Boz, Mustafa2025-01-272025-01-272018978-88-85813-05-2https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12428/28133International Conference on Southeast Europe - History, Culture, Politics, and Economy -- 2018 -- St Cyrill & St Methodius Univ, Veliko Tarnovo, BULGARIATourism is not only an economic sector but at the same time, has social, cultural and environmental impacts on host communities, tourist-sending countries, and tourists. Cultural tourism in general and cultural routes as an important component of cultural tourism offer a big potantial for a sustainable tourism development. Besides economic, socio-cultural, and environmental benefits for host communities, cultural routes play an important role in mutual understanding and exchanges across boundaries. The paper particularly focuses on solidarity, mutual understanding, cultural exchange, inter-cultural dialogue, and cooperation features of cultural routes. In the second part of the paper, as a case study some established contacts, project proposals, and initiatives between Southeast European countries are tried to explore by some examples.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccesscultural routescultural tourisminter-cultural exchangesCouncil of EuropeSoutheast EuropeConference Object108117N/AWOS:000431848300013