OpusLoci, companies tell their stories through UNESCO sites

Enhancement of economic operators and slow tourism routes in the new project of the Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with PromoTurismo FVG and the Region and directed by Walter Filiputti.

“We are writing a new way of collaboration, which we trust will become a good practice to develop the economies of the other territories that host Unesco sites in Italy as well.”

Walter Filiputti proudly describes the new project, directed by him as project manager, which will see the Pordenone-Udine Chamber of Commerce working on the creation of paths for the enhancement of the territory and its economic operators through the networking of the five World Heritage sites of Friuli Venezia Giulia: Aquileia, the Friulian Dolomites, Cividale, Palù di Livenza and Palmanova.

The project “OpusLoci – Heritage, culture and paths of enhancement” was presented at a press conference by Filiputti with the chamber president Giovanni Da Pozzo and the regional councillor for productive activities and tourism Sergio Emidio Bini.

With a specific communication strategy, the route will highlight the uniqueness of the places both from the point of view of history and culture as from that of production and creation of excellence. The operators (restaurateurs, hospitality, merchants, winemakers, artisans of taste) will be protagonists. At the beginning, the project offers specific training courses dedicated to them, together with the first network and physical-digital communication tools. In this way, a heterogeneous group of companies will be built, which will use UNESCO heritage as a “narrative” system for the company itself.

At the same time, right from the initial phase, a bike route will be proposed for each location, to develop sustainable tourism. Each route will accompany the visit to the UNESCO sites and will also pass through the companies involved – and it will be implemented over time by other routes.

About twenty companies have already adhered to the project, which will be committed to enhancing various aspects related to hospitality and collaboration in an activity that will focus on sustainability (in the use of sites, with the typical itineraries of slow tourism) and the identity of the territories related to the five sites. Companies are divided into three categories (hospitality, handicraft and enogastronomy) which will also be represented by a communication made of colors and recognizable and distinctive graphic signs.

The project is carried out in partnership with PromoTurismo Fvg and is also supported by the Region. As already mentioned, the project idea can be a pilot model to be replicated in other UNESCO sites represented by the Mirabilia project, a national and international network (of which the CCIAA has been a partner since the beginning) of common enhancement of UNESCO sites as a driving force for the economies of the territories that host them, through an integrated tourist offer.

The work will also become the subject of the graduation thesis of a student of the Polytechnic of Turin, who is collaborating in the realization of the project, will study the route created and analyze the results, so as to make the project more easily replicable.