Italy is a beautiful place to visit, with lots of picturesque spots to explore – both natural and man-made. But it seems that residency and tourist numbers are dwindling in many parts of the country.
Several places are offering special incentives and cash bonuses to those who are willing to move to their town. For example, the mayor of a mountain village named Bormida recently offered $2,170 to those interested to move to the place.
But it seems that Bormida is not the only place in Italy that needs new people. In fact, the country is offering over 100 castles and various historic spots such as monasteries and farmhouses to interested entrepreneurs – for free!
Photo credit: Walks of Italy
While this sounds like everyone’s dream come true, there’s a catch. You have to transform these unused buildings into safe and beautiful tourist spots that would help rekindle tourism across the historic routes in country.
This is the reason why these historic buildings and spots are only offered to entrepreneurs, preferably those who are younger than 40 so they can make fresh improvements on these aged attractions.
Applications should also submit a detailed proposal of what they plan to do with the property they got for free. The deadline for this year’s application is on June 26. Applicants should visit this website to find the properties they wish to acquire.
If you missed out on this year’s batch, don’t worry because Italy already has 200 more buildings scheduled for inclusion on the list within the next two years.
The country’s tourism ministry hopes that this would rekindle tourism in the rural areas and generate work there for the people, so that the locals won’t be leaving town to head to the bigger cities.