Münsterland project "Your castle experience": state and EU funding in sight

Digital short tours that use artificial intelligence and augmented reality to provide completely new insights: With this idea for exploring castles and palaces, Münsterland e.V. won the "Erlebnis.NRW" competition organised by the state and the EU. As one of 19 projects, "Your castle experience - digital, flexible, innovative!" was recommended for funding by an independent jury of experts.

"We are delighted that we were successful with our competition entry. If the project is approved, our scope for action in tourism will increase enormously, as we are likely to receive a high funding rate of 80 per cent," says Kerstin Clev, project manager at Münsterland e.V. The total volume of the project is 1.4 million euros. Münsterland e.V. is thus following on from the extensive ERDF funding project "Münsterland Castles and Palaces Region", which realised numerous measures to strengthen the region until September 2023.

"During our network meetings with the region's highlight castles, we developed the idea on the basis of the cycle traffic study. It became clear that there was still room for improvement in terms of getting people off their bikes and into the castle," says project manager Christine Konken.

"Your castle experience" opens the doors to historic buildings in the Münsterland region. With short digital tours and other augmented reality experiences, the interiors of the palaces and castles can be experienced in a new way. The project is flanked by marketing measures and the collection of market research data. "For many people, palaces and castles are rightly major attractions, but most people only know them from the outside. We want to change this with the project and further enhance our popular 100 Castles Route," explains Kerstin Clev. "It also strengthens the perception of the Münsterland as a region of castles and palaces and helps us to get to know the needs of our guests better."

The state and EU are supporting Münsterland e.V. and other initiatives through the "Erlebnis.NRW - Shaping the future of culture, nature and sustainable tourism" call for projects from the ERDF/JTF programme NRW 2021-2027, with a total of around 29.4 million euros available. Projects from the region relating to Senden Castle and the Römer-Lippe Route were also recommended for funding by the evaluation committee.