Mountaintop republic reaches for the stars

San Marino wants to create a tourism heaven for its strategic asset

In an exclusive interview on World Tourism Day San Marino’s dynamic young minister of tourism set out his plan to make the most of the world’s oldest republic’s tourism.

Newly appointed Secretary of State for Tourism, lawyer Teodoro Lonfernini, is looking to maximize the value that each tourist brings to San Marino and the value that each gets. He told us "This is not just an economic ambition – we wish also to maximize the sustainable environmental, social and cultural benefits too"

The new minister of Tourism

Part of his plan is to train an elite group of San Marino resident tourist guides – the university is currently working on the curriculum – so that from next year visitors to San Marino will get a high-grade truly local experience. Tour guiding will only be allowed in San Marino by locals by law – who will not even be able to recommend specific local shops or restaurants. This should have the effect of delivering a professional local experience and providing more training and employment for young locals who can star in their guiding role.

San Marino’s biggest challenge is the fact that although the republic welcomes around two million visitors to its World Heritage City annually – the vast majority only stay for a day. The plan is to extend stays by increasing the value of the offer and both maximize current occupancy rates and create more accommodation.

And the destination is also creating and marketing big international events to maximize its global marketing spread.

Emphasizing the quality of these events is the Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition for young singing stars held on the day after World Tourism Day.

At the gala finale, the packed audience at San Marino’s Teatro Nuovo. witnessed stunning performances from the final 10 great world-class young singers. Swiss-French mezzosoprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux  was awarded the first prize with her performance of Cruda sorte, amor tiranno from L’Italiana in Algeri by Rossini -with the Orchestra Sinfonica di San Marino conducted by Edoardo Müller. Besides a 10.000 euros prize , the young singer is to perform at the Opéra de Lyon.

Runners up included South Korean bariton Kyu Bong Lee, 30, Marina Nachkebiya, 26 years old soprano from Georgia, and bubbly US soprano Jeannette Vecchione-Donatti.

Other scheduled events include the San Marino Jazz Festival and the amazing mountaintop Christmas of Wonders which add to the historical events such as the medieval days and markets San Marino has hosted for generations.

So is a sustainable tourism star-filled future on the cards for San Marino? The little republic has surmounted many challenges to preserve its reputation for freedom, surely a little task like becoming a centre of excellence for sustainable tourism is not beyond it?

The country is already making a name for itself with its accessible tourism project "Freedom without Barriers" and has taken a big stake in the local international airport (Rimini San Marino). Now it is just a question of maximizing value from its natural assets such as local food and wine too.

For more information about San Marino and upcoming events visit http://www.BestofRomagna.com

Valere Tjolle

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