Puglialove.it is the new website about the tourism promotion, territory valorization, sustainability’s projects of the Southern Italy Apulian region.Tourism, in Puglia, means future, one of the sector that doesn’t (or less) receive the negative effects of the worldwide crisis but it is still growing.
The ISTAT (the Italian National Institute for Statistics) said that in 2013 the 5,4% of the regional GDP comes from tourism activities, concentrated above all in the summer season. Last summer the Apulian region was the Southern Italy most preferred destination for national incoming (source: TCI Touring Club Italiano, 2013). Talking about the Puglia region, the reference is to its uncontaminated beaches, its centuries of history and art, its culture, its archeology heritage, its rich gastronomy, folklore, traditions and customs. The Puglia region is also important for its politics of sustainability projects, according to national statistics the higher number of solar panels have been installed in this territory.
The Puglialove website has been conceived to promote tourism and to sustain local initiatives aiming to improve the local involvement in sustainable programs. The website concerns three main parts: the first, that could be defined the content concerns the history, the itineraries, the culture, the nature, the gastronomy, the tipicities and the traditions section. The second is the context that includes the offer, the services and the facilities and the third is the community section that includes and promotes latest news and sustainability’s projects.
The cultural itinerary proposed by this site includes the Apulian castles, cathedrals, sanctuaries, museums, archeological sites and the three UNESCO world heritage sites (the Trulli of Alberobello, Castel del Monte and the Saint Michael’s Basilica in the Gargano). The natural itinerary includes the two national parks (The Gargano national park and the Alta Murgia regional park) and all the protected areas: the Porto Selvaggio natural reserve and the Alimini Lakes protected reserve (these last in the department of Lecce), the Torre Guaceto natural protected area (in the department of Brindisi).
The main points focused in the website are the knowledge of the territory and its richnesses; the analysis of the different territorial realities and their potentialities; the study of some possible marketing strategies; the proposition of some possible interesting itineraries and its possible receivers. Starting from these fundamental points, the aim of the website has been to valorize the territory through the tourism promotion; to promote new and not common itineraries in the Puglia region; let the customer free to decide its own travel planning and living experiences; improve the facilities for tourists offering them a daily assistance; create an interaction between local events promotion and the international audience; create offers to a wide range of public satisfying different needs (educational for children and schools, creative events for young, cultural and spiritual itineraries for seniors).
Some sustainable activities proposed include the visit of a typical Apulian farmhouse called masseria, a visit of a olive-mill called frantoio and a day attending a cooking lesson to learn typical Apulian receipts. The website home page is weekly update with most important regional news and events (exhibitions, concerts, conferences, etc.).
The website main objectives are to increase the tourism incoming in the Puglia region; improve and enlarge the tourism offer to national and foreigner tourists; promote local and sustainable initiatives aiming to valorize the territory; plan and project cultural initiatives; give support to any cultural projects implementation and above all create a Puglialovers community.
