The Diplomat
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, inaugurated yesterday in Rome a Multimedia Center to reinforce the promotion of the Way of St. James during Xacobeo 21-22 in Italy, the first country of origin of pilgrims.
As reported by the Ministry, the Interactive Multimedia Center, located in the Turespaña office in Rome, will be the focal point of the promotional actions of the National Tourism Plan Xacobeo 2021-2022, “a project to boost the Way of St. James as a cultural and heritage product” and that will have an investment of over 121 million euros,” which will be financed with European funds Next Generation.”
“This new multimedia space opens a window to bring the Xacobean route to the center of Rome, the nerve center of tourism, and to transfer to potential visitors all the cultural, heritage and experiences offered by the Way of St. James,” said the minister during the ceremony. This multimedia center, she continued, “is a key point in the external promotion of the national Xacobeo plan, a great national project that aims to unite territories and people around a unique tourist product that offers unique experiences in which we want to involve our visitors”.
Accompanying the minister at the inauguration were the Spanish ambassador to Italy, Alfonso Dastis; the Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, María del Carmen de la Peña Corcuera; the director general of Turespaña, Miguel Sanz; the councilor of Tourism in Rome, Jorge Rubio; and the director general of Tourism of the Xunta de Galicia, María Nava Castro Domínguez.
The new Multimedia Center, located in Piazza di Spagna, aims to increase the attractiveness of the Way of St. James in Italy, the first country of origin of pilgrims. In 2019, the pilgrim reception office of the Cathedral of Santiago registered 28,749 pilgrims from Italy, 8.27% of the total.
Through its programming, the tourist office in the Italian capital offers a space dedicated to the Way of St. James, for which it has been equipped with state-of-the-art technological infrastructure. The multimedia center, which will develop an extensive agenda of events coordinated by the Ministry of Tourism, will remain as a permanent infrastructure of the Turespaña office in Rome, although its use during the years 2021 and 2022 will be limited to the promotion of the Xacobeo and the dissemination of cultural and historical heritage of religious origin or use.
The Way of St. James is part of the international promotional campaign summer 2021, You deserve Spain, which Turespaña launched in mid-May for the recovery of tourism. Initiatives such as the Multimedia Center in Rome, among others, contribute to the international promotion of the Way of St. James, the first European Cultural Itinerary, reinforced by the visibility provided by the celebration of the Xacobeo year, “an event of exceptional cultural, historical and touristic importance for Spain,” the Ministry concluded.
