Course: tourism in mountain management: techniques of exploitation and promotion of the agro-tourism enterprise

The third form realized within the Pro Alp Project has concerned the carrying out of a training course for the optimization and the diffusion of the agro-tourism activity at the summer pastures in the mountains and, more in general, in the rural zones.
As part of the strategy of exploitation and integration of territory, agricultural activities, typical productions and tourist offer, the form had the following aims:

1. widen the farmers’ activities
2. exploit and promote the rural territory, consolidating the entrepreneurial initiatives for an economic growth of the area
3. exploit the local features
4. strengthen the tourist attraction of the territory
5. promote a value chain approach as key factor of the mountain agriculture for the exploitation of the typical products of the territory
6. exploit the typical and traditional agricultural and food productions, realized paying attention to quality in areas close to the national borders
7. elaborate a plan of the culinary offer to exploit the territorial traditional dishes (food)

The Villadossola’s FORMONT entrusted of the carrying out of the form has foreseen and developed the course with the following program:

Course contents:

Form 1: Juridical norms for the opening and the management of agro-tourism farms  - 4 h.
Form 2: Tourist sector legislation - 4 h.
Form 3: Welcome and communication techniques - 8 h.
Form 4: Local typical products knowledge - 4 h.
Form 5: Territory knowledge - 8 h.
Form 6: Local typical products marketing - 6 h.
Form 7: Book-keeping and management control of the agro-tourism enterprise - 4 h.
Form 8: Hygienic-sanitary norms for mountain restorative activity - 4 h.
Form 9: Dietetics basics for restorative activity in the mountain - 4 h.
Form 10: Use and exploitation of the local wine and food products in the mountain food - 4 h.
Form 11: Mountain gastronomy techniques: individualization and practical execution of local recipes using only typical products - 20 h.
Form 12: Elements of German language (welcome - translation of menu and itineraries) - 20 h.

Lessons scheduling:

Start: March 7th 2006 - 3 meetings a week, 4 hours each
Educational visit c/o a Piedmont’s agro-tourism farm
End: April 22nd with a final test (the test has been divided in the following three parts: writing of a marketing plan; writing of a communication plan; training activity verification).

As the program clearly shows, the course, and the vademecum as well, has been planned in an innovative way, to boost the start-up of mountain agro-tourism realities and, at the same time, to improve the already existing activities, verifying their criticalities. For these reasons, the participants belonged to the both categories: aspirants and already actives entrepreneurs.
The focus on some thematic, such as welcome and marketing, has completed a cycle of study and investigation, where some of the agro-tourism activity characteristics have been argued, trying to improve those parts that traditionally are not object of discussion.
In fact, as the agro-tourism is an activity of so said “family” reception, attention was paid not only to the quality of the food and to the cleaning, that are given for granted, but also to welcoming, to manager and staff wearing, to furnishings, to appliances, to dishes and pots, all things which require a careful choice, especially for people working at high mountains who don't have the possibility to easily integrate their own outfit. All the elements that compete to the success of the agro-tourist guest job have been covered so that the enterprises, new and old, may operate with the highest seriousness and awareness of their own role and potentialities.