Cultural Routes as the driving force to relaunch sustainable growth of the Abruzzo region

The continued fragility of Abruzzo's inner economy, also aggravated by the 2009 and 2016 earthquakes, represents a threat of its cultural and natural heritage assets. The project of creating and implementing four cultural routes aims at developing policies and fostering the natural and cultural heritage. Key to this is our focus on the power of pilgrimage - recognized today as one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry (UNWTO, 2015) with more than 300 million pilgrims every year. Among the other objectives pursued by the territorial development and animation programme initiated by the Special Office for the Reconstruction of the Municipalities of the Crater (USRC) there is the contrast of depopulation, decline and marginalisation of rural and mountain territories that are distant from urban service centres. The main goal of this project is to ensure the attractiveness and economic and social development of the territories concerned.