Tourism without seasonality: Italy is growing in value, sustainability and innovation, and its MICE industry holds a prime position among the top countries in the world ranking of conference tourism. 

Italy is one of the world’s top conference tourism countries

ENIT has a raft of important international events under its belt, including international workshops in collaboration with the Convention Bureau and the Italian Knowledge event that brings the industry's elite to Italy for a professional networking experience. The meetings industry segment is growing rapidly thanks to the all-Italian ability to combine the professionalism of specific services with the country's historical, architectural, and cultural heritage.  And it is riding the most promising wave of the MICE sector, which is the bleisure trend, that sees the conference tourist with or without his companion, enjoy not only meetings but also leisure activities that are often high-spending. 

Italy is 2nd in Europe and 3rd in the world for MICE events 

Italian MICE was high on the ranking of the world’s 9,042 international meetings in 2022; in second place in Europe with 522 meetings and third in the world ranking behind the USA (690) and Spain (528).  Among the cities, Rome came out top with 79 meetings and Milan with 66. (source: Enit Studies Office based on ICCA data). ENIT is committed to the development of the MICE segment with sector and luxury workshops like the Espacio Maldonado in the heart of Madrid which was attended by over 100 buyers and 35 sellers from all over Italy. 

Italy at Hand will attract 200 Italian buyers and sellers

ENIT will also be present at IBTM in Barcelona from 28 to 30 November with over 80 Italian partners, of which participation has been confirmed by Alto Adige, Campania, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Marche, Piedmont, Puglia, Sicily, Veneto, Rome Capital and Yes Milano.  Over 200 sellers and buyers will come together thanks to ENIT and Convention Bureau Italia at Italy at Hand, the benchmark event of MICE and Made in Italy that sees Italian cities take turns as business travel capitals.  With four days of networking, interaction between highly qualified buyers and the best operators of MICE, this unique event with its B2B meetings, workshops, shows and entertainment, stems from an ambitious idea: to become the leading connecting tool between Italian business tourism and international users.

The MICE sector is expected to return to its pre-Covid levels in 2026

In 2021 Italy recorded a total 86,438 events in presence or hybrid format with a growth of +23.7% over 2020, totalling 4,585,433 participants (+14.7% over 2020). The average duration of events was 1.34 days, in line with 2020 (1.36). 52.5% of congress and event venues are located in the North, 25.5% in the Centre, 13.9% in the South and 8.1% on the islands. International business travel expenditure in Italy in 2021 was approximately €4.3 billion (+50.8% over 2020) and was higher  than holiday expenditure (+16.8%). Some 10.8 million international travellers chose Italy for work/business in 2021 (+18.2% on 2020) for a total of some 33 million nights (+16.7%). (Source: Ufficio Studi on Bank of Italy data). In the first 6 months of 2022 foreign arrivals to Italy for business purposes spent almost €3 billion (Source: Ufficio Studi on Bank of Italy data - provisional 2022). The MICE sector is expected to return to its pre-Covid levels in 2026. 

“Effective networking experiences are crucial for success”

"In the future the success of face-to-face meetings will have to be based on the quality of the content and the contribution the destination can make to achieving the objectives of the event, the combination of virtual elements, the provision of an effective networking experience, and sustainability.  There is a need to focus on the intellectual value that the destination can offer to meetings with public-private interactions. Effective networking experiences by the organiser will be crucial for the success and ROI of the in-person meeting,” says ENIT president and CEO Ivana Jelinic. 

There is a demand for outdoors areas and flexible spaces 

“If we analyse the available data- continues Jelenic, - we realise that there is a growing interest in factors such as reputation, the accessibility of venues, environmental factors, climate, extra-conference opportunities, the quality and safety standards of accommodation facilities, and that people are turning to facilities with fewer rooms and a more homely kind of hospitality. This is also true for facilities with outdoor areas and flexible space, attention to sustainability and food and wine, and for those with advanced technological equipment.” 

On the weekend of 14 and 15 October 2023 and on 8, 9 and 10 December discover a gem in Umbria, the city of Foligno.

Itineraries and learning experiences for adults and children

This journey of discovery of the Umbrian city and its nature, art, sport, food, and wine offers visitors the chance to enjoy a wide range of itineraries and learning experiences, aimed at both adults and children. Located in the central-eastern part of the region, at the foot of the Umbria-Marche Apennines, Foligno has a rich artistic, museum and architectural heritage.

Cycling itineraries and historic landmarks

However, it will not only be the urban area of Foligno, with its historic buildings, museums, and churches that will feature in the VisitFoligno Weekends itineraries. The surrounding landscape can be discovered by bike, thanks to the cycling itineraries on the tour: The mountain of Foligno and the Menotre valley and Pedalling to discover the park of Altolina and the Hermitage.

Visit Foligno - laboratories for children

Special offers in accommodation facilities

The VisitFoligno Weekends, with the same formula that combines art, culture, nature, sport and food and wine will be repeated on the occasion of the Immaculate Conception, on 8, 9 and 10 December. During the event some Federalberghi and Cuore Verde Umbria B&B Association accommodation facilities, and the Pierantoni Hostel will have special offers for visitors at the events.

