The inauguration of the new Loano Iat office, whose management has been entrusted by the municipality to Pro Loco, was held this morning. Present were Mayor Luigi Pignocca, Tourism, Culture and Sports Councillor Remo Zaccaria, Pro Loco Loano President Maria Giuliana Amelotti and representatives of several Loano associations.
Until 2015, the management of the Tourist Information and Reception desks was in the hands of the Province of Savona. As of July 1, 2015, however, the Region ordered the closure of all offices and initiated a radical reorganization of tourism policy throughout Liguria. In order to ensure that the services offered by the Iat did not disappear, in 2015 the Municipality of Loano took it upon itself to manage the office directly and to integrate the attaché from the ranks of municipal staff.
The recent retirement of a number of Palazzo Doria employees, however, made it necessary to reassign to another office the employee previously employed at the Iat. This has caused a reduction in the counter's opening hours. During meetings of the Local Tourism Committee, which is responsible for managing the resources obtained from the tourist tax and the territorial tourism “policy,” the need emerged to ensure the continuous presence of an employee at the Iat and to further enhance the services it offers. Hence the decision to entrust (on an experimental basis) the association Pro Loco Loano with the management of the counter.
The Pro Loco, in fact, have as their basic purposes “the protection and promotion of the territory and its tourist-cultural peculiarities, the promotion and undertaking of initiatives, the realization of events for the knowledge and appreciation of the landscape, urban planning and environment of the locality, reception services, tourist protection and information, information and awareness-raising activities for tourist economic development, activities aimed at cultural and social exchanges.”.
The Pro Loco of Loano, therefore, will distribute promotional materials (also in foreign languages) on local and Liguria tourist attractions. It will also provide information on tourist and non-tourist services; accommodation and catering offerings; modes of transportation, timetables of public establishments and utilities; historical-artistic and natural resources; and tourist and excursion itineraries. It will also promote collaboration with local associations engaged in organizing leisure and sports events and manifestations in order to enhance the area's resources; promote the city's sports facilities; and be in contact with the other IATs in the district and the “In Liguria” agency.
The objectives of the project are: to protect and retain potential and existing tourist customers and fully meet the needs of users in order to increase attendance; to provide information about the area through conveying, to users, the richness of cultural, sports, environmental heritage of tourist resources.
IAT OFFICE AT PRO LOCO - HARBOR AREA
TELEPHONE NUMBERS: 328 896 0085 - 019 675694 EXTENSION 251
E.MAIL: iatprolocoloano@gmail.com
JULY AND AUGUST HOURS:
MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY
9:30 A.M. TO 12:30 P.M. AND 3:30 P.M. TO 6:30 P.M.
