COOP TURISTICA VALBONDIONE : tourism and job creation - turismo e occupazione

The Cooperative was founded in 1983. It aims at promoting tourist activities in the area of Valbondione (Bergamo)on the basis of its natural environment. It is made up of both individual (7 women and 41 men)and "collective members": the municipality (comune)of Valbondione and another cooperative.

Coop Turistica Valbondione is trying to cooperate with the local municipality and the local mountain authority (comunita’ montana)in order to offer a number of turist opportunities and attract people from Milan and Bergamo. It is running cross-country skiing and a skating rink and a sports centre hall in the summer. It also organizes tourists and activities.

Their hope is to create new jobs and reasons for people to stay in Valbondione, a village of 2.000 people in Val Seriana that has witnessed a large-scale emigration over the last years. Until now it has been able to employ four local young people, two of them who are former drug addicts. They have a salary of around 1.000.000 It. Lire (670 US $)depending on the overall financial situation. The total budget is around 70.000.000 It.Lire (around 47.000 US $)and it is based on small contributions from all members of the cooperative.

A Board of Directors regularly meets to decide on the programmes. The most important decisions are discussed at the General Assembly and by consulting members of the cooperative by post. It makes use of Mag Servizi (Milano)and Lega delle Cooperative for finanacial consultancy.

It doesn’t promote training activities for its members.

A bank loan was recently followed by a winter without snow which is the most dangerous part of the cooperative’s planning and it has created problems in the past, that are now slowly being overcome.