On 9 September 2026, the eight Italian partnerships selected through the DETOUR Open Call met at the Tuscany Region headquarters in Florence to kick off implementation of their projects, which span Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Tuscany and Lazio. Each partnership receives up to €25,000 (€200,000 in total) to develop new tourism products, services and experiences along the Via Francigena, a historic pilgrimage route to Rome, addressing themes including accessibility, digital innovation, community engagement, flexible hospitality, regenerative tourism, food experiences and territorial revitalisation. The meeting also let beneficiaries exchange experiences and plan next steps with DETOUR partners.

This marks the start of a new implementation phase across all four countries involved in DETOUR, with further kick-off meetings planned in the coming weeks, aiming to generate practices that could be replicated at the European level.

#InnovationInTourism #CommunityEngagement #RegenerativeTourism