“Reggio Calabria an unmissable tourist destination”

The initiative organized by the Chamber of Commerce to promote the tourist destination Reggio Calabria to Marseillea few days before the departure of the first flight Ryanair from Tito Minniti airport, was a great success. The French newspaper also bears witness to this LaProvence who, in reference to the city of the Strait writes:

“The metropolis of Reggio Calabria, at the tip of the Italian boot, aspires to become an unmissable tourist destination”.

In the article, entitled “The Marseille-Provence airport offers a new airline to Reggio de Calabre”it is remembered how the low-cost airline has chosen to invest in the Calabrian city with six new destinations in Europe, including Marseille and its region, opening a direct air connection from 26 April.

The link between Reggio and Marseille

“The presence of the French is not very significant for the moment and we want to encourage tourism. Many French people have roots in Calabria, they can come and discover the country their family comes from. It is a new destination with many cultural implications, landscapes, food and wine opportunities…”, he explained Ninni Tramontanapresident of the Reggio Calabria Chamber of Commerce, received on Thursday 18 April by the president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce for France in Marseille, Domenico Bascianoand by the consul general of Italy in Marseille, Fabio Monaco.

With two weekly flights operated by the Ryanair company, on Mondays and Fridays, for a period of three years, summer and winter, the Calabrians desire attract the French of the South for the holidays, but also strengthen the ties universities between the two countries and relaunch trade.

“There is a historical link between Reggio Calabria and Marseille. In the archives of our Chamber of Commerce, evidence of the oil trade since ancient times is preserved, probably intended for the production of soap. Reggio Calabria is also linked to France for another product: bergamot, whose essence is an essential ingredient in the perfume industry”.

What to do in the city

Tramontanawho arrived in Marseille with tour operators and the support of various representatives of the Reggio business community, reminded us that our city truly has everything: beaches, mountains, a rich historical past, gastronomy, wine tourism, traditional festivals.

To the Chamber of Commerce team – read more above LaProvence – there was no shortage of tourist themes to promote the destination.

“We will take a journey to the center of the Mediterranean, from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian Sea, through the woods of Aspromonte. A journey that began a long time ago with the colonization of Magna Graecia, starting from the 8th century BC”, begins Eleonora Uccelini, Calabrian tourism specialist. “In Reggio Calabria you walk looking at Etna and Sicily”.

The French newspaper recalls, in fact, that only 3 kilometers separate the two regions from the Strait of Messina. Which makes Reggio Calabria a starting point for visiting Calabria but also Sicily.

What to see in Reggio Calabria

“Reggio Calabria is famous for its Riace Bronzes preserved in the National archeologic museumbut also for its grandiose religious processions (la Varia de Palmi is a UNESCO heritage site), for its kitesurfing in the Strait of Messina, for its Costa Viola that in the shade of the violets at sunset, its paths overlooking the sea, its vineyards and its good wine, its seabed… The Aspromonte National Park with centuries-old trees they allow you to walk all year round.

And many surrounding villages, fishing or lost in the mountains, are timeless visits. Another topic that is of great interest to the French is the food: cured meats (capocollo), cheeses (ricotta, pecorino), olives, meatballs, seafood, black pork, ice cream, wine, bergamot… they are all to be discovered.

And to make your mouth water on this last point, the Chamber of Commerce is currently working on the conclusion of the week of Calabrian gastronomy in Marseille and surrounding areas. Several Italian restaurants will offer a typical Southern menu in June.