The existence of a virtuous relationship between cinema and tourism isn’t news (Cinema & Video International dedicated a special issue to this phenomenon way back in 2005); the fervor used to try and govern this circumstance, in Italy, appears to have been renewed (an undertaking which will certainly be boosted, on an institutional level, by the return of tourism, culture and entertainment under the aegis of a single organization, the MiBACT – Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism).
A model case of this is ‘Italy for Movies’, the institutional portal set up a couple of years ago which, in addition to providing working tools for members of the sector, dedicates a section to movie enthusiasts and people who want to get to know Italy through the locations chosen by directors to set their stories (the “films, TV series & games map”).
Last August the portal released an App that provides the services of ‘Italy for Movies’ by means of a dual access dedicated to both tourists and professionals. Signs of initiatives aimed at the tourist destination are multiplying even on a regional level, whether they involve clusters like “Marche cinema”, set up on the initiative of the Marche Film Commission, or European projects like “Famous”, directed towards movie induced tourism in UNESCO sites, coordinated by the Regional Government of Liguria.
The synergy between cinema and tourism is the workspace of many Italian film commissions – in Puglia it is the subject of a wide-ranging plan – and, in our opinion, it can be a good starting point for the nascent Abruzzo Film Commission in a region that still offers so much to be “discovered”, for both tourists as well as cinema and audiovisual professionals.
To promote to the latter a region that is unique for the variety of its natural landscapes (Abruzzo is the European region with the highest density of protected Parks) , its patrimony of history and art that is unknown to most, combined with the good food and the legendary hospitality of its people, is the first step in a journey that will not be brief but could give interesting results, not just in terms of tourism but also with regard to the overall development of the region.
