Torri del Benaco Tourist Association Shapes Local Business Collaboration
Pink ribbon on the shop windows and tourist and commercial activity outlets in the town center. Just a few days ago, the Tourist Operators Association Torri del Benaco was established, a team of merchants and local business owners united to “give new momentum to the sector that drives the town’s economy, namely the tourism industry.” Currently, 46 businesses are part of the association, exclusively from the historic center. “But very soon,” assures the president of the new association, Agostino Danese, owner and manager of the osteria “Da Ago e Rita,” “other merchants and business owners will also join this association.”
Many shops in the historic center, as well as numerous others scattered throughout the municipal territory, still need to open for the tourist season and have not yet been contacted by the association’s leaders. “Forty-six businesses,” continues vice president Sergio Zanetti, “are nevertheless an excellent starting point, considering the total number of public establishments in the area. Still, we want to involve all activities related to tourism, including of course those in the localities of Pai and Albisano, with whom we have already begun contacts.”
Objectives and activities of the association
The aim of the association, as outlined by Danese and Zanetti, is to “unite all those involved in the tourism sector around common ideas, in order to build and represent a valid interlocutor for the Administration.” In practice, the business operators intend to “voice their opinions” on all major decisions affecting the town, especially those that concern or indirectly involve the tourism and hospitality sector. “In fact,” Zanetti continues, “we have already begun collaborating with the Associazione albergatori (Hotel Association), a well-established organization in the town. Together, we have already proposed to the municipal administration the safeguarding and restoration of the valuable trails that wind through the Torri hills and the proper cleaning of the beaches, which are the town’s calling card, ahead of the upcoming season.”
The association includes various commercial entities: from bars to pubs, pizzerias, restaurants, ice cream shops, clothing stores, and even a gas station and two real estate agencies. The five councilors, besides the president and vice president, are Lisa Fiandri, owner of a shop; Mario Girardi, author of a beautiful volume about Torri and a valuable collaborator of the municipal library; bartenders Giorgio Locatelli and Tiziano Leali; and Siro Vedovelli, a longstanding member of the Unione Sportiva Torri and owner of the town’s only gas pump.
“The association’s headquarters,” specifies Zanetti, “is currently at the Bar Moro, managed by the association’s secretary, Paola Marai. We have already registered with the relevant offices in Caprino, but we haven’t yet formalized anything with a notary, awaiting to see what impact the association will have on the local community.” But there’s more.
Even before the association was formed—composed mostly of very young entrepreneurs—a symbol was conceived to unite all the local commerce entities, called “Welcome to Torri.” Danese says that “soon, the symbol will be printed on a page of an informational brochure produced by the hotelier association. It’s also possible that, if appreciated, it might become the symbol of the tourist operators’ association.”
Ten thousand copies of the brochure will be distributed to the Tourism Promotion Company and handed out to guests at hotels and various other commercial outlets. Finally, to start the collaborative relationship with the municipal administration, the tourist operators have scheduled a meeting with Torri’s mayor, Alberto Vedovelli. On Monday, they will meet with the municipal officials to discuss their short, medium, and long-term tourist strategies.
