Nov. 22 – ” Mirabilia,” after the London success, is ready to fly to New York. But before anything else, the project participants will regroup and debrief in Matera. English tour operators will be in Matera November 24-26 for the “Cultural Tourism Stock Exchange,” which promotes tourist package deals and itineraries, but also the services, cities and territories that set up the Mirabilia UNESCO network. This is just one of the results that emerged during the press conference at the World Travel Market in London. The Chambers of Commerce of Brindisi, Genoa, L’Aquila, La Spezia, Matera, Perugia, Salerno, Udine and Vicenza came together to highlight their peculiar traits and “put aside all competition to collaborate in a healthy manner,” said the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Matera, Angelo Tortorelli, during the press conference attended by CoC Matera Secretary General Luigi Boldrin, Cesp’s executive director Vito Signati and ENIT’s Director General Andrea Babbi, who supported and put under its patronage wing the project. The Italian ambassador in London, Pasquale Terracciano, also showed interest for the project, and declared himself willing to “host the presentation of the 2014 program at the Consulate.” On December 7, Mirabilia will head to New York, with Mirabilia – European Network of UNESCO Sites, to bring together for the first time areas according to their historical, cultural and environmental features, enhancing interactions among institutional and economic actors, and governance models. The project, sponsored by 9 Chambers of Commerce, intends to build a UNESCO network of World Heritage Site less known to Italian and international tourism, with the aim of increasing their promotion and fame among the general public. The tourist offer proposes a different Italy, far from the beaten track of mass tourism; forms of tourism that are at a more human scale, where hospitality and customer care are essential traits. At the same time, the variety and richness of the historical and artistic, cultural and environmental heritage can be used to tailor everyone’s individual ideal vacation.
