Hello, I’m Dario Riccio, and welcome the uneXt Blog.
Today, let’s talk about a thorn in the side of every local administrator. It’s one of those questions that looms over every council meeting, a question the political opposition can’t wait to raise: how do we justify our spending on cultural events? “.
I know the situation well. On one hand, there’s the desire to offer your community moments of connection, to preserve traditions, to make your town a vibrant and attractive place to live. On the other, there’s the reality of budgets, of shrinking funds, and the need—often mandated by oversight bodies like the Italian Court of Audit—to prove that every public euro spent is a strategic investment, not just a cost. How many times have you found yourself defending the funding for a summer festival or a theater series, only to be told, “we have other priorities”? How often have you struggled to translate the crowd’s enthusiasm into hard data, into a number that can silence critics and convince even the most skeptical stakeholders?
This challenge is amplified by a phenomenon I’ve previously called the “festival free-for-all”: a proliferation of standardized events that, in an attempt to compete, end up canceling each other out. You spend money just to stand still, attracting the same people without sparking any real economic development. The result is a palpable frustration: the cultural event is seen as a luxury, an accessory to be cut at the first sign of trouble, instead of as the potential engine for the small town regeneration so many Italian communities desperately need.
But what if I told you there’s a way to completely flip this perspective? What if I told you that a few visionary leaders have transformed their events from “cost centers” into “profit centers” for their entire community, creating jobs, fighting depopulation, and attracting millions of euros in funding?
This isn’t a utopian dream. It’s a precise, strategic methodology. Today, I want to tell you the story of a small town in the Molise region and its mayor, who not only found the solution to this problem but created a model for development that is now studied and admired throughout Italy. It’s a story that proves, with hard numbers, that a well-designed event can be the most profitable investment an administration can make.
The Case Study (The Inspiration)
Imagine a small town in the heart of the Molise Apennines, at an altitude of 800 meters. A community of just 308 inhabitants that, like thousands of others in Italy's internal areas, seemed destined for a slow and inevitable decline. This place is called Castel del Giudice, in the province of Isernia. And its story is living proof that a model for small town regeneration is not only possible but can yield extraordinary results.
The architect of this transformation is Mayor Lino Gentile, in office since 1999 . He is a leader who never resigned himself to decline but instead saw opportunities where others saw only problems. Instead of just managing the crisis, he built an entire ecosystem of rebirth, a model that has led to almost unbelievable outcomes: zero unemployment and the creation of over 130 new jobs . A figure that, relative to the population, is simply stunning.
How did he do it? Not with a single, top-down project, but with a series of interconnected initiatives born from innovative public-private partnerships. In this model, the municipality acts as a catalyst, holding minority stakes (20-30%) and leaving operational management to the private sector, thus ensuring economic sustainability and agility “.
The journey began in 2001 with a gesture as simple as it was symbolic: transforming the town’s abandoned schools into a residential care home, which today employs 30 people “. What was a symbol of depopulation became a bastion of welfare and employment. But that was only the beginning.
From there, the ecosystem grew, piece by piece. The “Melise” agricultural company was born, which today cultivates 48 hectares of organic apple orchards . Fifty abandoned stables were restored to create "Borgotufi", a magnificent "albergo diffuso" (scattered hotel) with 100 beds , which has become the beating heart of the town’s tourism offering. During the “Apple Festival,” one of the flagship events, a craft brewery named “Maltolento” was even inaugurated “. Each new piece was not an island but an integral part of a larger design.
And what about cultural events? Far from being an accessory expense, they became the amplifier of this model. The Casteldelgiudice Buskers Festival and the aforementioned Apple Festival are not just simple parties; they are powerful territorial marketing tools. They attract thousands of visitors each year, filling the rooms of the albergo diffuso, introducing people to the products of the organic orchards, and creating an economic ripple effect that sustains the entire community year-round “. The event is not the end; it’s the means to make the entire ecosystem work.
This strategic and integrated approach has not gone unnoticed. Castel del Giudice secured an impressive €20 million from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) , thanks to its "Apennine (Re)generation Center" project . This project doesn’t just fund public works; it solidifies Mayor Gentile’s vision by investing in three strategic axes: community welfare, sustainable development, and tourism appeal , through initiatives like artist residencies, agrifood-tech incubators, and even an Institute for Advanced Studies on Territorial Regeneration .
The story of Castel del Giudice teaches us a fundamental lesson: it makes no sense to organize an event if, the next day, visitors have nowhere to sleep, no restaurant to eat at, no local product to buy. Success isn’t measured in tickets sold, but in the ability to turn a one-day visitor into an economic supporter of the entire local value chain.
