A story of belonging and hard work designed to make Lake Maggiore an increasingly living destination right through the year
Lake Maggiore is now a constant reference point, almost a natural calendar marking time. For local people, the lake is a work and relationship space bound up with tourism and sailing, but also leisure and contemplation. Over the centuries Lake Maggiore has become suffused with individual and collective memories: the accounts of travellers, artists, writers and poets which have fixed its literary and cultural image. The saints’ day festivals, traditions and local legends bound up with water testify to a meaning continuum which makes the lake a living archive of community memory. Living Lake Maggiore means belonging to a landscape which speaks, remembers and accompanies everyday life. Arona’s local council puts promotion of tourism centre-stage as a driver of local development, promoting places of interest, consolidating events and improving visitor services. These are goals in which Arona is no longer simply a place for summer holidays but a year-round destination. The council is open to all suggestions capable of adding value to the area and attracting people to it, as recently occurred with the Arona Insieme On Stage event and the organisation of Christmas 2025 as well as the installation of the iconic scenic bubbles in Piazza del Popolo, which will host the outdoor spaces of three hospitality businesses. The initiative is designed to be part of a wider programme to de-seasonalise tourism with a view to promoting the town centre at less touristy times of year.
To this end, together with MEP Isabella Tovaglieri and at the behest and with the presence of Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Alessandro Morelli with responsibilities at Navigazione Laghi, we have organised a conference to discuss how best to work together for our beautiful Lake Maggiore: local councils, provinces, chambers of commerce, category associations, local businesses, the lakes tourist district, the Borromeo family of Piedmont, Lombardy and Switzerland. It was certainly a challenge taken up by everyone and it triggered a great debate.
And lastly, a personal thought. Arona and Lake Maggiore are places which embody my view of the area: for me it is less a border than a meeting place, for sharing and dialogue. The lake is also a memory of what has been and a vision of what can still be. Looking at the lake is looking at myself and my area with a combination of fondness and responsibility, a human and symbolic bond which continues to give what I do meaning, every day, thanks to the constant support and trust of my community.
