European Amber Road

Amber has been found in Lithuanian seaside and Palanga since ancient times thus the region is well known as cherisher of amber traditions. The Earl Tiskeviciu's palace building houses a a unique Amber Museum which features the biggest in the world collection of amber inclusions and unique amber articles. Palanga town is home for plenty of amber masters and professional artists where creative camps and meetings are organized.

Seeking to promote cultural tourism development in Palanga, to increase flows of local and incoming tourists and to solve seasonal problems as well as to integrate into international tourism development initiatives, Palanga Town Municipality together with Seaside Regional Park and Palanga Town Botanical Park has prepared a project "Cultural tourism development in Lithuanian seaside related to initiative of European Amber Road".

The final decision for the support of the project was made in the end of September 2002. Total budget of the project is 125.473 Euro. The grant applied from PHARE 2000 ESS is 97.418 Euro.

The aim of the project is to increase local and incoming tourists' flows to Palanga resort along the identified two tourism routes: Kurshes and Nemunas and to encourage the integration of Lithuanian Amber Road into European Amber Road.

The project objective: with the aid of partnership to improve recreational infrastructure, to create new and to develop already existing cultural tourism attractions, to prepare active marketing strategy for new tourism product as well as to create new work places along Lithuanian Amber Road.

Activities that will be implemented during the project:

• Improvement and development of tourism infrastructure in seaside territories (landscape improvement works in Seaside Regional Park and Palanga Botanical Park).
• Establishment of the exhibition about history of amber in Karkle (Seaside Regional Park), establishment of educational - demonstration amber processing workshop (studio) and gallery in Palanga, close to Amber museum.
• Creation of "Lithuanian Amber Road" (Curonian Spit National Park - Seaside Regional Park- Palanga Botanical Park) as integral cultural tourism package (proposing marketing of activities and events around this road) as well as its integration into common network of tourism routes.
• Educational - demonstrative excursion for journalists and tourism specialists in order to present Lithuanian Amber Road. Publication of booklets.
• Training for amber processing masters about qualitative tourism service and new tourism product.

This project will be finished in the end of August 2003. After implementing of this project a lot of tourists, visiting our resort will have possibility not only to find the natural amber on the sea coast or to buy unique amber articles, made by local artists, but also to see in action the creation of the amber articles in the amber studio.