VIP Consortium launches interactive ‘Apple Walk’ trail to showcase South Tyrol’s apple growing culture

In Italy’s South Tyrol, a new project launched by the VIP Consortium and a local tourism office aims to redefine how consumers think about apples.

Launched in Parcines, 30km northwest of Bolzano, The Apple Walk is an ambitious and highly visual educational trail designed to bring tourists and locals alike in closer contact with Val Venosta’s storied apple culture.

A 12-stage path winds through orchards that surround the town, combining agricultural storytelling with digital interactivity to deliver what Vip calls a “multisensory experience” of how apples are grown by the consortium’s seven cooperatives and 1,500 growers.

And with South Tyrol’s economy driven in large part by tourism, the initiative reflects a growing trend: closer ties between the region’s fruit producers and the visitors who support them.

“Val Venosta and apples are one and the same,” says Benjamin Laimer, marketing manager at VIP. “Both locals and visitors should get to know the apple and the apple growing in all its facets.”

Technology meets tradition

Each stop is marked by a distinctive, apple-shaped insect hotel, where hikers can learn about different apple varieties grown in Val Venosta and the work carried out by farmers throughout the year to grow the fruit and protect the environment.

Some might argue that educational trails are outdated, but Laimer thinks otherwise. “Not if the knowledge is conveyed through interactive and digital platforms,” he suggests.

On the trail, he says, information is presented using a smart, engaging format that appeals to younger audiences as well.

At each station, visitors can scan a QR code with their smartphone to access images, texts, and videos in three languages.

And at the end of the walk, participants are invited to take part in a quiz, with the chance to win an apple-shaped insect hotel of their own.