Lombardy Region’s Official Gazette has published the projects funded by the Region under the banner “Viaggio #inLombardia”, which also covers Angera.

Eighteen initiatives have been selected, with the support of a total budget of €880,000. Of these, 9 are part of the “Linea Borghi”, with €373,960 going to Lombard villages with 15,000 or fewer inhabitants; the other 9 are part of the “Linea Aggregazioni”, with €506,039 going to partnerships up of at least two local authorities in Lombardy.

In total, 59 applications were received by the Region: 24 for the Linea Borghi, 35 for the Linea Aggregazioni.

For the “Linea Borghi”, one project was from Bergamo Province (the municipality of Canonica d’Adda), another from Brescia Province (the municipality of Toscolano Maderno), one from Mantua Province (the municipality of San Benedetto Po), one from Milan Province (the municipality of Zibido San Giacomo), one from Varese Province (Angera) for the “Lake Maggiore Hub”, with a contribution of €42,210, two from Como (the municipalities of Cadorago and Gravedona e Uniti), and two from Sondrio (the municipalities of Gerola Alta and Piuro).

WHAT THE PROJECT IN ANGERA ENTAILS – “The project is one of ‘destination marketing’. The project aims to develop the tourist appeal of small villages,” Valeria Baietti, the Councillor for Culture, Tourism and Trade in Angera, explained.

“Angera has been rediscovered as an important tourist spot: in 2018, we assessed over 10,000 tourist accesses, which we intended to follow up with targeted actions to reassess this sector. One example is the creation of historical, artistic, naturalistic and wine and food tours,” Baietti explained.

“We also want to make the most of the open-air art gallery, with more frescoes produced. And a third cornerstone of this project is tourism training itself, with meetings to train tour guides and operators on what to do in new contexts.”

Last but not least is the theme of communication, “that is, the positioning of the site, and management of social pages,” the Councillor concluded.

THE PROJECTS – “The call for projects was a great success, and thanks to the resources made available, we’re going to provide concrete support to small villages in Lombardy, for their territorial promotion,” the Councillor for Tourism, Territorial Marketing and Fashion of Lombardy Region said. “The administrators and local authorities have fully grasped the meaning, and thanks to the resources made available, they will be able to carry out important activities to make the most of their territories and increase the tourist potential of particularly attractive sites.”

The aim is to promote and support villages and local authorities in Lombardy, in general, to make the most of the Region’s potential attractions, to develop experiential tourism products and increase the flow of visitors to the area. The interventions covered by “Viaggio #inLombardia” include communication activities (media planning, press and blog tours, press office activities, …), b2b actions (education about the territory, participation in fairs and workshops, …), the creation of experiential theme tours.

“AGGREGAZIONI”: For the “Linea Aggregazioni”, four projects are from Bergamo Province (one involves the municipalities of San Pellegrino Terme, Averara, Cusio and Dossena Zogno; one involves the mountain community of Scalve, the municipalities of Ardesio, Gandellino, Gromo, Parre, Valbondione and Valgoglio; another involves the municipalities of Cisano Bergamasco, Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXII, Torre de’ Busi; and the fourth involves Scanzorosciate, Torre de’ Roveri, Albano Sant’Alessandro, Chiuduno and Seriate); two are from Como Province (the first was presented by the municipalities of Tremezzina, Menaggio, Bellagio and the municipality of Lecco Varenna; the second involves the municipalities of Centro Valle Intelvi and Alta Valle Intelvi); one from Lecco Province (the union of Bellano and Vendrogno, Taceno and Parlasco); one comes from Mantua Province (with the municipalities of Sabbioneta, Pomponesco and the union of municipalities in the Land of the Gonzaga); one from Sondrio Province (union of the municipalities of Valmalenco, union of the municipalities of Spriana and Torre di Santa Maria, Chiesa in Valmalenco, Lanzada, Caspoggio, Torre Santa Maria).

“Lombardy has a large number of small villages that are truly artistic, cultural and scenic gems, and they deserve to be exploited,” the regional councillor explained. “From mountain villages to lakes, from hills to cities of art, Lombardy has an enormous potential for attracting tourists, which can and must be further exploited. Banners like ‘Viaggio #inLombardia’ allow us to highlight the excellence of our territories, with ad hoc projects that serve local needs.”