EPIC (Experience Prato Industrial Culture) aims to leverage the city's industrial heritage as a lever for sustainable, equitable, and innovative growth. The goal is to develop a competitive and sustainable industrial tourism offering that integrates Prato's manufacturing heritage with its cultural and natural attractions, creating a unique experience that tells the story of the city through its roots and contemporary excellence in the fashion, design, and textile sectors.

Together with tourism stakeholders—hotels, restaurants, guides, cultural site managers, etc.—and with the involvement of local businesses and civil society, EPIC promotes the co-design of new tourism products. The goal is to expand and distribute the offering across time and space. The key concept is "endless" tourism, capable of transcending seasonality and attracting visitors year-round, even in lesser-known areas of the city.

The project will develop immersive experiences that combine the real and virtual, thanks to the work of teams of research institutions and advanced technology providers, coordinated by the Municipality of Prato.

Through Virtual Reality content supported by Artificial Intelligence, visitors will be able to experience Prato in a new, profound, and engaging way, accessing spaces such as VR Museums, VR Rooms, and VR Corners throughout the area, or directly from their computer or smartphone.

These experiences will offer much more than a simple visit: they will be designed to accompany visitors at every stage of their journey, facilitating access to information, understanding the urban and manufacturing context, and promoting greater awareness of sustainability issues. This will create an authentic, deep, and lasting connection between those who visit the city and its heritage.

Prato is a city of nearly 200,000 inhabitants, internationally known for its textile district, which represents approximately 3% of European textile production.

Thanks to EPIC, which offers an innovative model of industrial tourism, Prato will be able to leverage its unique manufacturing heritage to attract new visitors and extend their stay in the city, generating cultural, economic, and social benefits for the region.