First European funds for tourism San Marino: “Historic signature”
It is a highly prestigious signature that the Secretary of State for Tourism Federico Pedini Amati affixed this morning in Brussels on the contract that regulates the accession of the Republic of San Marino to the “Horizon 2022” strategy, the marketing development project strategic in the tourism sector of the European Travel Commission, co-financed by the European Union. Together with him, at the signing table, in the city of united Europe, the Executive Director of ETC Eduardo Santander.
The European Travel Commission is an international organization to which 33 National Tourism Organizations in Europe adhere and is funded directly by the European Commission with the aim of promoting and developing promotional initiatives for the territories of the Union.
The Republic of San Marino has been a member of the ETC for years but for the first time, thanks to teamwork together with the Marche and Emilia Romagna Regions and thanks to the birth of the Territorial Tourist Board in 2019, it is able to access a common program of promotional activity co-financed by the European Commission for the promotion of thematic trans-European tourism products and for the joint promotion of Destination Europe.
The general objectives of the dictation planned by the bodies are to strengthen consumer confidence in travel and tourism during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and to build a distinctive image of Europe as a travel destination, thus helping to maintain the its position as market leader specifically, the funds destined for the Republic of San Marino will be used for most of the communication and promotion projects linked to the Territorial Tourist Board, i.e. the promotion of slow and outdoor tourism, active holidays, nature trails and religious and matrimonial tourism (destination of marriage).
The strategies presented largely aiming at the creation of online and digital campaigns, the ETC approved the promotion of the San Marino territory through the use of tourism-influencers specifically for the Europe area, for the USA, Canada and Brazil .
The co-financing plan will make a total of 190 thousand euros available for the digital development of synergistic tourism projects in San Marino, Marche and Emilia Romagna, of which 50% is funded by the European Union.
For the first time, a San Marino initiative will have the “signature” of the European Union which now, also in the communication, with the logos of Europe-visiteurope.com, the reference to the co-financing of the European Union and the emblem of the EU.
Federico Pedini Amati (Secretary of State for Tourism): “I am really proud to have affixed my signature under this agreement thanks to which the Republic of San Marino will be able to receive funds from the European Travel Commission for transnational tourism development by the European Union. It is the first time that our country has managed to intercept this type of calls and I think I can say that we have opened a path. We will invest the amount that is allocated to us in synergistic digital and online promotion projects together with the Marche and Emilia Romagna Regions that we have involved in the project and which I sincerely thank. Allow me to thank all those who collaborated in this project starting from the staff of the Secretariat of State for Tourism and in particular Loretta Zafferani who together with our consultants Stefano Moroncelli and Massimo Feruzzi have constructively dialogued with the European Travel Commission to make it possible all of this. The collaboration with the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions with which dialogue is always serene and constructive is important and fruitful.
Now we have a few months to ensure that the contents of the agreement signed today come to fruition, we will work hard not to disappoint the expectations that the European organizations have responded in the Republic of San Marino. Allow me once again to remember Mauro Maiani, ETC focal point for San Marino for many years, the first to believe that our country could also use European tenders in the tourism sector “.
Eduardo Santander (European Travel Commission Executive Director): “The agreement signed today with San Marino is not a simple financing agreement for a tourism promotion project, it is the most important step taken many years ago by my friend Mauro Maiani and made concrete thanks to the pragmatism and commitment of the Secretary of State Federico Pedini Amati and his consultants. With this signature we are sending a message to the large countries to which we say that it is possible to participate concretely with small and small countries to which we say that international organizations and Europe also take their needs into consideration. It is not an easy time for tourism, first the pandemic, today the war in Ukraine, but even in these days of uncertainty we must look to the future with optimism, united, like San Marino, Italy with its Marche and Emilia Romagna regions. , international organizations such as the European Travel Commission and the European Union “.