Borgo San Gaetano di Bernalda is a must for anyone visiting the Basilicata region.  On a journey in the name of tradition you will eat well all year round in this region, but when the weather cools, traditional products take on even more flavour. And so the autumn season is ideal for a break to discover the Basilicata’s food and wine delicacies.

Borgo San Gaetano is a charming relais with gourmet dining

Borgo San Gaetano, Bernalda's enchanting and charming relais near

, invites you for an elegant stay and to delight in gourmet forays in search of the excellence of good food. Every flavour in the Lucania area tells a story, and traditional peasant dishes are now trending even in Michelin-starred kitchens. Like the delicate crusco bell pepper, which is rigorously - and patiently - dried in the sun. And the region also has numerous products with DOP and IGP certifications.

Several high-end restaurants

In Borgo San Gaetano food lovers are pampered right from breakfast, which is actually a brunch in which sweet and savoury elements alternate to delight the palate. The town of Bernalda has several high-level restaurants where you can enjoy typical local dishes. And staying guests can follow the production phases of the local cheese thanks to a collaboration with the Caseificio Esposito. Burrata,Stracciatella, scamorza, caccaicavallo, provolone and mozzarella are all wonderful cheeses  to be enjoyed with bread, sausages, and a good glass of wine.

Private guided tours

The farm is also a fun discovery for kids, who can pet the cows and donkeys. The staff at Borgo San Gaetano is available to organize private guided tours and advise on itineraries. A stay in Borgo San Gaetano costs between €90 and €150 per night for two people, including that truly bountiful breakfast!  For information: www.borgosangaetano.com

The Tuscan town of San Gimignano has won the prestigious Italian Digital Destination awarded by The Data Appeal Company - Almawave Group. 

Relaunching San Gimignano 

Mayor Andrea Marrucci, who received the award at the 2022 TTG Travel Experience fair, said: 

 "This award repays us for relaunching and repositioning San Gimignano as a tourist destination. It is an accolade that makes us proud of how the operators and the municipal administration have worked side by side with a perspective capable of looking beyond the pandemic.”

The Tuscan town recorded the best online performances

The award is based on the monitoring and analysis of Big Data collected between 1September 2021 and 3 August 2022 through AI technologies developed by The Data Appeal Company. It is given to Italian regions and tourist destinations that have recorded the best online performances and stood out in the eyes of visitors in terms of online perceptions of the offer and quality of  their hospitality, services and experiences.

"We were coming from two years of closures, any liquidity made by hotels went to cover the costs of the previous two years and of taxes like IMU that were also present during the closure. Now we are about to enter the low season and the music is changing because revenues are not sufficient to cover the increase in energy costs. We are energy-intensive businesses, and bills have increased by 600% over 2019. When there are sufficient revenues it is fine, while there will be no profitswe can go on. But today we are having to choose between paying bills or salaries.” 

A positive summer with the return of American visitors

Bernabò Bocca, president of Federalberghi, the Italian hotels’ federation was speaking at the Il Sole 24 Ore and Financial Times’s Made in Italy Summit. "We have had a positive summer season, thanks to the influx of foreign visitors, for example from the US. We were worried about the lack of Russian and Chinese arrivals, but the Americans came in large numbers. This is why the GDP is higher than in other European countries. The GDP growth is mainly due to tourism.”

“We would like to see a ministry for sport, tourism and major events”

“The situation is complex. We are forced to ask the banks for loans, but the rates today are not what they used to be. We are entering a vicious circle that will lead to the closure of many hotels. Many of them will not make it through the low season and will only reopen for the 2023 high season. It will also be a problem for the supply chain which absorbs 60% of tourist spending. With the formation of the new government we would very much like to see a Ministry for sport, tourism and major events."  

The real point is not how the summer went, but how the tourism system will manage to overcome inflation and soaring energy prices, two new obstacles we did not expect after Covid.

Federalberghi president Bernabò Bocca emphasised the difficulties the Italian hospitality industry in facing with these two new challenges. In addition to closures, Bocca said, the coming winter season is at risk. Because bills are now soaring to unheard of heights, and with this huge onus it’s only natural to think that many winter destinations will not even be able to open. Leading to a new collapse of the system which, let's be frank, may not be able to withstand a second blow.

