region
twelve o’clock, May 6, 2021 – 10:12 am
The Pugliaprofotion campaign is underway. Rich calendar of initiatives: in Vieste a possible offshoot of the Book, in June the Kursaal reopens
of Francesco Strippoli
Puglia is ready to restart the tourism machine. The deadline agenda is full of appointments (operational and promotional) to restore enamel to a sector brought to its knees by Covid. The first initiative concerns “health security”. The Councilor for Culture and Tourism, Massimo Bray, made a specific request to President Michele Emiliano: after the protection of frail patients and age groups up to 65, the vaccination campaign must be prepared in favor of the productive categories. As a priority “tourism workers must be considered”. This is what Spain and Greece are already doing and Puglia would not want to be outdone. The president and the councilor for health, Pier Luigi Lopalco, gave their favorable opinion. It is now a question of establishing a vaccination schedule consistent with the purpose.
Refreshments for businesses
Secondly, Bray, together with the director of the department Aldo Patruno, has prepared a sort of “financial trigger” for the restart. On Monday, the regional council approved a resolution that makes 28 million available to small and large companies in the tourism sector: it is a relief for the turnover lost in the period from September 2020 to January 2021 compared to the corresponding period of 12 months earlier. Reimbursements are expected in proportion to the lost turnover, up to a maximum of 150 thousand euros per company. It is a refreshment, but in fact also a way to give fuel to the initiatives of the new season. Thirdly, after a stagnation phase, an energetic communication campaign by Pugliapromo is restarted: it will be agreed with the trade associations next week. There are 15 million euros to promote Puglia on the issues of health security in the sector and on the strengths of Apulian tourism. As is natural, the campaign will essentially focus on the domestic market (Puglia, South, Italy) for what is called «proximity tourism». In this key, an agreement is envisaged with Ferrovie dello Stato to encourage the use of the train to reach Puglia.
“Safety and quality”
«Safety and quality – says Bray – are the two axes on which to set up the promotion strategy. On the one hand, operators in the tourism sector must be vaccinated with priority. On the other hand, a quality tourist offer must be put in place ». In this sense, there is no shortage of initiatives, the list is well fed. First of all we can mention the sporting initiatives: the already announced world sailing championship for catamarans in Taranto (in a month), the Giro d’Italia which makes a stop in Foggia (in a few days), the international diving competition that returns to Polignano in September. Then there will be the Radionorba musical appointments with the Battiti Live tour. Culture: the possible book of Polignano (July) will have an unprecedented and interesting offshoot in Vieste. And the Bif & st will also take place, on a date to be determined. All the cultural foundations that collaborate with the Region (Notte della Taranta, Lector in fabula, Pascali museum) are planning their activities. In June, after two years of restoration, the Kursaal theater in Bari, owned by the region, reopens. Finally, the intense activity in favor of the “paths” should be mentioned, in particular the one that will start shortly from Canterbury and will end in Leuca in the coming months.
May 6, 2021 | 10:12
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