Terni bets on tourism: the city becomes a brand around waterfall

Terni bets on tourism: the city becomes a brand around waterfall, trails and rivers

An initiative to position Terni as a recognisable tourism brand is gaining momentum. The conference organised by ThinkTankTerni highlighted priorities such as enhancing the Marmore Falls, exploring navigation of the Velino river, developing networks of trails and upgrading experiential and digital offerings.

• Panoramic lift between the viewpoints of the Marmore Falls: a financed project regarded as key to improving access and visitor experience.
• Velino and Piediluco: proposals for river navigation and lakeside routes to create new excursion and boat-tour opportunities.
• Trails and routes – from the Cammino dei Borghi Silenti to the Big Bench trails and cycling itineraries like Terni-Narni and the Via dell’Acqua – aiming at slow tourism and on-the-ground experiences.
• Experiential tourism and food & wine as levers to convert pass-through visitors into longer stays and to increase business revenues.
• Digital promotion and infrastructure: improving connectivity and services to support season-extension strategies and attract visitors from Rome and neighbouring regions.

Speakers underlined both opportunities and challenges: the need to network operators and institutions, the centrality of business profitability for sustainable tourism growth, and local issues such as lower average incomes and demographic decline in some municipalities. Concrete proposals ranged from infrastructure investments to cultural and heritage initiatives, including restoration works and the enhancement of local festivals.

Outlook: combining major natural attractions like the Marmore Falls with thematic trails and investments in services and digitalisation could reshape Terni as a gateway for an Umbria that blends nature, history and gastronomy. Timetables and funding for key projects remain to be clarified, but local actors are aligned on building a territorial brand to support growth and jobs.