Jeff Barrington's Puglia Connection Blog

New president for Brindisi hotel federation

A veteran tourism and hotel industry executive has been elected president of Federalberghi Brindisi, the Brindisi hotel federation. He is Pierangelo Argentieri, director of Tenuta Moreno, a resort property in Mesagne, and the www.palazzovirgilio.it/it/home/, the former Hotel Majestic on Corso Umberto I near the Brindisi train station. Argentieri previously was vice president of the hotel association.
Argentieri told La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno that he is aware of “the economic difficulties that our industry is experiencing because of the instability and then national and international responsibilities to which we encounter…We must be able to respond as fast and practical needs of colleagues and the industry and immediately open a discussion table with all the institutional actors involved in the various institutions involved and of tourism.”

Disgusting

In our travels to Puglia, sadly we’ve often seen evidence that people don’t care about the region’s precious heritage and antiquities. We’ve seen beaches and historic sites littered with trash. We’ve also seen graffiti on public buildings, but this is a first. Someone has spray-painted “Ti amo” (“I love you”) on Castel del Monte. This is not just any building; Castel del Monte, built by Frederick II in the 13th century, is recognized internationally for its historic significance. It was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. People from around the world visit each year to admire the construction and try to figure out the structure’s significance. It’s a disgrace and an embarrassment that someone would defile this site in such a way.
(Photo copyright © La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno)

Puglia Resort on Conde Nast Traveler’s 2011 “Hot List”

Borgo Egnazia, a high-end masseria in Savelletri di Fasano, Brindisi, is featured among the exclusive Conde Nast Traveler’s “Hot List 2011: The Year’s 124 Top New Hotels. The magazine’s editors wrote, “Every hotel in this list won its place the old fashioned way ‒ by earning it. …The hotels share a common standard in their artful blend of high style and a strong sense of place.”
Acknowledging Puglia’s importance among international travelers, the magazine reports, “Despite a late start in tourism, Puglia has jumped ahead of other regions in Italy with its abundance of stylish hotels, yet even in this high-design market, Borgo Egnazia stands out. Unlike many of its masserie (traditional Puglian farmhouses) counterparts, the hotel is newly built in the traditional style, a large compound surrounded by stone walled field of ancient olive trees. An enclosed courtyard leads into a lofty, domed hallway filled with hanging lanterns, while fireplaces set into the white stone flicker throughout the public spaces. The 63 comfortable guest rooms have white stone walls and canopy beds, and each comes with a terrace looking onto the sea, the hills, or two huge pools flanked by double-size daybeds. The spa has a heated indoor pool, and the 18-hole golf course next door, the San Domenico, is one of the area’s main attractions (this, combined with a terrific children’s club, is a welcome combination for families).” Doubles range from $587 to $677.

Business As Usual

This is only marginally related to tourism, but it’s an interesting story nonetheless. It seems that just over a year ago, back in December 2009, the carcasses of seven whales were beached along the Gargano coast between Ischitella and Cagnano Varano, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reports.
Fearing that the hygiene of the public, not to say the tourist appeal of the affected beaches, would suffer if something was not done quickly, local officials hired a company to recover, transport and bury the decomposing carcasses. The company did everything it was asked to do, on an emergency basis – and, because of bureaucratic snafus, is still waiting to be paid more than a down payment for its work.
The company claims it is out “several tens of thousands of euros” that it paid out to buy materials, pay its workers and bring in heavy-duty equipment to finish the job. It also claims it may go out of business if it’s not paid soon. He’s gone so far as to threaten to dig up the carcasses and deposit them in front of the offices of the government officials involved if he’s not paid.
As I said, not really a tourism story, but think about this: what if something like this happens again, let’s say in July, at the height of the tourism season, and nobody will step forward to do the necessary cleanup work out of fear of not being paid for their trouble.

“The Worst of Puglia”

While tourism officials and travel companies are busily promoting “the best of Puglia” to potential visitors, a page on Facebook titled “La Puglia Peggiore” (loosely translated as “The Worst of Puglia”) is compiling information and photos documenting places where, to put it mildly, more work is needed (search for “La Puglia Peggiore” on Facebook.com). Trashed beaches, illegal dumping sites, garbage-strewn roads and other “devastated landscapes” are depicted in an effort to focus attention on places where efforts must be made to protect the region’s degraded physical and cultural treasures.
Sponsors of the Facebook page told the newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno that “In addition to significantly lowering the quality of life, this extreme state of disrepair is likely to seriously affect our tourism, because the first thing that catches the eye of Italian and foreign tourists visiting us is dirt: in summer the beaches turn into stretches of garbage of all kinds, the streets are full of papers, cigarettes and bottles thrown from moving cars while our countryside is now home to thousands and thousands of illegal dumping sites…”
While Puglia is famous for the high quality of its Blue Flag beaches and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, elsewhere it’s a very different and sad situation. Puglia has unequaled cultural, artistic and archaeological treasures that can offer visitors a very special travel experience, but that heritage needs to be protected. As one of the sponsors told La Gazzetta, the Facebook page is intended, in part, to deter “those who offend the landscape and the environment and in the summer turn our beautiful beaches into landfills.”