The new government must intervene, first by lowering prices, by trying to work with Europe to cap the cost of gas. The powers that be already don’t do very much for tourism, but this time millions people could be out of a job. So now it’s time to act.

 

Giuseppe Aloe
Editor in Chief

Are Cdp and Qc Terme ready to commit and give the Grand Hotel San Pellegrino a new lease of life? The historic property in the Brembana Valley, which has hosted the likes of General Luigi Cadorna, Nobel Prize winners Eugenio Montale and Salvatore Quasimodo, as well as members of the Russian royal family, has been closed for over 40 years. 

Negotiations are underway for a reopening

Now its potential reopening may be on the cards. Following a partial €22 million renovation over 13 years, according to Pambianco reports, negotiations are in fact underway between the municipality of San Pellegrino Terme and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti bank.

€26 million to complete the refurbishment

Cdp would intervene along the lines followed for another Italian spa icon, the Grand Hotel Salsomaggiore which was recently purchased at auction. In this case, however, the Bergamasque municipality would not sell the asset, opting for a long-term lease, while the Cassa would contribute to the completion of the refurbishment for some €26 million 

The outcome at the end of the year

The works would involve the four floors of guestrooms, the attic and the basement and on completion the management would be proposed to Qc Terme. Discussions between the municipality and Cdp are expected to continue for a few more months, with the outcome of the negotiations expected by the end of the year.

WayGlo Roma, is an emotional new platform with ten channels, thirty thematic formats and a daily schedule of more than a thousand podcasts, interviews, photos, videos stories, itineraries and curiosities – all about Rome. 

Rome and its delights in a single portal 

WayGlo Roma, the new Typimedia-branded cross-media platform, illustrates the city and its environs. This tourist-cultural format develops content by focusing on the user's interests: from history to traditions, from art to culture, from nature to food, from news to entertainment. Everything, in a single portal. Divided into channels and thematic formats, users navigate through the most diverse content with a constant and daily update that interfaces hour by hour on social media channels.  

A daily filmed story

Dedicated to current events, the WayDay and WayNews channels feature Rome’s exhibitions and events. The city’s most evocative places and corners are to be found in the original WayNovel, a daily filmed story featuring the capital based on updates from leading newspapers. 

Food experiences in Rome

The WayTour channel is a long journey through the capital, from its monuments, churches and street art to its beaches and sporting facilities. WayLife, the channel of the good life, features delightful aperitifs and historic taverns as well as food experiences. It also explains how to get married in Rome and where to go shopping as well as focusing on what the city has in store for children and families. 

The history and traditions of the Eternal City

WayLand delves into Rome’s history and traditions, from places and people of the past to the most popular locations in the modern city.  WayVisit takes us to the many neighbourhoods and districts of Rome, with the platform’s editorial staff suggesting the "ten things to do and see in...,”  and WayPodcast presents a selection of podcasts. “Wayglo aims at telling the story of Rome, going beyond what we already know. It is a 360-degree platform featuring all there is to see, know, experience and discover in Rome,” says project manager Luigi Carletti. 

Urbino and its surrounding unspoiled region, known as the Terre d'Urbino e del Montefeltro, are the northern part of the Marche region, consisting of historical towns and mountain villages that were part of the former Duchy of Urbino. 

This year Italy is celebrating the 600 years of the birth of Federico di Montefeltro, the duke and ruler who built the city of Urbino together with other fortified towns, magnificent castles, palaces and churches.

Urbino was a Renaissance cultural capital

Frederico di Montefeltro was one of the great figures of the Italian Renaissance who, in the 15th century, transformed Urbino into a cultural capital, calling great artists, architects, poets and philosophers to his court. This year he is the perfect testimonial for the many exciting tourist itineraries planned as part of the celebrations for his birth.  Many Italian and international visitors came to the area this summer attracted by the unique mix of history, art, nature and culinary delights of this charming region.  

“Foreign visitors were up 130% this summer”

“Tourism went very well this year, - says Amerigo Varotti, president of Confturismo Terre di Urbino e del Montefeltro.  – There were many Italians of course, but also a return of foreign visitors, especially the Dutch, Austrians and Germans, but also American, French and English tourists. Taking into account that the Marche region, - Varotti continued,  - has a limited presence of international arrivals compared to the rest of Italy, this summer we registered 130% more foreign visitors, with Urbino itself standing out as a pole of attraction.”             

