On October 25th – 29th 2022 Puglia Region- Department of Tourism, Economy of Culture and Valorization of Territory hosted the MEDUSA partners and operators from Spain, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia for a study visit aiming to share the Apulian experience in adventure tourism development as well as to discuss the potential of designing cross-border experiences.

A call was launched in July 2022 to identify the participants, tour operators and service providers from the MEDUSA project experienced in adventure tourism and currently involved in developing or improving an adventure tourism product.

The works started at the premises of Puglia Region, in Bari, where the regional policies, strategies, tools and activities for the promotion of the Puglia tourism products were shared in cooperation with Pugliapromozione, the Regional Tourism Agency. Furthermore, the regional in-house Apulia Film Commission highlighted the role of cinema as a steppingstone in the promotion of the territory and its beauties, contributing to a great extent to Puglia’s tourism strategy. Finally, two economic operators shared some good practices of local adventure tourism.

During the study tour, participants had the chance to live and experience concretely some adventure tourism products during a visit to the historical center of Bari with typical gastronomic and artistic labs, trekking in the Natural Reserve of the State/Marine Protected Area of Torre Guaceto, bike tours in the Natural Regional Park of Coastal Dunes from Torre Canne to San Leonardo and an oil tasting experience in Masseria Narducci.

Also, one day was completely devoted to a workshop on tourist experience design conducted by the trainer Maurizio Goetz, which took place in Masseria Casamassima - a typical Apulian farmhouse located in the countryside. During the two sessions "Imagination design" and "Co-design" participants had the opportunity to learn the methodology, techniques and basic principles that constitute the design framework for customized transregional and cross-border experiences and how to apply them to MEDUSA packages.

Overall, the initiative offered to MEDUSA community the chance to exchange different perspectives and good practices working in the Apulian setting and bringing this way MEDUSA one step closer to its initial goal- to promote the development of adventure tourism as a growing new type of tourism in the Mediterranean by supporting the development of new or existing AT activities and services.