Village + sustainable development European Label awarded by the Assembly of European Regions “European Regions Touring Nature Network”

Study of the application from the Regional Development Council of Lake Tisza European sustainable development Label Efforts and projects regarding sustainable development A strong ecotourist potential Asserted will from the President of the Council and the mayors of the 73 villages A collaboration and a consultation on the territory 158 local professionals mobilized to sign the Village + Charter on sustainable development Potential and Mobilization

Preservation of environment: Hortobagy National Park Tourist development: Recreational area Agricultural development: land irrigation Fluvial transport: boat canal Economic development: electricity production The 5 components of the Lake Tisza sustainable development Validation of the application to the sustainable development Label by the Assembly of European Regions - Committee C

Setting the clients’ satisfaction at the centre of the Village + quality process 9. Evaluating the interest of the natural and cultural heritages, arts and crafts, and leisure activities for international visitors who are sensible to the preservation of environment 2. Each Expert Visitor fills a satisfaction grid of 100 criteria on the basis of his/her observations 6. Meeting the local professionals who are mentioned on the guides and signs 3. Collecting the tourist documents in various languages in the Tourist Information Centers 1. Four Expert Visitors discover the territory by acting as target visitors during 3 days 4. Using the road signs to find one’s way around 5. Using the tourist maps and signs of the places to visit 7. Appraising the involvement in welcoming and in preserving environment of the professionals in the ecotourism industry 8. General perception of the territory: roads, architecture, landscapes, viewpoints, cleanness, population encouraged to preserve environment 10. Proposing improvement guidelines to attract visitors at the international level in every season Assessment Auditing

Usefulness of the grid in the quality process EXPECTED QUALITYPERCEIVED QUALITY Tourist Information Centers Natural sites’ roadsigns

Expected Quality Perceived Quality Wished Quality Carried out Quality Assessment Auditing for the Label awarding Selecting the improvement guidelines 2 Renewal of the Label occurring every 3 years 3 4 Principle of the Village + quality process Suggesting improvement guidelines CLIENTS’ SATISFACTION MONITORING New improvement guidelines Implementing the improvement guidelines 1

Lajos Godó and Thomas Carlsson officially sign the Label diploma awarded for 3 renewable years Thomas Carlsson delivers a Village + Label diploma to each representative of the 4 counties Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Jasz- Nagykun-Szolnok, Hajdu-Bihar and Heves Label Awarding Official Ceremony Mr. István Kolber, Ministery of Regional Development and the Hungarian national television attended the Village + Label awarding Press Conference: 20 journalists from the regional and national press

The Village + Label awarding seen in the press  About 20 pages in the newspapers  10 articles in the written press  2 comments on radio  1 TV report  Websites of the Regions: - Interreg IIIC heading - Centurio heading