Not only gastronomy, but also commerce and tourism. After the signing of the mayors who officially gave birth to the Italian District of Unesco Creative Cities for Gastronomy last October in Bergamo, yesterday (Friday 21 January) in Alba it was the turn of Ascom – guests in the council room of the town hall – to sign their memorandum of understanding. An alliance that further establishes the relationships between Alba, Bergamo and Parma, the 3 Italian cities which – out of 25 in total worldwide – belong to the highly selected network in the section dedicated to gastronomic culture and creativity.
Protagonists of the protocol are the Association of Albese traders, Ascom Bergamo and Ascom Parma, who will work as a team to serve the purposes of the District, to “involve their respective members, create a lasting climate of collaboration between territories and contribute to their social and cultural growth. and economic “. A series of commitments undertaken with the spirit of enterprise typical of traders, operators and entrepreneurs.
«One of the themes that UNESCO has well understood with the creation of the Creative Cities network – said Aca president Giuliano Viglione – is sharing for common growth through regular exchanges of experiences. Thirteen Italian cities are recognized for their peculiarities and Bergamo, Parma and Alba have a reputation in food and wine that unites them ». For Ascom Bergamo, president Giovanni Zambonelli spoke of “development in the tourism sector in a moment, post-lockdown, in which there is a strong desire to return to travel”, while Vittorio Dall’Aglio, president of Ascom Parma, recalled the importance in the tourism promotion of the “synergy between public and private”.
In addition to the top management of the three associations in the Confcommercio-Enterprises for Italy, the signing was also attended by the president and general manager of Fipe (Italian Federation of public businesses), Lino Stoppani and Roberto Calugi. Without forgetting the critical issues for the sector, already experienced by two years of difficulties related to the health emergency, and now struggling with the increases in energy and raw materials prices, the lack of personnel and regulations not always up to par, President Stoppani has talked about Alba, Bergamo and Parma as gods “Three sides of an Italian gastronomic district united by extraordinary typical products and exceptional potential in catering, where quality, creativity and culture come together to create that heritage of humanity that UNESCO protects and promotes”.
To welcome the delegations, the mayor of Alba Carlo Bo and the councilor for Unesco creative cities Emanuele Bolla: “In these two years we have worked with Aca to solve problems and give concrete answers by investing in the gastronomy sector – they said –. Great challenges await us in 2022 and the alliance between Alba, Bergamo and Parma is one more tool to face them in the best possible way ».