(ANSA) – ROME, NOV 27 – Italy’s over 4,000 museums, almost
300 archaeological areas and parks, 570 monuments and monumental
complexes and 55 UNESCO sites are the central element of the
2024 Roots Tourism project allowing Italian descendants living
abroad to discover their ancestors’ birth places, culture and
traditions, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani
has said.

   
In a letter to the participants of the States General of Restart
organised by the Economic and Social Observatory ‘Riparte
l’Italia’ in Bologna on Saturday Tajani said the project is
“among the priorities of the Farnesina (the Italian foreign
ministry, ed.)” and “particularly close to my heart’.

   
The project, he added, coincides with the Year of Italian Roots
in the World and is included in Italy’s EU-funded post-Covid
National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the modified
version of which has just been signed off by the European
Commission in Brussels.

   
This, said Tajani, is “evidence of how the government considers
it to be a driver of growth for our territories and in general
for our economy, a tool to attract tourist flows, to create new
bridges of dialogue, and to encourage the spread of a more
contemporary and all-round image of Italy abroad”.

   
In recent weeks Tajani has been meeting with local mayors from
all over Italy to present the project and promote cooperation
among all stakeholders. (ANSA).