Coca-Cola Hungary and the directors of the Danube-Drava National Park Directorate signed a cooperation agreement to launch a joint project to boost tourism.

The Danube-Drava National Park received the largest charitable donation for environmental protection in Hungary to date. Coca-Cola Hungary donated HUF 25 million (nearly €95,000) to improve the Danube’s water quality and boost eco-tourism in the area.

Coca-Cola has long been involved in preserving the natural environment of water habitats along the Danube, and has participated in organising events for Danube Day for the last two years. “This agreement, to provide financial support for the fresh water protection and eco-tourism programme of the Danube-Drava National Park, is unmatched in the field of environmental corporate social responsibility in Hungary,” said Sir Michael Llewellyn Smith, a member of Coca-Cola HBC’s board of directors.

The goal of the agreement between Coca-Cola and the Danube-Drava National Park Directorate is to increase the number of visitors to the park from the current 60,000 a year to 80,000, which is the maximum that can be sustained without compromising the park’s mission to preserve the environment, explained Ildikó Iványi, director of the Danube-Drava National Park.

To achieve this goal, organisers will rehabilitate water habitats around Gemenc and Béda-Karapancsa, and create a modern eco-tourism infrastructure. The programme will expand the range of water tourism and photo tourism services offered, as well as install a system of signposts needed for cyclists and pedestrian tourists. The new facilities and infrastructure are scheduled to be completed by May 2007.

Kirstie Shepherd is a freelance journalist and the Editor of Danube
Watch. She has called the Danube River Basin home since 2000.