you are left breathless! The initiative for creating a DMO in Dibër County is a pilot initiative in Albania, within the framework of the program "Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Albania (SRD)", financed by the German International Development Organization (GIZ), and implemented for Dibër County by the Albanian Foundation for Development of Local Capacities (ALCDF). GIZ Albania Sustainable Rural Development Dhurata Alimani