The bus will have a digital tourist office and those who visit it will also be able to hire tourist services.

The Provincial Council presented yesterday in the Bispo Cesáreo square the bus that will promote the values and resources of the more than 200 kilometers of Raia ourensana. Under the name “Raia Termal en route”, the initiative will travel more than 1,500 kilometers and will visit more than 25 points during the next ten days, incorporating as a novelty a digital tourism office and the participation of university students with scholarships in the “Erasmus Rural” plan.

The president of the County Council, Manuel Baltar, said that “to disseminate our heritage, when in times of pandemic and post-pandemic as these people are looking for wellness, disconnection and nature, values that we have in the province of Ourense and Portugal”. In the framework of the program “Raia Termal”, financed with European funds, “the bus that starts today from Ourense will allow us to value the territory and its thermal heritage, delving into the historical, cultural, social and natural links that we have between Ourense and Portugal as German towns”.

Baltar added that the bus, English, vintage and adapted, will not only visit the five municipalities that integrate the European program – Lobios, Bande, Muíños, Cortegada, Melgaço and Terras de Bouro-, “but will travel to other important capitals such as Porto, Vigo, A Coruña or Santiago de Compostela”. The tour will end in Ourense, coinciding with the celebration of Termatalia.

With regard to the “Erasmus Rural” initiative, a group of young scholarship holders from the municipalities involved will be responsible for giving explanations to the questions asked during the visits made by the bus. The provincial president pointed out that these bags are “destined to young people to study and divulge our territory and its resources, reinforcing the attention to the tourists. More than a hundred young men and women under 35 years old set up self-employment or entrepreneurial projects in their local council of residence, helping to fix population, employment and wealth in the rural territory”.

The bus incorporates a second novelty: a digital tourist office, which through QR codes will allow to download from a map to a collection of postcards and other cultural products related to the project. But the most important digital element lies in the possibility of facilitating digital transformation for companies, allowing travelers to book and purchase services in the cross-border area through the Internet.

The aim of the “Raia Termal” project is to enhance the value of natural areas and promote quality thermal tourism in different areas, promoting economic activity in the neighboring towns of Ourense and northern Portugal.