The Minister of Tourism Federico Pedini Amati signs the 2023 Co-Op agreement with the European Travel Commission

The Minister of Tourism Federico Pedini Amati, accompanied by the First Secretary of the Embassy of San Marino in Brussels Lisa Gualtieri and the consultants Massimo Feruzzi and Stefano Moroncelli, signed the agreement for joining the 2023 CoOp Program, a tourism promotion plan co-financed by the European Union which guarantees a contribution of 330,000 euros to the projects of the Republic of San Marino as leader and promoter of a consortium which also involves the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions.

On the other side of the table, the Executive Director of the European Travel Commission Eduardo Santander who receives the San Marino authorities at his headquarters for the second time in a few months. In fact, the Republic of San Marino had already benefited from this type of funding last spring for a project that was implemented and developed and the results of which were presented today.

The meeting organized to sign the agreement proved to be an opportunity to present to the European Travel Commission the initiatives that the Republic of San Marino is carrying out in the tourism sector and the development strategies for the post-pandemic period. The Minister of Tourism Federico Pedini Amati presented the very positive data recorded by San Marino tourism in 2022 to the Executive Director Eduardo Santander, data which confirm the interest in the destination, in the events and experiences that the country and its tour operators are able to guarantee visitors. The difficulties that transnational mobility is experiencing and has experienced due to the health emergency from Covid-19 and the problems that the conflict in Ukraine is causing, not only in the tourism sector, were discussed. The Executive Director of ETC Eduardo Santander recalled the friendship that binds San Marino to the organization he leads and the late Ambassador Mauro Maiani, the first diplomat to commit with conviction so that the collaboration between ETC and San Marino could bring important results. There was talk of accessible tourism, sustainability and new prospects for the development of the San Marino tourist economy as well as collaborations with other nations as well as the particularly fruitful one with neighboring Italy.
Federico Pedini Amati (Minister of Tourism): “These occasions always turn out to be particularly exciting. Once again, the commitment of our consultants Massimo Feruzzi and Stefano Moroncelli, aimed at obtaining European funds for third countries, has proved to be fruitful. For the second time, in only a few months, the Republic of San Marino signs agreements with the European Travel Commission which guarantee important funds for the promotion and development of tourism. I must say that this type of agreement confirms the goodness of the work done so far in the territory and in the surrounding areas. Let us not forget that the basis of these loans is the important collaboration with the Emilia Romagna and Marche Regions born with the Territorial Tourist Table and continued in numerous other initiatives. The European institutions with which we have had the opportunity to deal with these days have all confirmed to us that collaboration between states, not just neighboring ones, is the basis of most of the tourism development projects that Europe proposes. Today is a historic day, I would like us not to celebrate a goal but rather a starting point".

On the occasion of the trip to Brussels, the Minister of Tourism also met the Director of the Directorate General for Grow Tourism of the European Commission Valentina Superti and the contact person of the Marche Region to the European Union Antonella Passarani. This afternoon, before returning to the Republic, the San Marino delegation will be a guest at the headquarters of the Emilia Romagna Region.