On 9 September 2026, eight Italian projects selected for financial support via DETOUR Open Call met at the Tuscany Region headquarters in Florence for a kick off meeting. The event marked the beginning of a new phase for DETOUR, with the selected SMEs now starting the implementation of their innovative projects along the Via Francigena. Following the training and mentoring phase, the eight selected partnerships will receive up to €25,000 each, for a total of €200,000, to develop new tourism products, services and experiences. The projects will run until May 2027. The selected initiatives address a wide range of topics, including accessibility, digital innovation, community engagement, flexible hospitality, regenerative tourism, food experiences and territorial revitalisation.

The eight funded projects are:

• Un Dedalo di Storie – Lombardia
• Food for Wellbeing Routes – Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria and Tuscany
• 17 TrasformAZIONI – Emilia-Romagna
• Cambio Passo – Liguria and Tuscany
• Francigena Living Network – Tuscany
• Therm&Trek – Lazio
• Oltre lo sguardo, dentro il cammino – Lazio
• Francigena Women – La Via delle Amazzoni – Lazio

The Florence meeting also gave the beneficiaries the opportunity to present their ideas, exchange experiences and discuss the next implementation steps together with DETOUR partners. Through these projects, the Via Francigena becomes a testing ground for new models of sustainable and resilient tourism, supporting SMEs while creating stronger connections between tourism, local communities and the territories crossed by the route.

This new phase of DETOUR has now started for all the projects selected across the four countries involved in the initiative, where dedicated kick-off meetings will also take place over the coming weeks. It represents an important opportunity not only to bring innovation to the long-distance routes involved in DETOUR and to turn these ideas into concrete actions, but also to strengthen the surrounding territories by supporting new entrepreneurial opportunities, fostering cooperation among local stakeholders and testing innovative solutions that can generate new good practices with potential relevance and replicability at the European level.

[Credits: AEVF]