From Case Study to Strategic Principle (The Lesson)
The story of Lino Gentile is powerful, but my goal here at “TRANSFORM YOUR TERRITORY” is not just to inspire you. It’s to give you strategic principles that you can apply, tomorrow morning, in your own community. The universal lesson we can extract from the Castel del Giudice model is this: the foundation of any successful strategy for small town regeneration is to design events not as an end in themselves, but as the engine of an integrated economic ecosystem “.
Let’s stop thinking of an event as an isolated container, a happy island that lasts for a weekend and then vanishes without a trace. We must start designing it as the beating heart of a complex system, the spark that ignites and fuels a series of collateral economic activities. The event is the attractor, the magnet. But its true value is measured in the ripple effect it is able to generate.
In the traditional model, an event’s ROI (Return on Investment) is calculated, at best, by comparing its organizational cost with direct revenues (tickets, sponsors). It’s a limited view that condemns most cultural events to be perceived as a cost. In the Castel del Giudice model, however, the event is just the first link in a much longer value chain. The visitor drawn by the Buskers Festival is the same one who stays overnight in the albergo diffuso . They are the same person who dines in local restaurants and buys the organic apples or craft beer .
This principle is based on creating synergies between different sectors. Research shows the incredible potential of this approach. The Albergo Diffuso model, for instance, not only recovers existing building heritage but also demonstrates an average profitability of 16.8%, higher than the traditional hotel sector, and creates an employment multiplier of 1 to 3 in the local economy . Similarly, Community Cooperatives are powerful tools: according to research by Euricse, 70% of them achieve economic sustainability within the third year, with female employment reaching 59% (compared to the national average of 40%) and halting depopulation in 60% of the towns where they operate . A prime example is Melpignano in Puglia, where the community cooperative lives in symbiosis with the famous Notte della Taranta festival, which attracts 150,000 people “. It’s a virtuous circle.
The principle, therefore, is to stop asking, “how much does this event cost me?” and start asking, “what economic ecosystem can this event fuel?” This paradigm shift radically transforms the role of the administrator: no longer a simple organizer, but a true “designer of territorial ecosystems.” A role that requires vision, networking skills, and, above all, the right tools to measure and prove the value created.
Technology as an Enabler (The Indirect Solution)
I know exactly what you’re thinking. “That’s great, Dario, but how do I prove all this? How do I turn this vision into concrete numbers to present to my council or a potential investor?” This is where technology ceases to be a gimmick and becomes your most powerful strategic ally. To replicate the success of Castel del Giudice, a data-driven approach is crucial “. Technology makes this strategic principle of small town regeneration not just possible, but measurable and scalable.
We can divide it into two macro-categories: the technology that measures and the technology that attracts.
1. The Technology That Measures: Making the Invisible Visible
For years, the “social value” of an event was considered intangible, impossible to quantify. That’s no longer the case. Sophisticated frameworks and tech platforms now allow us to track the real impact of every visitor on the territory, turning results into an unassailable data dashboard “.
The industry standard is the Event ROI Methodology, a framework that analyzes the return on investment across six different levels, from immediate attendee satisfaction to the tangible economic impact on the community . The basic formula, ROI = (Net Benefits - Costs) / Costs x 100 , is enriched by complex metrics that also calculate socio-cultural and environmental impacts “.
Platforms like Zartico, used by major tourism destinations, can integrate geolocation data, credit card spending data, and accommodation data to provide predictive analysis. The result? Visit Lake Charles, using this tool, saw a 25% increase in tourist spending . These aren't academic tools; they are strategic weapons. In a context where funding from programs like Italy's PNRR, specifically, requires specific KPIs and measurable impact , coming prepared with this kind of data makes all the difference. The same applies to international standards like the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators, which offer validated metrics to capture the value of events “.
2. The Technology That Attracts: Creating Irresistible Experiences
Once you have the ecosystem and the measurement system, you need the attractor: an experience so unique that it convinces people to travel, to come to your town, and to spend money. Here, data from Italy’s national statistics institute, ISTAT, points us in a clear direction: while towns are depopulating , experiential tourism is exploding, with 25% growth in 2023 alone and average spending 30% higher than conventional tourism . The stars of this trend are Millennials and Gen Z: 73% of them actively participate in experiential events “.
How do you capture this high-value audience? By offering them what they seek: immersive, memorable, and technologically advanced experiences. This is where technologies like the ones we develop at the usual neXt come into play . The global immersive entertainment market is set to explode, reaching $442 billion by 2030 .