September is drawing a record number of visitors

“We will have a complete picture only by the end of the year, as the season is still not over. September is drawing higher than usual numbers, with many visitors now enjoying fairs and festivals, from those featuring the prized white truffle, to beer and cheese events.  Many also come for outdoors activities, discovering the unspoiled beauty of the region.  

A land of stunning landscapes

Biking and trekking and another popular novelty, gravel biking, are attracting sporting enthusiasts to the Cesane Forest, the Furlo Gorge and Mount Nerone, Mount Catria and Mount Petrano mountain ranges. Here you can still see landscapes as they were painted by Raphael, Piero della Francesca and Leonardo da Vinci. Not many people realize that the landscape behind Leonardo’s  world-famous portrait of Mona Lisa is Montefeltro.” 

Discover the walking and cycling routes and trails in the centre of Umbria between the Tiber River Valley and the Chiascio River Valley, thanks to the integrated tourism project I Borghi delle due valli - Crocevia di esperienze (The Little Towns of the Two Valleys - Crossroads of Experience) promoting the towns of Torgiano, Bettona, Cannara and Collazzone.

This new network of trails can be travelled on foot or by bicycle, taking one or more days to discover the cultural, scenic, food, wine and artistic excellence that this "crossroads of Umbria" has to offer.

Trails aimed at different target audiences

This is slow tourism at its best: a varied network of ring-shaped cycle and pedestrian routes for each town involved, with trails aimed at different target audiences - bikers, expert walkers, families with children, etc. - and a wide range of activities. Visitors will also discover foods, wine and artistic experiences in the area, as well as thematic products such as places of faith, folklore and cultural events.

Free GPX files and descriptive roadbooks 

Over several days the Great Ring of the Villages of the Two Valleys can be travelled on foot or by bicycle, along a route of some 80 kilometres, crossing hills of olive groves and vineyards, woods and plains and passing through Torgiano, Bettona, Cannara and Collazzone.  Free GPX files and descriptive roadbooks of all the routes - in Italian and English - are available on the regional tourism portal UmbriaTourism at www.iborghidelleduevalli.it.

Parks and museums

In Torgiano, an ancient fortified town known for its production of wine and extra virgin olive oil, in addition to visiting the Baroque Palazzo Graziani Baglioni, the Baglioni Tower, the Wine Museum, the Oil Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, visitors should not miss the Brufa Sculpture Park. This is an open-air museum with over 30 works combining urban and rural landscapes and contemporary sculptures. The Parco Fluviale del Tevere path along the river Tiber to its confluence with the Chiascio, also known as the 'Parco dei Mulini' is another lovely nature trail.

Trails along Etruscan pathways

In Bettona, in addition to a visit to the Palazzo del Podestà, it is possible to step outside the ancient Etruscan Walls and enjoy the outdoor trails of the Bettona Etruscan MTB, a true oasis with marked paths suitable for trekking, running and mountain biking. At Cannara, in the centre of the Umbrian Valley right opposite Assisi and Spello, it is possible to visit three places that retrace the life of St. Francis, starting with the Church of St. Francis, continuing with the Majolica-Landrini Palace and then the famous Piandarca wayside shrine on the road to Bevagna. 

The presentation of the website of CAI La Spezia, dedicated to circular walking trails around the Ligurian city, was attended by La Spezia Mayor Pierluigi Peracchini, Tourism Councilor Maria Grazia Frijia and CAI La Spezia President Alessandro Bacchioni. The promoters set themselves the goal of extending the usability of these walking routes to an international audience by making the information easier to access and enjoy.   

A network of ring routes

The aim of creating a network of ring routes was to make it possible for visitors to discover the historical  and cultural excellences of the city, while enjoying magnificent views over the Gulf towards the Apennines, the Apuan Alps and the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas. And the response from citizens and tourists has been unanimously positive. 

Paths for people with motor disabilities

The municipal administration, in collaboration with the CAI, will add to the the website, identifying paths suitable for people with motor disabilities, and creating a quality brand network featuring the services offered by the many hotels present in the area and designed to facilitate the use of the trails by young and old alike. The English-language site is now available on the municipality of La Spezia's portal or at the following link: https://sites.google.com/view/percorsiadanellocailaspezia/home