The aim of the study visit organized by the Italian partner, Fondation Grand Paradis, was to let the partners know and explore the best practices and the excellences of the region in terms of tourist destination management, focusing in particular on the positive effects of the cooperation between public and private sectors on two different tourist destinations.
In this frame, partners have visited operators of the village of Cogne, in the hearth of the Gran Paradiso National Park at 1.544 m, and of the village of Introd, in the lower part of the valley, at 880 m, showing the different organization of a mature tourist area (Cogne) and an area evolving from a rural economy to a tourist one (Introd) with a bottom-up approach.
Partners had the opportunity to know two different “souls” of the same tourist destination of the oldest Park of Italy, the Gran Paradiso National Park.
On the first day, partners took part to the project meetings (Steering Group and Joint Dissemination Workshop with local stakeholders and opinion leaders) and then they started the visits to entrepreneurs and innovative SMEs active in the accommodation facilities sector (Hotel Bellevue and Notre Maison in Cogne).
The second day was dedicated to deeply know the sustainable mobility initiatives managed by Fondation Grand Paradis within two different European projects and then partners met the manager of the Gran Paradiso National Park scientific research service to know the role of the Park for the development of the territory, and then the farm “La Ferme du Grand Paradis” in Cogne.
Partners then moved to Introd area, visiting the Roman bridge-aqueduct of Pont d’Ael (III .b.C.), with the presentation of the Aosta Valley Region public interventions for the development of the cultural sites and then Maison Bruil, an ancient farmhouse of the XVII century, hosting an exhibition dedicated to traditional wine and food, realized thanks to public funds and now used by a local entrepreneur as a network of traditional food called "Tascapan".
At Maison Bruil partners were involved in the presentation of the Quality Brand of the Gran Paradiso National Park and of the SMEs network gathering the culture and nature sites of the area with some local stakeholders and with the owners of the accommodation facilities that hosted partners in Introd.
During the last days partners explored other local tourist sites of the area: Introd Castle, a private castle dating back to the XII century, managed by public bodies (Fondation Grand Paradis and the Introd Municipality), the Parc Animalier d’Introd, the first private wildlife park of the Aosta Valley and other local SMEs involved in Introd network (the local handcraft workshop Les Amis du Bois, the wine producer Lo Triolet and then the wine cooperative the Cave des Onze Communes, located in the municipality of Aymavilles).
During the Technical Meeting, partners expressed their interest in projects about sustainable mobility, in the tourist operator networks in Introd and Cogne and in all initiatives with the collaboration of public/private sectors.
