Articolo disponibile anche in: Italian
“Le Eccellenze di Gaiole in Chianti”: a guide designed and created by EvOrArt, was presented on Sunday 22nd April in the atmospheric setting of the Castello di Meleto.
“This travel guide – starts the presenter, Augusto Bianciardi – has not been an easy project to carry out, but we’re very proud of the result. Out of a hundred companies, 80% took part in it. The catalogue is accessible to both Italian and foreign tourists”.
“I hope it has a ‘familiar’ local flavour – continues Bianciardi – We have dedicated it to the Maestro Enzo Centri. When I was nineteen years old I used to have long chats with him about the Chianti. They used to call us the old man and the child”.
Dr. Renato Stopani opens the proceedings: “Sienese Chianti and Florentine Chianti. All the doubts of the historians”.
“The municipalities of Gaiole, Radda and Castellina are in the province of Siena – says Stopani – but anthropologically they have nothing in common with this town. Even the way the boundaries of the Chianti Classico region have been established is arbitrary, because the various municipalities in this area are not really bound by anything in particular”.
“Tourists are not aware of our borders. They only know the term “Chianti”. A foreign visitor thinks in a different way from us. He looks for beauty in the places he’s visiting “says Professor Alessandro Tortelli.
His report focuses on “The future of tourism, territories, tour operators and tourist services: size and trend of the tourist industry in the Chianti”.
“In the future the well-being of the residents will play an important part in attracting tourists. If the residents live well, tourists will come” says Tortelli. “The visitor no longer wants to simply see a place, he wants to be part of it, he wants to live it”.
“Integrated tourism marketing: new challenges to be competitive”. That is Tuscany as a land that must put hospitality first.
“Today the motivation for travelling – underlines the speaker, professor Leila Pruneti – are the tourists’ interests and passions. People travel to increase their knowledge”.
“In order to maintain the “Tuscany brand” – she says – we have to work together to offer various training opportunities for people who work in the tourist sector. We need to have a destination that meets all the needs of the market”.
” The goal – she concludes – is to present Tuscany as a new experience that can be lived. With plenty of festivals and activities that allow the tourists to participate and to get to know the local community. The new step to take is to renew our offer and be competitive. We need to show the side of Tuscany that is still unknown, and present it in a different way”.
So the keywords – even for the Chianti area – are these: local identity, authenticity, values, everyday stories.
Jessica Nardi