The need to restart tourism from peripheral regions, the engagement of cities and regions in designing national recovery plans, investment in infrastructure, including transport in peripheral areas through the recovery fund, as well as the use of the green and digital transitions to innovate tourism were key topics discussed during an EPP Local Dialogue organised by EPP-CoR member Sergio Caci, Mayor of Montato di Castro.
In his opening remarks Caci said "We need to restart tourism after the pandemic right from the periphery. We are bringing together local, regional, national and European representatives to discuss how we can make use of EU funds and instruments to make good use of our rich culture and natural heritage."
Senator Massimo Mallegni, responsible for tourism (national level) said that tourism needs to restart from the 8,000 municipalities found across Italy making use of the unique characteristics of each municipality including the rich cultural heritage.
Antonio Tajani, MEP and vice-president of the EPP said that the European Green Deal and the digital transition can play an important role to help the tourism sector to become more competitive. He criticised the government for failing to provide certainty to tourism operators that have been hardly hit by the pandemic. Tajani said that the Recovery fund can be used to invest more in transport and infrastructure while CAP related funds can also support agritourism operators.
Giulio Marini, responsible for regional tourism said that tourism operators need support to invest in quality of the service and to support a new form of tourism, that of travelling closer to home. This entailed enhancing the local tourism product.
Alessio Pascucci, Mayor of Cerveteri spoke about the need for Municipalities to collaborate together taking into account the rich cultural heritage whichs had to be the starting point to relaunch tourism.
Silvia Nardi, executive for culture and tourism at the Municipality of Montalto di Castro said that culture and tourism can represent the driving force for territorial development.
Mario Fiorentini, Councillor of Valentano and member of the Young Elected Politicians programme of the CoR said "Despite the difficulties due to the pandemic, we are registering a renewed tourist interest in our small towns. We must take advantage of this opportunity to ensure that European recovery takes into consideration the local dimension."
Stefano Bigiotti, Mayor of Valentano, and member of the Young Elected Politicians programme of the CoR said that the pandemic has highlighted two key aspects. First the inadequate transport systems and the unique cultural heritage of small towns and inland areas. "We need to show the identity of our territories and invest in infrastructure of small villages".
Marco Parroccini, International Secretary of the Youth Section of Forza Italia spoke about the need to rethink how to make use of EU funds targeting young people taking into account the lack of opportunities for specialised work. "Young people want independence and responsibility to be active in society." he concluded.
Gaetano Armao, Vice-President, Region of Sicily said that national governments must engage local and regional authorities when designing national recovery plans. "This has been made clear by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and we will keep on insisting for this to happen. There can be no recovery without regions." concluded Armao.
Donato Toma, President of the Region of Molise said that the recovery fund must be available to all regions including those in the south of Italy. He emphasised the need to shift attention from the centre to peripheral regions. He said that while isolation and the low density have helped to keep these regions pristine, more investment in infrastructure and services was needed and cohesion was key for recovery and to integrate various geographic regions.
The event was concluded by former EPP-CoR member and MEP Salvatore De Meo who thanked Sergio Caci for bringing together politicians from various levels of governance to discuss recovery and relaunch tourism after the pandemic.