Co-financing

Developing tourism requires investments and a regional dynamic. To
achieve this, the two “Pays des Lacs” and “Pays de Charleroi” Tourist Offices are involved in several projects proposed by Europe and the Region of Wallonia :
Pays des Lacs - INTERREG VI – XTraVel Tourism
Interreg VI France-Wallonia-Flanders 2021-2027 is a cross-border European cooperation programme. The XTraVel Tourism project is part of the ‘A More Social Europe’ theme, with a focus on projects related to health, social inclusion, culture and tourism. The three main themes are :
- Creating experiential rest areas where visitors can relax and contemplate nature;
- Improving existing signposting and managing it with a high-performance tool;
- Developing and planning long-distance routes such as the Route from the Sea to the Ardennes.

Pays des Lacs - INTERREG VI – Henriette
Henriette, an abbreviation of Hainaut-Cambrésis, Espace Nature et Réseaux d’Itinérance – Entente pour un Tourisme Transfrontalier Ecoresponsable, (Hainaut-Cambrésis, Nature Space and Hiking/Cycling Networks – Cooperation for Eco-responsible Cross-border Tourism) aims to bring together regional initiatives to create a resilient and sustainable cross-border destination accessible to residents and visitors in north-western Europe. The three main themes are :
- Developing the pedestrian points-nœuds network;
- Creating identity values and services;
- Coordination and promotion.

Pays des Lacs - INTERREG VI – Ardenne Responsible Tourism for All
Ardenne Tourisme Responsable pour Tous (Ardenne Responsible Tourism for All) is a constituent project of the Ardenne Transition Durable (Ardenne Sustainable Transition) project portfolio. It aims to participate in the environmentally responsible development of the Ardennes as a destination by relying on the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental, economic and social. The three main themes are :
- Establishing shared governance, including residents in the tourism strategy and supporting tourism professionals in a sustainable development approach;
- Making the destination accessible to all;
- Developing cross-border soft hiking/cycling tourism.

Pays des Lacs - INTERREG VI - Ardennes Tourism Skills
The Ardennes Tourism Skills project is part of a dynamic aimed at involving private and public stakeholders in all aspects of profession development at four levels :
- Raising operators’ awareness of the challenges involved in targeted transitions;
- A study with a digital and marketing diagnosis of the cross-border region;
- Training aimed at improving the skills of tourism stakeholders;
- Individual and collective support for the Ardennes tourism sector.

Pays des Lacs - INTERREG VI - Ardenne Tourisme LAB
Ardenne Tourisme LAB is a constituent project of the Ardenne Transition Durable (Ardennes Sustainable Transition) project portfolio, which aims to promote innovation and experimentation in tourism in the cross-border Ardennes region. The four main themes are :
- Bringing together and promoting the players involved in innovation;
- Acculturating all the stakeholders to the importance, the requirement and the relevance of open innovation;
- Stimulating the emergence of new solutions;
- Encouraging and supporting experimentation.

Pays des Lacs – Ardennes Forests
The four Walloon forest areas have joined forces to co-construct a joint project called Ardennes Forests with a total surface area of more than 364,000 ha covering 31 Walloon municipalities. The aim is to enhance the forest experience for tourists in our region around 5 main themes :
- Developing hiking, horse riding and mountain biking trails;
- Strengthening intermodality for a tourist offering that is accessible by public transport;
- Proposing a diversified offering with forest experiences aimed at different target audiences and their centres of interest;
- Developing a web tool to assist tourists in their search for information on tourist experiences and products;
- Ensuring collaboration between the various forest areas in order to increase the cross-cutting nature of their initiatives.
