THE ITALIAN community in Poprad wants to launch a branch of the Club Alpino Italiano (Italian Alps Club) to bring together mountain lovers in the High Tatras region. Their aim is to attract more Italian visitors, most of whom know little about the region’s numerous tourist attractions.
“Italians who come here are totally surprised by everything we have here,” said Fabio Bortolini, an Italian who has lived in the High Tatras for 22 years and the originator of the idea, as cited by the SITA newswire.
Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) has existed for more than 140 years and currently has about 300,000 members. Bortolini hopes that the membership will open up new business opportunities in Italy to Slovak members.
Bortolini explained that the process of launching the new CAI branch is somewhat complicated from an administrative point of view. He wants to involve businesses active in tourism in the Tatras region like hotels, chalets and restaurants in the process. The basic idea is to establish contacts with Italians.
According to Bortolini, the region of the High Tatras offers in a relatively small area more possibilities than are found in many Italian destinations.
“This territory offers mountains, spas, historical and cultural monuments and caves,” said Bortolini.
