THE EAGLE – The future of Gran Sasso was at the center of a public meeting held on May 7th at the Multifunctional Center of the fraction of Camarda. Promoted by operators and citizens, it was an opportunity to take stock of the situation of the Gran Sasso also in light of the closure of the cable car which will have a significant impact on the activities of the district starting in the next few weeks and for a long and indefinite period of time.
Through the experiences of various operators, the critical issues and impacts of the closure were highlighted and the inadequacy of the replacement solutions prepared by the Municipality of L’Aquila was underlined, starting from the three return trips made available through the AMA which they will be able to transport no more than twenty people per shuttle. Insignificant numbers compared to the needs of the operators they recalled in their interventions Emanuele De Simone, Igor Antonellifounder of Live Your Mountain, Federico Ciocca of the Cammino del Gran Sasso ed Ilaria Ianni of VadoLibera Asd, among the protagonists of the meeting coordinated by the journalist Alessio Ludovici.
But the assembly was also an opportunity to think about the future and to talk about the many ways of experiencing the mountains which today represent a large part of the tourist demand. There is not only the problem of infrastructure, which also emerged from the meeting as an opportunity to think about alternative solutions to the cable car itself.
The operators, many of whom were present and those who spoke representing entrepreneurial or associative activities, ask first of all to be listened to and involved in the choices and to find formulas to participate and be represented within governance the same from which they are totally excluded today.
The CtgsOver the years, it has proven to be an inadequate tool and not very attentive to the most innovative developments in mountain tourism. There is little capacity for programming, planning and diversification of the offer, there is a lack of network involvement of local authorities, public and private entities, and a real strategy for the promotion and communication of Gran Sasso is almost non-existent.
Rethinking the CTGS and involving operators must be the priorities to work on quality, sustainable and well-organised tourism. The journalist and writer remembered the rest Stefano Ardito, guest of the assembly, Gran Sasso does it. A mountain appreciated and known as demonstrated, Ardito underlined, also by the recent recognition obtained by the film “Mount Horn”by director Luca Cococcetta, which won the Trento Film Festival, the most important festival dedicated to the mountains.
The assembly dissolved with the promise to work on the proposals that emerged and to encourage further moments of discussion with citizens and operators.
