Sustainable tourism: a challenge that also “speaks” Sicilian
Fall tourism, from north to south, restarts with respect for the environment. Rediscovering Italy by living unforgettable, low-impact experiences, or taking environmentally sustainable vacations, is becoming increasingly possible. La Sicily now ranks among the best regions in terms of sustainable and responsible hosting.
Green travel and commuting: the train is the future
Making Italy not only the place of slow tourism, which best encapsulates the new trend regarding the way of enhancing the territory (more in-depth here), but also the spokesperson for sustainable tourism, respectful of the environment and all forms of life.
The sustainability “travels” today mainly by train, which turns out to be the transportation system that limits global warming the most and thus assumes the primary role as a strategic resource for sustainable development. In fact, only rail travel has had the greatest impact in terms of substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.
Among other things, 2021 has been established as the European Year of Railways
as a form of transport “green”and Italy emerges as one of the most environmentally conscious countries. An ecological turnaround that speaks mostly Sicilian: at the 2021 ecotourism awards in fact, during the last
TTG Travel Experiencein Rimini, we find a large representation of island operators, including
the award for best accommodation facility to the Ibis Styles Hotel in Acireale, a modern hotel with a functional design and low environmental impact.
The “Historic Train Routes” project kicks off: slow tourism also travels on rails
Combining vintage train travel with rediscovering the beauty of our country: this is the goal of the project “Itineraries by Historic Train“, promoted by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the State Railways Foundation.
In fact, the very train, with its slow pace, allows the travel experience to be experienced with a different eye. A “sensory” route that allows tourists to enjoy extraordinary landscapes through the windows and immerse themselves in unseen and enchanting places.
“Slow tourism is now running,” notes Tourism Minister Massimo Garvaglia, “so “it is natural that this mix” with food and wine, with ‘caminos,’ with wine tourism, “works.” (Source: The Press). The project involves different players in the field (travel agencies, stakeholders and influencers), but the common goal remains one: to propose our tourism to the world.
What are the historical train journeys?
There are a total of 14 fam trips (“familiarization trips”) that will touch the length and breadth of as many as seven Italian regions (Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Sicily, Campania, Abruzzo, and Sardinia), traveling along the country’s most beautiful railway lines. There is time until the end of November to connect to the
site of the FS Foundation and check all the routes. For lovers of the commissioner Montalbano, a character who became famous thanks to the stories of writer Andrea Camilleri, is about to leave on a historical train that will embrace all the places most cherished and told of course in his stories. The train will have Palermo as its starting point until it arrives in lower Agrigento, passing through the magnificent Valley of the Temples and then ending its run in Porto Empedocle.
An itinerary that promises travelers will not take their eyes off the window. All aboard, here we go!
Davide Donnarumma