Harsh response from the Western Sicily Tourist District to the accusations of the Mayor of Marsala, Massimo Grillo, who announced the Municipality’s exit from the District. President Rosalia D’Alì firmly rejects the accusations of mismanagement and lack of transparency, calling them “false” and “instrumental”.
Grillo had accused the District of having mismanaged economic resources and of having favored some municipalities to the detriment of others, in particular Marsala. D’Alì replies that the District’s budgets are “transparent and punctual” and that all the actions undertaken were done “for the benefit of the territories” and “with the logic of teamwork”.
Grillo had also asked for “external governance” of the District, arguing that the current management is too tied to the interests of Trapani. D’Alì replies that the governance of the District is “democratic” and that all the municipalities are represented on the Board of Directors. Furthermore, he underlines that the recent decision to entrust the management of the District to an expert like Bruno Bertero is a step forward in the direction of more professional and technical management.
Regarding the report from the Court of Auditors, D’Alì specifies that it is a document that concerns the Municipality of Trapani and that it was never sent to the District. He claims that Grillo “resurrected” this report to “discredit” the District, highlighting only some “irrelevant” passages.
D’Alì expresses regret for Marsala’s decision to leave the District, calling it “a missed opportunity to network with the other territories of the province”. Despite this, he states that the District will continue its path towards the “West of Sicily” destination and the transformation into DMC, a project which has already given its first results.
This is D’Alì’s full note:
After several meetings in an attempt to establish a dialogue with the mayor Massimo Grillo and the tourism councilor Salvatore Agate, the municipal administration of Marsala has decided to “firmly” and formally withdraw from the Western Sicily Tourist District. The city council will now decide whether or not to ratify the council’s will. A decision that is certainly not unexpected but which leaves many doubts regarding the accusations made against the activity that the District has carried out in recent years.
Today more than ever the comments and criticisms appear specious if not defamatory, made with the sole objective of contesting the “governance” of the District within a less concrete and very political reasoning, addressed without proactivity and without ever indicating solutions and common strategies.
It is worth reiterating point by point:
There has never been a “wall of silence” towards the Municipality of Marsala, and it is not true that, as the note says, “the choices were made sight unseen”. On the contrary, from the beginning Marsala has shown an intransigent and closed attitude also demonstrated by the relevant councilor who spoke at the meetings without ever having a desire to dialogue.
Furthermore, it is not true that clarity has never been clarified on the use of the “large sums paid by the municipalities of the province”. The financial statements are transparent, timely and public. As are the actions recently undertaken for the benefit of the territories and that of Marsala in particular where, more than in others, private operators have responded and continue to participate enthusiastically in the initiatives and meetings organized by the District.
The request for “external” governance may also be legitimate but as posed by the mayor and councilor, it appears only specious. It is proven by the facts that the interests of the Municipality of Trapani or any other territory were never served and that on the contrary the reasoning was based on the logic of teamwork. Furthermore, the recent decision to entrust an expert consultant such as Bruno Bertero, manager and general director of the DMO Langhe, Monferrato and Roero and the transformation strategies of the DMO into DMC go precisely in the precise “technical” direction of starting a further relaunch process, taking a further step forward, of the overall tourist destination with a careful and dynamic model that follows the trend and changes of the market. In this direction, in recent weeks, the District has met and talked with around three hundred operators (many from Marsala) who appreciated the proposal and with whom we are working in this direction.
We also remain very perplexed about the findings which, according to the Marsala administration, emerged from the report of the Court of Auditors, dated January 2022, which was exhumed and which concerns the Municipality of Trapani and therefore never reached the District. In the report, some almost irrelevant passages are artfully highlighted, with the sole intention of discrediting the work of the Tourist District.
Finally, the desire to reposition the Città di Marsala brand on which the mayor and councilor insist makes it clear that the Municipality has no intention of networking with the other territories of the province, nor of investing together in the sector but only of running alone , as demonstrated by the lack of participation in the events and initiatives organized by the District.
There are many private operators from Marsala who have entered the District in recent months and all have expressed, on the contrary, a firm desire to remain there, demonstrating attention, interest and believing in the common project. And there are also many Municipalities that continue to be part of it and that have maintained and renewed their commitments.
The Tourist District will continue its journey towards the “West of Sicily” destination and the transformation into DMC, a journey which has already given its first results and which the mayor of Marsala does not want to understand for reasons which, in our opinion, have little to do with with tourism strategies and a lot with politics, by virtue of an opposition not to ideas, nor to contents but to belonging.
