National Park of
the Cilento and
Vallo di Diano
The objective of the training course for green tourism operators in the area of the National Park of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano was the professional requalification of members of cooperatives working in the green tourism sector, in the creation of a network of the same kind of cooperatives and in assisting the development of sustainable tourism in the Park. The assumptions that allowed to identify the cooperatives offering tourist services (C.S.T.) that needed to be re-qualified started from the fact that this kind of entrepreneurship initiatives increased in the National Park of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano since the park was established. As a matter of fact, in the last few years, due to the presence of a Protected Area and of the economical network related to environmental tourism that this area could create, several cooperatives offering tourist services (C.S.T.) were born; but, unfortunately, these new cooperatives had suffered from the consequences of their improvisation, of their poor organizing abilities and of the lack of specific competencies.
The aim of the training intervention was to focus on the problems related to the quality of tourist services and especially of environmental tourism and to create a network of subjects, such as the C.S.T.s, that worked in a coordinated way in geographically different areas.
Therefore, the first macro-economical division of the National Park of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano found out two areas: a coastal area and an internal area highly different from each other in terms of contracting activity, environmental emergencies, leading economy and their impact on the territory. All these factors would justify the choice to carry out such a training action aimed also at giving some opportunities of exchange between the companies working in geographically different areas.
The initiative was received with a big interest and involved both public authorities, such as the Park Authority, and the economical operators (the C.S.T.s).

Cilento N.P.:
Monti Alburni and Castelcivita

Description of the intervention
The training stage took place from March to May 1998 for a total amount of 200 hours and involved 15 trainees, representing some cooperatives and tourist companies working in the area of the Park. The course was divided into 6 modules and focused on the direct involvement of the various companies represented through the adoption of a methodology that alternated theory lectures and practical sessions in important companies operating in the sector of green tourism. This choice helped to understand the subjects treated and encouraged to start attempts of imitation in the cooperatives or companies where the course participants work. Another aspect of the methodology which gave excellent results and verified the ability of cooperation between the representatives of the C.S.T.s was the implementation of a project-idea developed by the participants during the training. This project-idea consisted of a program of tourist services: excursions, guided visits and event-days, such as the event called "Nella Terra del Sole" (In the Land of the Sun) promoted in the whole area of the Park.
The theoretical sessions, with the remarkable contribution of the lecturers, facilitated the debates about some general subjects concerning the tourist sector and, at the same time, they opened new prospects for the members of the cooperatives attending the course. Moreover, the work done highlighted big lacks in the management of their cooperatives or companies, the lack of service programs and a poor knowledge of the market and, more generally, of the whole tourist sector. However, this sharing of common problems between the various contracting bodies helped the creation of a network of collaboration between the trainees.

P.N. Cilento :
farmer with horses near Bosciano Vecchia

Results
The results of the training process reached the pre-established objectives:

• the creation of a network between the cooperatives represented by the trainees;
• the production of a common project;
• their will to continue their collaboration.

The consequences in the area have been extremely interesting. In the whole area of the Park, the only organized proposal for tourist services was presented in the framework of the Course for green Tourism Operators: its name is "Nella Terra del Sole". This proposal, organized in two offers for different targets, foresaw the following events:

• "Walking in Cilento": excursions and guided visits of the sites with naturalistic, historical and cultural interest of the Park;
• "Minicantonio’s days": rural animation and gastronomical activities to re-discover tastes and traditions of the people from the Cilento region. The future prospects, created by the course, are the strengthening of the network and the possible organization of an association between the service cooperatives in the area.