A new version of the app that allows users to have maps and information on their smartphones at their fingertips at all times to take advantage of routes designed for walking and multiple types of running will be active as of July 1. The app was developed on behalf of the public administration by Oikos, a company with particular experience in the specific field. The design and content are the result of collaboration with CAI and Maremontana ASD.
Loano since 2016 has been intensively promoting the area as an ideal location for outdoor sports: “Our territory,” recalls Mayor Luigi Pignocca, "encompasses a wide variety of natural environments in a few kilometers: marine, riparian, hilly and mountainous. Here with us, therefore, you can easily practice all kinds of water sports, but also walking and running (urban and suburban) and Mtb. Over the years, outdoor sports have become more and more popular, especially abroad, and they have also emerged as a new sector for tourism to be discovered and exploited. Loano, European City of Sport, could not fail to invest in this sense by giving birth to a project that, if at first included only the municipal territory, today is expanded and enriched in cooperation with other municipalities in the area. In this way, a single comprensorial offer for outdoor sports is born. The current 15 trails will be joined by others already identified by the municipalities of Borghetto, Boissano, Balestrino and Toirano. The new version includes translation of content into English, French and German, and for some routes audiovisual content as well. The possibilities for growth are many, and each update will correspond to an additional offer of information and services.".
Remo Zaccaria, deputy mayor in charge of sports and tourism, does not hide his optimism and satisfaction with what has been done and what is being done and still being planned: “What the app currently allows us to use is already very interesting in itself; I open it, choose the language, choose a route, listen to the description, look at the map, decide to follow it. The information I listen to and the gps on my phone guide me on the route. I am sure that I will return exactly where I started from. We are actively working on making and then placing easy-to-read signs and markers that allow people to choose a route and follow it even without listening to directions or having to follow the gps on their smartphone. The revision available from July 1 offers 15 routes for running and walking for a tolal of 186 kilometers, including five urban, four suburban and six mountain. For mountain biking, there are four routes for a total of 85 kilometers. I want to clarify that the information for Mtb routes is still being processed and will be made available after the running part is completed. In total there are more than 270 kilometers of trails (with different difficulties) to choose from. A variety that can meet the needs of every sportsman.”.
Pignocca and Zaccaria again: “As administrators, our goal is to make our city grow more and more, and we believe that talking specifically about the outdoors, this can be done by teaming up with the other municipalities in the district, which can be an ideal destination for all outdoor sports enthusiasts. Starting with Loano with development in the district, we have already been organizing events of an international nature for several years that can attract guests from all over Italy and Europe (one for all, Vibram Maremontana Trail), but the margins for growth are still very wide. This app will allow us to make known the possibilities offered by our district even to those who have never seen it, simply with a click.”.
The app allows geolocation of the user and is based on a technical cartography of local coordinates. This means that the position shown on the map by the device's Gps is more accurate than, for example, that provided by a map based on a global reference system such as the one used by Google. Thanks to this, it is possible to tackle any route in complete safety. There is also the overall cartography and for each route the map showing the direction of travel and the description in the desired language.
The new version of the app speaks in four languages and is already prepared for further developments: for example, in the near future individual route descriptions will be recorded live in the original languages rather than the product of a voice synthesizer; this will allow the user to interrupt listening to the description at will and give the opportunity to resume as he or she progresses along the route. Short audiovisuals will be available, and tourist, cultural, technical, and commercial information pertaining to the section of the route on which the user is located(the presence of accommodations, monuments, museums, churches, restaurants, stores, or other businesses) may be included.
Finally, the new app allows the manager in synergy with the administrations of the municipalities in the area, to send direct messages (in the form of notifications) to all users who have downloaded it. In this way, every user will be constantly updated on everything related to the outdoor offer.
