Participating in the CulTY project represented for me not only the chance to live an amazing experience in a fascinating country but also the opportunity to gain an extremely useful knowledge about cultural tourism for youth initiatives.

It was my first time in India and I was very excited with many expectations. At my arrival in Bhubaneswar I met the other participants to the project and we focused on the goals, objectives and activities of the CulTY project.

The Seminar about Responsible tourism, Sharing ideas about cultural tourism and the Cultural activities in the tribal village were stunning and extremely useful in order to think about the organisation of alternative tourism activities and alternative itineraries for minor sites. We had the opportunity to visit many interesting places within Orissa State such as the Sun Temple in Konark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had the possibility to create a network where everyone could share her/his experience, best practices and innovative ideas in order to valorize local communities throughout a sustainable tourism.

Tourism could be a strong engine for the development of a territory and these kinds of initiatives are a great opportunity and a hope especially for disadvantaged local communities.

I can say that my expectations were satisfied and I met fantastic people from India, Vietnam, Greece and Italy. Day after day our relationships have strengthened and we all became friends sharing our experiences, knowledge, skills and very funny moments.

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