The year 2019 will be dedicated to 'slow tourism' in a project to invest in heritage railway lines to promote little-known Italian areas, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini has announced after a meeting with the president of Italy's railway FS (Ferrovie dello Stato) Foundation. The plan is to promote historic rail lines along with modern infrastructures to enable tourists to explore areas that are less known to the public yet rich in history and culture, Franceschini said at the culture ministry on Thursday.

A total of over 130,000 tourists over the past two years travelled aboard historic trains along nine railway lines that were reactivated for this purpose for a total of 600 kilometers. "After the year of paths, that of villages and this year as the year of food, we will conclude an ideal voyage to promote little-known Italian territories with the year of slow tourism in 2019", Franceschini said.