Producers and local stakeholders in Vila Pouca de Aguiar – entities dedicated to enhancing regional resources and their relationship with the Camino – will receive training to better promote the municipality’s products to the pilgrims who arrive there. These activities are part of Ultreia Sudoe, a European project that bets on the Jacobean routes as a way to boost the rural areas surrounding them.
The aim of the project is to introduce tourists and pilgrims to the agriculture, gastronomy, crafts and natural and cultural heritage of the territories crossed by the Caminos. Ultreia Sudoe has partners in Portugal, Spain and France and is co-financed with ERDF funds, allocated by the Interreg Sudoe program. On the Portuguese side are the Vila Pouca de Aguiar Municipal Council, the only municipality in the country involved, and the NOVA School of Science and Technology of NOVA University of Lisbon.
Producers will take an executive training course in Labeling and Packaging Marketing, organized by the Municipal Council and the Douro-Lamego Hospitality and Tourism School, to comply with the rules and give their products a better image. Trainees will learn, in hands-on Digital Marketing classes, to promote them online, in order to attract customers and business. The Accessibility and Inclusion course will show producers and local stakeholders how to welcome pilgrims with specific needs, with more accessible spaces and communication.
This training plan was prepared at a recent meeting, where the arrival of young European volunteers for the Saint James Day celebration and the technical visit by the Camino de Santiago Certification Commission, which have taken place since the previous one, were also evaluated. The working group additionally analyzed the progress of the photographic record of producers and products, which follows on from the photographs taken earlier and will later be used to promote them among tourists and pilgrims.
The project will work more closely with producers and open a Parada, a space next to the Capela do Senhor (Chapel), where it will be possible to taste and buy traditional products, obtain tourist and cultural information (to bring local offerings closer to pilgrims) and where visitors will be able to get to know the traditions and people of the municipality. A similar Parada has already been in place in O Cebreiro, Galicia, since May, and more are planned also in Spain and another in France.
Sabroso de Aguiar and Soutelo de Aguiar, parishes crossed by the Interior Route, have already received, from the Ultreia Sudoe project, devices that count the people passing through. The Municipal Council installed, on a trial basis, these people counters, which will show where support points are lacking and whether the albergues and other facilities are sufficient to meet demand. The information will serve those who manage the Camino and look after its safety, to improve conditions for places and people.
