{:en}PRESS RELEASE (5/24/2017)
A day to enhance and publicize the opportunities offered by the Loano area to those who love outdoor activities. This is the goal of the event “Starting Season” meeting, promoted by the’Department of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the City of Loano, which will take place Saturday, May 27.
The initiative, designed to present the project “Loano Outdoor”, will feature Italian and foreign industry journalists participating in the ’Loano educ-tour“ and offer activities, free and open to all, of trail running, mountain bike, trekking photographic and walking.
In the morning area associations will accompany tourists, sportsmen, photographers and journalists to the discovery of loanese trails.
The photo trek will propose on the same course the use of two photographic tools: the digital SLR or compact camera and the smartphone.
The workshop will compare the two types of equipment in a kind of competition/challenge. Two professionals will follow the shootings. Veronica Pons, a Milanese photojournalist specializing in tourism and golf reportage, will make her 20 years of photographic experience available to the “traditional” group for shooting cues and technical framing advice. David Orlandi, editor of Soul Running magazine and an expert in social media communication, will follow the “smart” team by giving advice on how they can make the most of their shots to communicate on social in an effective and direct way.
At the end of the outing each participant's best shot will be selected, printed and displayed in the Mosaic Room, Palazzo Doria.
In afternoon will be held, which will aim to raise awareness of the project's contents. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be attended by foreign journalists from the Germany, Ireland, Austria Of Italian trade newspapers.
“The project “Loano Outdoor”, - explains the Mayor of Loano. Luigi Pignocca - aims to systematize activities designed to increase tourist flows by expanding the area's offerings, particularly during the low season. We are focusing especially on trekking routes without forgetting cycling and mountain biking routes.
We are adopting new tourism development strategies to implement the main economy of the area, while respecting the environment, through a product that will be aimed at the sportsmen and to the outdoor tourists.
The outdoors is destined to become the new frontier of tourism development particularly in Liguria, a region that presents itself as an open-air gym. Indeed, the coast and hinterland offer a territory that is highly appreciated by trekking and mountain biking enthusiasts.”
“This new project will be fully operational within two years. - explains the Councillor for Tourism, Culture and Sports of the City of Loano Remo Zaccaria - We have connected to the Ligurian outdoor supply network by identifying and linking routes. Loano Outdoor proposes 180 kilometers of routes from walk (15 trails), with different levels of difficulty to please from families to the most trained sportsmen, to which are added 4 trails (85 kilometers) For mountain biking activities.
Those who want to learn more about Loano will have at their disposal 5 easy city routes, some of which reach an altitude of 150 meters, to discover the most characteristic corners and places of historical, artistic and environmental value. Other routes are dedicated to those who engage in regular sports activities, and finally there is a more challenging 46-kilometer route.
In order to enable better planning of outings in the area, the “Loano Outdoor” APP, available for both iOS and ANDROID, and the related web Geoportal for publishing tracks with the possibility of viewing them also in street view mode and with guide support was also commissioned. The Loano Outdoor geoportal will flow to the website www.loanoperlosport.it
Signage with bilingual texts will be placed on the routes to help with orientation, and a billboard with all the routes and a QR Code with which the routes can be downloaded will be installed on the waterfront in Orto Maccagli.”
Collaborating in the project are the associations: Maremontana, Dances with the Cingliali, Loano section of the Italian Alpine Club, Friends of Carmo, Outdoor Thunder ASD, Loano Italian Bathing Union, Loanese Hoteliers Association, ASCOM Loano.
They are partners: OIKOS Engeneering, Soul Running.
The Meeting “Starting Season” event has the support of the Loano Committee of the CRI and the Intermunicipal Civil Defense Group Loano-Boissano-Toirano.
PROGRAM
Start Point, Promenade Orto Maccagli
7 a.m. - Meeting and presentation of routes
7:30 a.m. - Opening of Associations' booths, start Trial Running, Mountain Bike ride and photo outing with professional photographer Veronica Pons
10 a.m. - Presentation and start of the walking route
Doria Palace, Mosaic Room
12 noon - Photo exhibition with the images made in the photo walk
Doria Palace, Council Chamber
3 p.m. - Conference: “Loano Outdoor Project”{:}