Fog Forces Rerouting of Some Puglia Flights

DEC.21 ‒ Airport officials at Bari-Palese and Brindisi reported today that poor visibility due to fog is causing some commercial airline flights to be diverted to other destinations. Some flights out of Bari-Palese and Brindisi have been delayed.

Bodies of American balloonists recovered off Vieste

The bodies of two American balloonists missing since Sept. 29 have been recovered in the Adriatic Sea off the coastal resort of Vieste. The newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (

) reports the bodies were found 12 miles off the coast in their balloon’s gondola by the crew of a Manfredonia-based fishing boat. The balloonists, Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis, were taking part in the “Gordon Bennett” international balloon race and had departed Bristol, England, on Sept. 25. They radioed that their balloon was plunging off the coast of Vieste just before they disappeared from radar. They were the subject of an intense search operation that involved numerous Italian Coast Guard, police and Guardia di Finanza vessels, along with Coast Guard, Fire Brigade, Guardia di Finanza, Air Force and U.S. military aircraft. The search was called off on Oct. 4 when authorities determined there was no hope the balloonists would be found alive. It is thought the balloon may have been struck by lightning before it fell into the sea at a rapid rate of speed.

Puglia Is No. 1 Domestic Summer Tourism Destination

Puglia is the leading enjoying summer tourism destination among Italians from other regions in 2010, according to the preliminary statistics from the hospitality trade group Federalberghi (http://www.federalberghi.it/). Among Italian summer vacationers who were surveyed, 10.6% are visiting Puglia, compared to 10% a year ago. Following Puglia are Sardinia at 9.7%, up from 9.6% last year, and Sicily at 8.8% versus 8.5% in 2009.
That Puglia is so attractive to domestic tourists is good news for the region’s economy, but officials and the tourism industry must be careful to maintain the cleanliness of visitor destinations and not allow them to be polluted or littered and thus threaten the future of these beautiful areas. Puglia has much to offer visitors, even beyond its beaches, but the environment is fragile and must be protected.

Heat Advisory in Puglia

Puglia’s civil protection authorities are alerting visitors and residents that a severe-heat warning is in effect in the region for the next few days. Temperatures are expected to be close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is four to six degrees above normal for this time of year. An area of high pressure from Africa is to blame.
The Regional Councillor for Civil Protection, Fabiano Amati, told La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno that people are urged to avoid going outdoors during the hottest time of day, protect themselves from the heat of the sun, drink a lot of fluids, eat fruit or light meals, avoid alcohol and caffeine, and wear light clothes and hats if you must go outside.

Puglia’s Historic Watch Towers Are Worth Preserving

Dotting the Adriatic and Ionian Sea coastlines of Salento stand a series of interesting structures that deserve more attention than they have been getting ‒ until now, the websites of Il Paese Nuovo and La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno report.
The structures are historic watch towers, some of which are believed to date back to the Normans. The towers were built within sight of one another as a coastal defense against invaders. On sighting approaching raiders’ ships, sentries would light fires atop the towers that would be seen and copied by other sentries manning the network of towers to warn inhabitants of Salento to prepare to fight off the attackers or seek shelter. This makeshift early-warning system was used through the medieval times, and more than 50 of them survive. Some are on public land, while others are privately owned.
In the centuries since, the historic towers have fallen victim to weather, vandals and, as one observer puts it, general indifference to their fate. But maybe that’s about to change.
A plan to restore and protect the towers as valuable remnants of Puglia’s past calls for linking the crumbling structures via a tourism route designed to attract travelers interested in learning more about the region’s history. National and regional tourism and preservation officials are on record as supporting the plan. Now it’s up to them to convince those who would finance and promote this effort that the often-neglected monuments to Puglia’s history are worth saving as historical, cultural and tourism resources.
You can learn more about this plan at these two websites:

http://www.ilpaesenuovo.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3330:sos-di-dagata-salviamo-le-torri-costiere-del-salento&catid=72:Territorio&Itemid=123

http://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/GdM_dallapuglia_NOTIZIA_01.php?IDNotizia=335994&IDCategoria=11