Today CONI’s President Giovanni Malagò, the Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti and the Director of the State Property Agency presented the project “Sport, a shining light in the Made-in-Italy”– at the Foro Italico Tennis Club. The meeting was also attended by the Italian Undersecretary for the Ministry of Economy and Finance Pier Paolo Baretta, the President of the Italian Association Confindustria Alberghi Giorgio Palmucci, the CEO of Invitalia, Domenico Arcuri and the President of the Italian Agency for the Promotion and Internationalization of Italian Companies Riccardo Monti. There were also the CEO of Coni Servizi Alberto Miglietta, The president of Federbocce Romolo Rizzoli, the President of FIDASC Felice Buglione and many representatives of the Federal world.

The project, named FARi, [lighthouses] which was born within the frame of “Valore Paese-DIMORE”, is supported by the State Property Agency and the Ministry of Defense, through Difesa Servizi Spa, in co-operation with CONI, and aims to envision new ways to use the FARIs, as is already the case in many European countries, but also in the USA, Canada and Australia. Such use has to start from an innovative and sustainable entrepreneurial idea, thus enriching the country’s offer in terms of tourist and hotel facilities. The best way to make use of the public heritage, focusing on Italian excellence, like Sport. Today, the FARI network includes 11 state-owned property units to be soon offered on the market, via licensing, according to a model that respects the landscape in line with the identities of the land and its environment.

President Malagò (in the photograph Mezzelani GMT) who made the opening speech underlines the importance of the initiative and the focal role played by sport. “There is an unbreakable bond, a huge affinity between sport and tourism. Just think of the number of Olympic and non-Olympic water disciplines to immediately understand the potential this project encompasses. Our world can provide added value for the full recovery and enhancement of these wonderful symbols of our Country”.

The Ministry of Defense Roberta Pinotti expressed her satisfaction. “The supporting role of sport is essential in enhancing the Faris, owing to the great relevance that water sport disciplines have, even at the educational level. We opened a public consultation to enhance the Faris. It is a project that can even be extended to other property belonging to the Ministry of Defense, whose partial use does not make sense. It is wrong that there is little or no benefit at all coming from state-owned property. The dual use, which renders the Defence’s property available and accessible to third parties, may help exploit them in a convenient manner and fully recover them. Yes, we are ready to enlist sport to build emotions that are beneficial for the Italian people”.

Roberto Reggi, Director of the State Property Agency, has further broadened the scope. “We are working hard with local authorities, we need to share with them the final destination. We started out with this initiative through which we meant to recover appealing property and buildings that we cannot let decay. The state had no financial resources to do that, so opening the way to individuals has fostered social impact and interest for local improvement. Sport expressed attention for the Faris, even concerning the educational aspect”.

Words of praise for the project also came from Giorgio Palmucci, the President of the Italian Association Confindustria Alberghi. “We soon trusted the initiative, because we believed that the interaction between the public and the private sectors is always the winning ingredient to make our Country more and more appealing”.

Domenico Arcuri, CEO of Invitalia, analized the figures to explain the excellence of the initiative: “Now Italy is the 5th most tourist-attracting Country: the citizens of the world prove that we have not been able to maintain such attractiveness. The public and private sectors together can take us away and let us make up for this loss in the ranking”.

Riccardo Maria Monti, President of the Italian Agency for the Promotion ad Internationalization of italian Companies ICE-ITA, ended the presentation saying: “There has been a revival of interest for Italy from foreign investors, even for niche property. They ask for reasonable obligations to realize ambitious projects. I am confident that we will involve serious investors, levering on their love for Italy to give shape to this project”.