Think of geodesic domes for fulldome projections, like our THOLUS DOME . These aren't just tents; they are "experiential portals." They are architecturally stunning structures, 5 times more resistant than traditional buildings , that allow you to immerse audiences in 360-degree worlds, telling your region’s story in a way no traditional museum ever could. They are the perfect answer to Gen Z’s hunger for unique experiences . It's no coincidence that 78% of Millennials prefer to spend on experiences rather than material goods .
These technologies aren’t just “cool.” They are high-return investments. An immersive installation becomes a destination in itself, a recognizable icon that generates viral word-of-mouth. An international case study like Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico, attracted 400,000 visitors in its first year to a city of just 70,000, recouping its entire investment in record time . At the usual neXt, we have developed business models and platforms like EVENHUBS that allow these strategies to be applied even in small and medium-sized towns, ensuring a measurable ROI that, in our projects, systematically exceeds 95%, compared to the 23% of traditional events “.
Technology, therefore, closes the loop. On one hand, it gives you the tools to measure and prove the value of your ecosystem. On the other, it provides you with the most powerful attractor available today to capture quality tourism and make that ecosystem thrive.
Practical Takeaways for Administrators (The Action)
I know this amount of information can seem overwhelming. But transformation always begins with a single, concrete first step. If I were to distill everything we’ve discussed into three actions you could discuss at your next council meeting to kick-start a serious project for small town regeneration, they would be these:
- Redesign the Table, Not Just the Event: Your next event isn’t planned in the culture department. It’s designed around a table where the tourism director, the head of economic development, and representatives from local hotels, restaurants, and artisan shops are all present. The goal on the whiteboard shouldn’t be “organize the patron saint’s festival,” but “create an event that increases the average tourist stay from 1.5 to 2.5 days” “ and generates a measurable economic impact for the entire local ecosystem. Start with the shared economic goal and build the event backward from there.
- Establish a “Measurement Budget”: Stop seeing data measurement as a cost and start seeing it as the most strategic investment you can make. Task your staff with mapping out technological solutions for tracking tourism and economic ROI. Allocate a line item in your next budget, however small, for a “pilot project on impact measurement.” The data you collect will be your most powerful weapon to justify spending, gain citizen consensus, and, most importantly, successfully apply for grants from programs like the PNRR
, Creative Europe, or regional ERDF funds “, which today all require mandatory KPIs and documented impacts. - Launch a Call for “Wonder”: Radically change how you procure culture and entertainment. Your next public tender shouldn’t ask for “a theater series” or “a concert.” It should ask for “the design of a unique and memorable immersive experience, capable of becoming a new, iconic attraction for our town.” Introduce evaluation criteria that reward technological innovation, the ability to attract an under-35 audience “, and the creation of original formats. Instead of funding the replication of what already exists, invest in creating the event that will put your town on the map for the next ten years.
Conclusion (The Vision)
The Castel del Giudice model, like that of dozens of other virtuous towns in Italy , teaches us a fundamental truth: the small town regeneration we seek is not a miracle, nor a stroke of luck. It is the result of a strategic vision, participatory governance, and targeted investments in innovation . It is proof that even the smallest town, the one that statistics might have written off, can generate economic prosperity and social cohesion.
I know the challenge you face every day is immense. ISTAT data tells us about a demographic crisis that seems unstoppable, with Italy’s internal areas having lost nearly 8% of their population and 160,000 young graduates who have fled abroad in twenty years “. It can feel like a losing battle.
And yet, right now, a “perfect storm” of unprecedented opportunities is forming. The funds to act are more available and accessible than ever before, from national recovery plans to European programs . The technologies to measure impact and create immersive experiences are mature, affordable, and have a proven ROI . And, most importantly, market demand for authentic, experiential, and sustainable tourism is growing exponentially “.
The question is no longer if it’s possible to reverse the trend, but who will have the courage to do it. Who will be the next Lino Gentile? Who will be the leaders that seize this historic opportunity to transform their communities from places people flee to places they dream of staying, or returning to?
En the usual neXt , our job isn't to sell domes or technology. Our mission is to be the strategic partners for these courageous leaders . We provide our expertise, our tested business models, and our technologies to help you design and build the future of your territory.
Because, at the end of the day, the real return on investment that all of us are searching for isn’t just measured in euros, jobs, or tourist numbers. It’s measured in the smiles of children playing in the squares again. In the rediscovered pride of a community. In the choice of a young person to open their startup in the same town where their grandparents were born. In the certainty that our traditions will not die, but will be reborn for generations to come “.
And that is something no algorithm, no spreadsheet, will ever be able to fully calculate.
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