Comprehensive tourism strategies development or update – Page 2 – fuTOURiSME

Kore Siciliae

Written by Marianna Gallina on July 31, 2024.

Lessons learned relevant to the twin transitions focused on developing or updating tourism strategies include:

Integrated approach to sustainability: Tourism strategies should take an integrated approach that considers economic, environmental and social sustainability. This means considering the economic impacts of tourism activities, the preservation of the natural and cultural environment, and the well-being of local communities.
Stakeholder Involvement: It is essential to actively involve stakeholders, including government representatives, tourism operators, local communities, nongovernmental organizations, and other key players, in the design and implementation of tourism strategies. Stakeholder involvement helps to ensure that strategies are based on broad consensus and address the needs and concerns of all stakeholders.
Awareness raising and training: It is important to raise awareness and train various tourism stakeholders on sustainability and best practices. Education and training can raise awareness about the impacts of tourism and provide skills and tools to adopt more sustainable approaches.

The project ‘Kore Siciliae’ aims to enhance the peculiarities of the ‘Rocca di Cerere UNESCO Global Geopark’ and to encourage geotourism as a form of tourism that binds together the geological formation of the area, its natural and cultural heritage, and the wellbeing of its communities.

Rocca di Cerere UNESCO Global Geopark also worked for the strengthening of Community NETWORKS through cooperation between small operators to organize joint working processes and share facilities and resources, for the development and marketing of tourism and tourist services under the ‘Kore Siciliae‘ single brand.

Kore Siciliae intends to offer an authentic and transforming experience that starts from the land that hosted the Myth of Persephone (Kore) and continues every day in the storytelling of the guides, in the hands of the artisans, in the harvest of the earth.

Officina Agroculturale Cafeci – Outdoor experience

Written by Marianna Gallina on July 30, 2024.

The company’s best practice is to offer unique and sustainable travel experiences in Sicily, promoting a more environmentally friendly lifestyle and bringing people closer to nature in an authentic and meaningful way. They organize guided hikes and e-bike tours, allowing participants to explore the natural beauty of the island in an eco-sustainable way.

They also offer outdoor workshop activities that allow participants to immerse themselves in local culture and traditions, encouraging a more conscious approach to outdoor living and responsible consumption. They actively promote cyclotourism and beekeeping, encouraging travelers to discover Sicily in innovative and environmentally friendly ways.

A distinctive aspect of their practice is the involvement of the younger generation. They offer educational programs dedicated to children, designed to teach them the importance of environmental conservation and the beauty of nature. They want them to grow up loving and respecting the natural environment, conveying to them a deep connection with the earth and encouraging them to become active keepers of our planet.

Mercurio Festival

Written by Marianna Gallina on July 30, 2024.

The Mercurio Festival positions itself as a cultural tourism attractor without limiting itself to the creation of cultural events in places of artistic heritage, a proposal already outdated by the most innovative cultural tourism operators, but setting its sights on a conscious tourism that moves its flows functionally to the artistic proposal of level regardless of the places that host it, where the experiences of recent years lead us to consider it increasingly mortifying for the artist and his paths to have to express themselves in function of the enhancement of a place.

The conscious cultural tourism they focus on involves organizing public meetings, seminars, and workshops so that they can engage with the themes of the work, creation, and inspiration of the work we have just seen. They create meeting places where tourists know they can engage with artists and be able to freely dialogue with them. They also create itineraries, co-organized with the entities that operate within the Cantieri Culturali, in which tourists can visit the entire area, watch a show/concert at the Cantieri and entertain themselves there, expanding our itinerary to the Zisa Castle, adjacent to our target area.

Kore Siciliae

Written by Marianna Gallina on July 30, 2024.

The main project of the Consorzio Together is Kore Siciliae, an example of how different businesses can come together to promote the area and propose a mode of conscious tourism. The project aims to enhance the origins, the Sicily of wheat, sulfur, salt, and chalk, which fully testifies to the multifaceted Mediterranean identity, its countless nuances and the skillful balance between man and nature. In fact, UNESCO Global Geopark sites are geographical areas of special geological value. In this evocative territory rich in history is set the myth of Kore, hence the name of the project: Kore Siciliae. This stems from the desire to make people experience a different journey from the usual mass tourism, to get to know Sicily in its most intimate and authentic part, through what is called experiential tourism. A journey under the banner of the most vivid experience of the territory through the words and gestures of master craftsmen, farmers and breeders, and guides who lead the traveler to discover the origins of myth.

TRANSHUMANCE

Written by Marianna Gallina on July 30, 2024.

It is from the earliest times that our ancestors have gone on TRANSHUMANCE, an ancient agricultural tradition that has marked the history of our people over the millennia. To ensure forage for their livestock, according to the changing seasons, shepherds and herds would reach distant pastures by traveling along the ‘trazzere’, ancient connecting roads. They crossed valleys and streams and here found makeshift shelters, often caves, as a night shelter, the so-called ‘jazzu’.

From the summer pastures in the highlands they would return, in autumn, to the lower and therefore more welcoming hills to defend themselves from the rigors of winter.

Started 11 years ago and since then, twice a year, in spring and summer, it takes tourists to retrace an ancient path of 45 km for three days from Calascibetta to Gangi, or vice versa, at donkey pace, to rediscover the ancient traditions and the surrounding nature, in close contact with the times and needs of donkeys, to rediscover a precious heritage to be safeguarded and handed down to new generations.

Stefania is generally aided and assisted by another AIGAE guide, Gianluca, who accompanies her throughout the entire journey.

Enriching Tourism SMEs and Promoting Authentic Experiences

Written by Marios Demosthenous on July 23, 2024.

The Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry (MECI) has developed a New Industrial Strategy Policy for Cyprus, extending until 2030, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on May 6, 2019. This comprehensive policy encompasses all economic sectors, including traditional industries such as Tourism, and manufacturing, aiming to link traditional industries with other economic activities to create competitive value chains and modernize Cyprus’ growth model. The strategy will be implemented gradually from 2019 to 2030, focusing on six strategic pillars: Sustainable Development and Production, Improvement of Industrial and Business Environment, Digitalization of Industry, Development and Enhancement of Human Resource Skills, Enhancement of Access to Finance, and Enhancement of Access to Markets. In line with this policy, the Government has initiated various actions such as organizing the Industrial Week, securing free SME access to standards through an agreement with the Cyprus Organization for Standardization, implementing a grant scheme for digitization, and promoting the circular economy. The tourism sector in Cyprus demonstrated an unexpectedly strong recovery, with revenues reaching 91% of pre-pandemic levels and experienced full recover in 2023. This recovery was driven by measures from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism aimed at mitigating the pandemic’s impact and supporting local communities reliant on tourism. The main reforms and investments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) include enhancing tourism’s added value, particularly in rural, mountainous, and remote areas. Key grant schemes support the renovation of accommodations and traditional businesses, with initiatives such as the “Taste of Cyprus” label and repurposing facilities for health and wellness tourism. Additionally, efforts to enrich the tourism product involve creating authentic experiences and upgrading infrastructures in these areas, supporting local community boards and entrepreneurs in the creative and manufacturing sectors.

Topic: Comprehensive tourism strategies development or update

Kore Siciliae

Officina Agroculturale Cafeci – Outdoor experience

Mercurio Festival

Kore Siciliae

TRANSHUMANCE

Enriching Tourism SMEs and Promoting Authentic Experiences