The National Inbound and Domestic Tourism Association of Moldova (ANTRIM) launched a 48 km network of rotes for hikes that connects a number of tourist, historical and cultural attractions in Nisporeni region. Each of the four segments were marked with signs and boards with maps were set up in the villages crossed by the route, IPN reports.
“The extended route with sights that can be visited in a region is an invitation for the tourists to diversify the leisure time in nature. The marked routes and the extension of information about the places of interest offer the travelers an idea about how to connect the cultural and historical facilities in a more efficient way so as to maximally profit from the travel experience and to discover this picturesque region,” ANTRIM executive director Natalia Țurcanu stated in the inaugural event.
The benchmark attraction point is the highest point in Moldova – the Bălănești Hill that is situated almost 430 meters above the sea.
“The diversification of the local tourist offer by such experiences in connection with nature is aimed at making the rural regions more attractive to tourists who want to discover new places, to visit less popular tourist attractions and to return to authentic traditions and kindhearted people,” said Andrei Chistol, secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture.
The routes connect the villages Vărzărești, Ciorești, Seliște, Ciutești, Milești, Bălănești and supplement the tourist offers with natural, cultural and historical attractions of Moldova. These routes play an important role in stimulating the development of local entrepreneurship.
“The launch of tourist routes matches USAID’s objective to support regional development and to diversify the tourist offer in Moldova. The project engages residents and the local community in the development of tourism, while the promotion of routes can serve as a motivation for local entrepreneurs. The hike routes complement other tourist activities and support the demand of tourism businesses, like those related to accommodation, restaurants, handicrafts shops and enterprises that provide sports or recreational activities,” said Scott Hocklander, USAID Moldova Mission Director.
The routes in Nisporeni connect the landscape reserve Cazimir–Milești with sceneries from the Mîrzoaia Hill and the peak of the Răcătău Hill and guide tourists to ten local tourist attractions, namely the Vărzărești Monastery, the Cemetery of Romanian Soldiers, the Museum of History and Ethnography in Nisporeni, the Cross of Romanian Nation’s Salvation, the Workshop of Potter Zaharia Triboi in Ciorești, the Natural Forest Reserve “Cobac”, Near the Beech, which is a tree protected by the state, the Wooden Church in Ciutești, the Bălănești Hill, the Milești Dendrology Park.
The project designed and implemented by ANTRIM, whose goal is to promote the whole network of routes marked in the central region of the Republic of Moldova, including the four routes that start from Sipoteni, Călărași, is financed by the USAID EDGE Buy-in Moldova Competitiveness Transition Activity that is aimed at increasing the number of tourists in the region and stimulating entrepreneurship in the tourism value chain, supporting this way the economic development of the region.
