Italy-UK Partnership

PARTNERSHIP | Autumn 2020 24 C onfindustria Taranto brings together tourism, culture and food industries into one unique category. As each sector finds its own niche in the tight bonds with the territory, all these companies operate in synergy, acting as promoters of important projects, or local marketing, in order to develop and add value to the territory, driving an image of positivity in the province and in all of its excellence. During lockdown, businesses of the above sectors of Confindustria Taranto boosted digitalisation and technological processes. Digitalisation has been warmly received by companies that have historically been very traditional in their day-to-day functions. These digital processes may well have been implemented at some point down the line, but not for a number of years, yet Covid-19 and lockdown have managed to launch them into a future ahead of their time. CULTURE AND TOURISM SECTORS The spread of the coronavirus has had a huge economic impact on almost all sectors, however, the worst affected might well be those within the tourism and culture ambit. They were those hit first by the restrictive measures implemented to manage the pandemic. All cultural businesses, and the majority of tourist services, had to suspend their activities during the lockdown months. There has been a noted improvement in performance in coastal destinations in relation to the difficulties of the more art-centred cities which are traditionally more sensitive to the international market. Confindustria’s division relies heavily on teamwork and collaboration, with strong relationship with CONI (Italian National Olympics Committee) of Taranto in relation to sports tourism and Assonautica for all that concerns the economy of the coast and sea. In the last few months they have been able to develop an all-inclusive offer package called “Taranto, tanto altro” that brings together the best of tourism, culture and gastronomy from the area; developing a card with images of Taranto and a QR-code where one can navigate the city in all its beauty, its production activities, artisan producers and local food. The biodiversity allows the activities to offer tourism and a system of hospitality from the countryside and typical farmhouses or masserie and extraordinary trulli to the crystal-clear waters along the coast. This innovative digital system allows the visitors, through various experiences and online bookings, to truly live the beauty of Taranto. There are important examples of the cultural Digital innovation and companies of Confindustria Taranto How the pandemic accelerated the digitalisation processes of small businesses