On 6 December 2012, Vilnius hosted a seminar on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe 'European Cultural Routes: Experiences and Opportunities', which attracted a lot of interest. The seminar was attended by about 130 participants – representatives of municipalities, museums, tourism information centres and religious communities as well as scientists and experts of cultural heritage. The speakers at the seminar included Penelope Denu, Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, and Eleonora Berti, a Cultural Routes Project Coordinator of the Institute, Emanuela Panke, Secretary General of the Iter Vitis Association (Italy), Paul Simons, a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (Great Britain), and Neus Casellas, a representative of the Spanish Network of Jewish Cultural Heritage (Spain).

 

The seminar provided a forum for discussions about the economic potential and tourism opportunities of cultural routes, which are conceptually prepared, about the importance of cultural routes for regional development, how to create a new cultural route, how to connect to the network of European routes and other relevant issues.