Apps and Web mapping: innovative tools to promote slow tourism along Via Regina

Overlooking the West coast of Lake Como in Northern Italy, Via Regina has represented a fundamental European trade and pilgrim route since the ancient Roman times. The dense system of paths departing from it and spanning the beautiful mountainous region at the border between Italy and Switzerland makes this area an awesome destination for slow tourism activities, which consist of sustainable forms of transportation, appreciation of nature and (re)discovery of the local history and culture. In the frame of the Interreg project “The Paths of Regina – Crossborder paths linked to Via Regina”, which involves Italian and Swiss universities, cultural associations, local agencies and administrations, this work aims at valorizing slow tourism in the Via Regina region through the creation of open source Web Mapping applications leveraging also the modern fields of crowdsourcing and virtual globes.