For the past several years, the European Union has launched a program to identify two cities belonging to the European Union as Capitals of Culture. This year, the title belongs to Marseilles and Kosice. Each year, two new countries are selected for this representation. In 2019, the title will be given to Italy and Bulgaria. In 2004, Genova was selected. There are 21 Italian cities competing for the nomination. They span from Aosta to Palermo, from Cagliari to Ravenna, from Mantova to Caserta, and so on. The pre-selection meeting was held in November 2013, and the title will be awarded on the 1st of January 2015. In addition to the cities of Siracusa, Catania and Ragusa, the project for the South East includes 19 municipalities that share participation in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the development of the project, as per the European Union rules, concrete actions have been defined to determine sensible, stable and long-lasting cultural, social and economic improvements. The formation of this effort was strongly felt by all participants, so much so that there were 122 identified projects, of which 21 were flagged as priorities. Although Siracusa and the South East are not included in the six cities that will face the final selection, they will still put in action the initiatives resulting from the collaboration between the different public and private institutions, creating effective synergies between the parties involved. This effort will certainly have beneficial results in the development of quality tourism in the entire area. This will be the outgrowth of carefully planned events that, according to the statements of the Administrations concerned, will be executed applying innovative methods of collaboration within the territories.
