The Mažeikiai Tourism and Business Information Center was one of the partners and implemented the project "Visit the Wind" ("ViVa", No. LLI-293) under the 2014-2020 Interreg VA Latvian-Lithuanian Cross-Border Cooperation Program. The 2014-2020 Interreg VA Latvian-Lithuanian Cross-Border Cooperation Program aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the program area by helping it become an attractive and competitive place to live, work and visit. This project connects two important areas: the preservation of natural and cultural heritage objects and their sustainable use and tourism. The aim of the project is to improve the water tourism infrastructure on the banks of the Venta River and to increase the number of tourist stays in the project partner territories (in Lithuania - Akmene and Mažeikiai districts, in Latvia - Skrunda, Saldus and Kuldyga municipalities). along the coastal areas, stopping places with recreational structures (benches, tables, gazebos, toilets, trash cans, fire pits) have been installed. In the Mažeikiai district, six such places have been installed, in addition to that, as many as 19 information signs have been erected to introduce tourists to places of interest. In Latvia, there are four such stopping places in the municipalities of Skrunda and Kuldiga. The total length of the track arranged according to the project from Papartynė (Akmenė district) to Nigrande (Kuldyga municipality) is 80 kilometers.
A website and mobile applications have been created
The website www.visitventa.lt was created for the convenience of tourists. Anyone interested in kayaking or simply looking for information about places of interest in the Venta River region can find a lot of useful information on this website and plan their own kayaking trip. The website provides information not only about places of interest, but also indicated kayak stops with the aforementioned infrastructure, as well as places where you can eat, and if you are traveling for more than one day, you will also find a place to stay. You can also find all the news on the social network Facebook https://www.facebook.com/visitventa
Two mobile applications have been created:
- "Visit Venta" ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=voldemaraspilvinis.venta ) makes it easier to access the information on the website
- Venta Trip game - an interactive game for children http://visitkuldiga.com/celojums-pa-ventu/
In the summer, the final swimming was held
Last summer, as part of project activities, the partners organized a four-day kayak trip to try out the newly installed water tourism route on the Venta River. in 2019 August 6 the official opening of the final trip on the Venta river has started. It took place in Lithuania, in the town of Papilė. We received Latvian representatives from the Kurzeme Tourism Association and Kuldyga City Municipality. On the second day of swimming, the trip was organized by the Mažeikiai Tourism and Business Information Center, which is one of the partners of this project, the trip started from the "Aitvara" mill and continued to the Leckava Dainai Valley. On the third and fourth days of the trip, the route continued through the territory of Latvia - the vicinity of Skrunda and ended in Kuldyga: here the entire trip was summarized, and what could be adjusted or changed after the project was completed was discussed with the Latvian project partners. It is expected that in the coming summer, even more lovers of kayak tourism, not only from Lithuania, but also from Latvia, will try this kayak route and will be convinced of its advantages.
Collected stamps - reward
In order to encourage people not only to go kayaking on the Venta river, but also to visit attractions located in the partners' territories while sailing, the project partners came up with a game - collect five stamps. Starting from April, if you visit the Ventas Regional Park Visitor Center (Ventas St. 30A, Venta) or the Mažeikiai Tourism and Business Information Center (Ventas St. 8A, Mažeikiai), visit the objects marked in the leaflet and come to the Mažeikiai Tourism and Business Information Center, you can rent three paddle boards for free for three hours. The partners hope that this will encourage tourists to be more interested in the history and nature of the region.
You can download the brochure here:
Leaflet_LT
Three advertising - informative videos about the Venta River in Latvia and Lithuania were created https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrudwh1wpz8SOJ1_pVCYAqw
The entire project budget is EUR 321,607.77. Of them - the general financing of the European Regional Development Fund - EUR 273,366.56
This information has been prepared with the financial support of the European Union. The Mažeikiai Tourism and Business Information Center is responsible for the content of this information. Under no circumstances can it be considered to reflect the opinion of the European Union.
More about the program: www.latlit.eu
Official website of the European Union www.europa.eu