Open Tourism Plus project, May 30 and 31, two days dedicated to the promotion of gastronomic and experiential itineraries of the Unione dei Comuni Terre del Mare e del Sole
Under the Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro program
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On May 30 and 31, two days dedicated to the promotion of the project's food, wine and experiential routes were held in the eastern part of the province of Taranto, in the territories of the Unione dei Comuni Terre del Mare e del Sole and in the presence of Institutions. It was an opportunity for dialogue and collaboration among Italian, Montenegrin and Albanian tourism operators to define new goals and improve Open Tourism Plus tools. The first meeting, titled "How to promote the gastronomic itineraries of the Open Tourism project" opened on the morning of May 30 in the Comune di Torricella (Taranto) at the Sala Consiliare in Piazza Barone Bardoscia.
The goals of Open Tourism were presented by Antonio Mezzolla, Secretary of the Unione dei Comuni Terre del Mare e del Sole and RUP Open Tourism.
Aldo Summa, territorial promoter of Open Tourism (Italy), illustrated the points of interest in the area through Open Tourism Italy's food and wine itineraries.
Milos Ivanisevic, from the Comune di Cetinje - Open Tourism (Montenegro), talked about food and wine itineraries in Montenegro and the Open Tourism app.
Florian Bilali, from Ong Cedir - Open Tourism (Albania), introduced the Open Tourism circuit in Albania and local food and wine itineraries.
After a moment of discussion among Italian, Montenegrin and Albanian operators, guests were divided into working groups to discuss the effectiveness of OT tools with respect to the enhancement of local tourism potential and food and wine itineraries.
In the afternoon, the location of the activity moved to the Società Cantine e Oleificio Sociale "Luigi Ruggieri" in Lizzano (Taranto), where an experiential moment of the food and wine itinerary was held, ending with a meeting with Lucia Palombella, Mayor of the Municipality of Lizzano, who recounted the tradition of the Tavolata di San Giuseppe, followed by a guided tour of the Ruggieri Winery and the tasting of local products.
The day ended with an evaluation of the experiential moment through the administration of a survey, useful for the improvement of Open Tourism tools to enhance local typical products.
The second day, on May 31, titled "How to promote the experiential itineraries of the Open Tourism project," took place at the Castello Muscettola, located in the Comune di Leporano (Taranto), at the corner of Via Motolese and Via Oberdan.
The meeting started with the greetings from the President of the Unione dei Comuni Terre del Mare e del Sole, Giuseppe Fischetti, the Mayor of the Comune di Leporano, Vincenzo Damiano, and the Comune di Leporano's Tourism Councillor, Iolanda Lotta.
The secretary of the Unione dei Comuni Terre del Mare e del Sole and RUP Open Tourism, Antonio Mezzolla, explained the goals of Open Tourism.
Aldo Summa, Open Tourism territorial facilitator (Italy), presented the area's points of interest and the Open Tourism Italy cultural and environmental itineraries.
Milos Ivanisevic from the Comune di Cetinje - Open Tourism (Montenegro) talked about cultural and environmental itineraries in Montenegro and the Open Tourism app, while Florian Bilali from the NGO Cedir - Open Tourism (Albania) illustrated cultural and environmental itineraries in Albania and the Open Tourism circuit.
Italian, Montenegrin and Albanian operators then discussed the effectiveness of OT tools with respect to the development of local tourism potential, cultural and environmental itineraries.
In the afternoon, an experiential moment of the cultural and environmental itinerary was held at Masseria "Le Fabriche" in the Comune di Maruggio (Taranto). The Mayor of the Comune di Maruggio, Adolfo Alfredo Longo, and the Councillor for Tourism, Anna Maria Gioia, took part in the event.
Afterwards, the pro-loco of Maruggio conducted a typical cooking lesson with packaging of a traditional dish.
At the end of the day, the experiential moment was evaluated with the administration of a survey to improve Open Tourism tools and enhance experiential tourism itineraries.
