Iaphet Elli 
BERGAMO, 18 February 2017 – Flavors, regional promotion, and emotional tourism. This is the winning formula implemented by the Pro Loco of Italy in the third edition of “Agri Travel & Slow Travel Expo”: the first international exhibition dedicated to promoting rural and slow tourism currently underway in Bergamo.
Since the opening of the fair, the “Flavors of Italy” area, set up by the 15 regional committees of the Pro Loco, has been a great success with visitors. Here, one can taste typical products and recipes. “The protection and enhancement of typical products, the push for sustainable tourism, and the safeguarding of the rural world represent the main path for the integrated promotion of the territory,” says Antonino La Spina, president of the Pro Loco of Italy.
“Many of these products come from small centers that need to develop and best promote their tourist potential. In this sense, 2017, the Year of the Villages, represents an important growth opportunity for these areas.”
In recent days, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Dario Franceschini, has officially included the Union of Pro Loco in the Coordinating Committee of Italian Tourist Villages.
“For us,” says La Spina, “this is a very important mission. The creation of an online register of intangible cultural heritage and the calendar of rituals, which we are already working on, represents the first step of this important journey.”
As part of the program of events organized by the Union of Pro Loco during the trade fair, tomorrow at 10 am there will be a presentation of the preview of the book “The Gastronomic Culture of the Eastern Lombardy Provinces” produced by Unpli Lombardia, followed by the illustration of the recipe book “Cucina la Crisi” designed and created by the network of Venetian Pro Loco, in collaboration with the Veneto Region and the Consumer Association.
The Sunday morning program is enriched by the show cooking of “Risotto alla Villimpentese,” “Tortello Amaro,” and “Bresaola Preserved for 12 Months in Beeswax,” curated by the Lombard Pro Loco. At “Agri Travel & Slow Travel Expo 2017,” the UNPLI regional committees of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino, Umbria, Veneto, and the hosts from Lombardy are present.
Various folk groups from Marche, Lombardy, and Puglia will enliven the “Flavors of Italy” area.
www.unpli.info