Puglia
Salento. Puglia.
There is a very serious reason why I have decided to address a subject called Puglia, or Apulia.
But this is not the right time to explain it.
Perhaps you will discover the reason one day, if you decide to read the book.
Since 2010, through different companies and projects, I have dedicated myself to promoting Salento, my magical homeland in Puglia.
A land whose heart is Lecce, the last great city in the south-east of Italy.
I have always pursued different goals.
Perhaps they have been too creative.
Perhaps not immediate enough.
Perhaps less technical than those usually recommended.
But this is how I have always loved building my projects.
Today, after years of experience and more than three years devoted to this new journey, I find myself working on something much larger and far more demanding.
It is no longer just about Salento.
It is about the whole Region of Puglia.
The responsibility is greater.
The territory is larger.
The challenges are more complex.
There are areas of the region that I have had to discover, study and understand from the beginning.
For many nights I found myself awake, thinking, observing, analysing and searching for a different direction.
Where the Sun Meets the World.
Today, tourism in Puglia, just like in many other destinations around the world, is facing more than the challenge of DeseasonalisatiOn.
There is another issue that, in my opinion, deserves serious attention.
OTAs.
OTA stands for Online Travel Agency.
These are the large global platforms that today control a significant share of worldwide tourism traffic and connect travellers with accommodation providers.
I will not mention their names.
I could.
But everyone already knows who they are.
They are powerful global companies, highly efficient and extraordinarily successful in attracting tourism demand.
However, I believe there is an important reflection to make.
The commissions charged by these platforms represent a significant cost for many accommodation businesses.
Whenever a business faces additional costs, those costs almost inevitably become part of the final price.
It is actually quite simple.
The cost of OTAs is not paid only by accommodation providers.
It is also paid by travellers.
Every time they make a booking.
Every time they purchase a stay.
Because those costs inevitably become part of the tourism economy and are reflected in the final price.
Most travellers simply do not realise it.
They do not see it written anywhere.
Yet that cost is already included in the price they pay.
The accommodation provider pays.
The traveller pays.
And very often neither of them stops to reflect on how this mechanism actually works.
For this reason, I believe that not only tourism businesses should rethink the current direction.
Travellers themselves should also begin to reflect.
Because deciding how to book, where to search for information and how to connect with a destination is no longer a secondary decision.
It has become part of the tourism economy itself.
Years ago, accommodation providers and travellers enjoyed a far more direct relationship.
Today, in many cases, that direct connection has gradually disappeared.
This is where my journey begins.
Not to challenge the OTAs.
Perhaps that would not even be possible.
But I have been studying them for years.
I carefully observe what they have built.
I try to understand what has made them so successful.
And I try to apply some of those principles in a completely different direction.
A direction that puts territories, tourism businesses and people back at the centre.
An alternative.
Not against someone.
But together with territories, tourism businesses, entrepreneurs and travellers.
OTAs have a global business interest.
Their objective is to sell, wherever the destination may be.
This, instead, is a territorial project.
Its name is Puglia.
A brand. An identity. A vision.
I cannot reveal much yet about what we are studying and building.
What I can tell you is that behind this project there are years of study, time, financial investment, research and continuous collaboration with international partners and members of my team.
I believe that Puglia deserves a powerful digital brand.
Not a brand created to replace what already exists.
But a brand capable of telling the story of Puglia in a different way.
A brand able to bring together tourism businesses, accommodation providers, restaurants, professionals, local destinations, experiences and all those people who contribute every day to the growth of this extraordinary region.
Because a territory does not grow only because of its places.
It grows because of the people who decide to build something together.
Puglia already has everything.
Landscapes. History. Culture. Sea. Sunshine. Food. Extraordinary people.
And yet I believe it deserves even more.
Tourism businesses deserve more.
Companies deserve more.
Workers deserve more.
And travellers deserve more as well.
The logo created for this project was born from exactly the same vision.
The blue represents the sea, openness to the world, depth and international connections.
The yellow represents the sun, light, energy, hospitality and the Mediterranean spirit of Puglia.
Its shape expresses movement, travel, growth and openness towards the future.
There is one particular detail that I especially like.
The upper part of the symbol subtly recalls the outline of the Gargano, one of the most iconic and recognisable areas of Puglia.
A territorial reference hidden inside a symbol that looks towards the future.
To me, this logo perfectly represents what I hope to build.
A Puglia deeply rooted in its own identity, yet able to communicate with the world.
A land that should not simply be visited.
It should be understood, told, organised and enhanced.
Behind this brand there is also someone I would like to mention.
His name is Gianluca Caretta, known by many simply as GLC.
Over the years, Gianluca and I have built a special connection between Lecce and Oxford, between Italy and England, between two different professional journeys that, at certain moments, found important points of convergence.
While I was building my experience living and working in England, he continued developing his expertise in graphic design, visual communication and brand identity.
Some collaborations begin with a contract.
Others begin with mutual respect earned over many years.
Ours belongs to the second category.
I have known him for many years and I genuinely consider his work among the very best I have encountered in the fields of graphic design and visual identity.
I have designed logos myself, studied communication and worked on visual identities for well over fifteen years.
However, I have always believed that real value does not come from trying to do everything alone.
Real value comes from recognising when someone possesses greater experience or talent than you in a specific field.
That is why I chose to entrust this project to him, just as I have done with other professionals over the years.
Not because I could not design a logo myself.
But because I wanted the strongest possible visual identity for a vision to which I have dedicated years of my life.
The best ideas rarely come from one person alone.
They emerge when different skills, different experiences and different people come together to build something that none of them could have created in exactly the same way on their own.
This logo represents that philosophy as well.
A vision born in Puglia, developed between Italy and England and transformed into a visual identity through the talent of a professional I deeply respect.
Today, unlike many years ago when I devoted much of my time to graphic design and visual identity, my professional journey has taken a different direction.
For several years now, I have focused my attention on a discipline that I find both fascinating and strategically important: Natural Web Traffic.
Every day I study, observe and explore the mechanisms that allow people, ideas, territories, projects and businesses to gain natural visibility over time.
It is a discipline to which I dedicate most of my time, my research and my investments.
I could probably still design many of the logos for my own projects.
But time is a limited resource.
That is why, whenever I meet professionals whom I consider outstanding in their field, I prefer to rely on their expertise and allow each person to express the very best of their own talent.
MarketingSalento.com
Every territory tells a different story.
Puglia represents my roots, the land where everything began.
However, this project was never meant to tell the story of just one place. It was born from the meeting of different territories, experiences, cultures and visions, all connected by the same idea of territorial enhancement.
After discovering Puglia, I invite you to continue the journey through Oxfordshire, the English county that has become my second home since 2020 and where a new chapter of this vision began.