Sept. 9 - 31 tour operators from Austria, Benelux, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey, the United States, and Hungary are ready to discover Piedmont. The initiative, promoted by the Foreign Center for Internationalization (Ceipiemonte) on behalf of the Regional Tourism Office, seeks to increase the inflow of tourists from Europe, the USA, Canada and Brazil. In essence, September 14-16, international buyers specializing in cultural tourism will embark on 5 routes, experiencing firsthand the historical and artistic beauty of the region. The tour will conclude on September 17, with a workshop on "PiemontART & Culture" held in Mondovi, where the international operators will meet their local counterparts: travel agencies, tour operators, consortia, accommodation services, museums and monuments, tourist guides associations, bus operators and service agencies. Each foreign tour operator will participate in a guided tour of Turin and the National Cinema Museum. Then, according to their individual requests, the lot will be divided into 5 groups exploring 5 different routes: regional tourist products in Turin and its province, in the hills of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato, in the province of Cuneo, in the Lake and Biella Districts, and in Vercelli and the Novarese area.

THE CULTURAL AND TOURISM COUNCILOR FOR THE PIEDMONT REGION COMMENTS

"This kind of initiatives are capable of bringing into Piedmont international tour operators that offer great potential for our region, and that have become indispensable tools in our promotional strategies. Today, also in view of Expo 2015, their work seems even more valuable - says Antonella Parigi, Cultural and Tourism Councilor for the Piedmont Region - The foreign audience coming for the universal exhibition will undoubtedly want to visit other locations. This is why we need to promote the territory as a whole, trying to summarize its different realities without compromising quality of services and promotional offers. For fine arts, landscape and gastronomic offer, Piedmont’s Langhe, Monferrato and Roero and Lake Districts are definitely the locations on which to focus. However, we need to support the territorial system as a whole; this means also enhancing UNESCO sites such as the Savoy Residences and Sacred Mountains."