Italian anger over the use of Tuscany in French tourism rebrand

Italian politicians are furious that an area in southern France is calling itself La Toscane Occitane in tourism campaigns.

The tourism campaign, which covers Gaillac, Pays Cordais and Vaour communes in the department of Tarn, was launched last year.

It clearly worked, generating €87 million for the area. But it has irked the real Tuscany region in Italy, which says it confuses tourists.

According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Nicola Danti, an MEP from Tuscany, told the European Commission: “There is only one Tuscany and it is right for those who, cunningly, try to use this brand to promote their area stop doing so immediately.”

However, the tourism campaign in the French region of Occitane was co-funded by the European Union (EU).

Mr Danti asked how the European Parliament can track “similar actions in the rest of the world which harm our economy” and at the same time support “such campaigns within the very countries of the EU”.

He called the “competition”, “dishonest”, and “unacceptable given the potential to confuse tourists”, adding it is an “unwarranted exploitation of a recognised touristic brand”.

The president of the Tuscany region, Eugenio Giani, went a step further and said “identity theft is a crime” telling his fellow Italians that “we will make ourselves heard”. Mr Giani said, again according to La Repubblica, that “we will evaluate what steps to take”.

Read more: Tarn: France’s ‘little Tuscany’ in demand among domestic holidaymakers

‘We are ready’

Paul Salvador, chair of the La Toscane Occitane brand, meanwhile said he nearly fell off his horse when he heard the “identity theft” claims.

Mr Salvador initially found the claims ridiculous, according to the French newspaper, La Dépêche du Midi, saying: “To this extent, everyone knows how much I love Italy and Tuscany in particular, I do not see why Rome is not asking Toulouse to change the name of la place du Capitole, perhaps even asking the US to find another name for its Congress [building, where the US House of Representatives sits]. After all, the Capitol was one of the seven hills of Rome”.

Mr Salvador noted the brand name La Toscane Occitane was registered with France’s intellectual property office, the INPI, and that no one contested the brand name within the two-month deadline. As such, the Italians seem to be complaining too late.

“If the Italians want to take the affair to court, we are ready, we have the lawyers to defend our case,” Mr Salvador said. However, he added that he would rather have a friendly reconciliation with Tuscany and maybe even carry out joint tourism campaigns.

If anything, Mr Salvador is worried that Tarn’s tourism campaign could be attacked by closer departments in France, as “Tarn has an aggressive tourism campaign, that is true. That could offend some people around us”.

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