For information: https://www.comune.foligno.pg.it/visitfoligno

Puglia Paradise is the first and only collection of luxury villas and trulli for holidays with private pools and premium services in the most prestigious locations in Puglia.  

A transparent property management format

Professional management and the Guest Angel are the innovative key of the Puglia Paradise model, and its hospitality philosophy, called Paradisophy, is a concept based on placing the guest and his needs at the center of the company’s priorities. Puglia Paradise proposes a B2C digital business model for guests and a B2B model for owners who benefit from the best rental performances with a carefree management and consequently a passive income. This transparent property management format guarantees maximum profitability without the onus of operational management.

The Guest Angel provides total assistance service 24/7

Puglia Paradise’s attention to quality is what makes the difference, guaranteeing that guests looking for an unforgettable and carefree holiday in Puglia can find exactly what they want, while the owner of the villa or trullo leaves it to Puglia Paradiso’s staff to look after the management, maintenance and assistance. Taking the responsibility for the holiday and the property Puglia Paradise’s staff is always available while respecting the privacy of the guest and acting only on request through a personal lifestyle concierge, the Guest Angel, who provides a total assistance service 24/7. Thanks to its competence and professionalism, Puglia Paradise is a valid alternative to a 5-star hotel or resort for short, medium and long stays.

It is now possible to become an honorary citizen of Frasassi, signed by the mayor of Genga. 

A personalized certificate of honorary citizenship of Frasassi

Thanks to the Genga municipality, the Frasassi Caves Consortium has launched a Tourist Passport signed by the mayor of Genga. The passport proposes an itinerary of five unmissable stages that reveal the area’s artistic, cultural and environmental heritage, and will be available to every visitor to the Frasassi Caves. Stamping the document at each site allows the visitor to receive his personalized certificate of honorary citizenship of Frasassi at the Info Point located in the car park ticket office.

“The Tourist Passport was created to promote our art and culture”

Together with the Tourist Passport, each visitor will receive a detailed map of the area with information about the attractions on this fascinating historical, natural and artistic heritage site. "The Tourist Passport was created to promote the art and culture of the area in a single shared project revolving around the Frasassi Caves and the most prestigious sites in Genga,- said Genga’s mayor Marco Filipponi. -The idea of creating honorary citizens of Frasassi with real certificates of citizenship and Tourist Passports allows us to personally involve visitors, and make them feel part of our territory.” 

The passport is presented in a handmade paper casket 

Each Frasassi Tourist Passport will be signed personally by the mayor Marco Filipponi, and handed to visitors in a handmade paper casket from the Cartiera Manualis of Fabriano, together with a filigree representing the Temple of Valadier which is a symbol of Frasassi. A little gift will also be offered to children. These are the stops visitors have to make to obtain the Tourist Passport: the Frasassi Caves, the Hermitage of Santa Maria Infra Saxa and the Madonna di Frasassi Sanctuary. The Abbey of San Vittore delle Chiuse, the Castle of Genga. Pierosara, and the Fortress of Pierosara.

A digital leap forward for Inside Marche Live, with MarcheConnect.

MarcheConnect, the first digital platform of Marche tour operators

The association with over 30 members spread throughout the Marche Region, and the first digital platform aims at boosting its activities in 2024. With its members and projects rapidly expanding, Inside Marche Live’s attendance at TTG Travel Experience is an opportunity to present new products and packages from the region’s inbound operators, as well as to launch the MarcheConnect project, the first collaborative digital platform of Marche tour operators.

The platform is both B2B and B2C

The MarcheConnect platform includes more than 1,000 dedicated Marche operators’ packages, experiences, and tours that are immediately available for both operators and end-customers (therefore both B2B and B2C). The platform will be connected with the regional digital system and, consequently, with the italia.it tourism digital hub through the new interoperability system.

Federico Scaramucci

“MarcheConnect allows us to stimulate international demand”

"This is a great opportunity for us,- says Federico Scaramucci, president of Inside Marche Live, -because it will allow us to stimulate international demand, notoriously the sector in which the Marche is weakest. Today out of every 100 tourists who chose the Marche, only 20 are foreign arrivals. With the platform we connect to a marketplace of over 80 thousand agencies and tour operators in the USA, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Australia and other countries, thanks to the partnership with Chameleon Global.”

Boosting recognition of the Marche region in Europe and globally

“This is a great opportunity for our region, and we must seize it as part of the platform's promotion and communication strategy in the markets that interest us, and which are identified with the region and the Agency for Tourism and Internationalization." All of which correspond to Inside Marche Live’s strategy to further boost recognition of the Marche region in Europe and globally.

  

Martulli Viaggi of Matera is a specialist for southern Italy with the focus on Puglia, Basilicata and the Marche.  

“We revitalize these small towns with our tailor-made experiences”

“We are very strong in the South of Italy and we have unique tours to the borghi, which are small towns and villages where time seems to have stood still,- says director Michele Martulli.  -Our international clients are interested in this kind of genuine experience which regularly encompasses food and wine. We revitalize these small towns with our tailor-made experiences, and for longer stays in outlying areas we have an excellent range of villas and residences.”

Rediscovering places of the past, where ancient traditions are still alive

“Our business is chiefly that of an OTA, and now we are gearing up to attend the autumn trade fairs like Travel Hashtag in New York, TTG Travel Experience in Rimini and the WTM and ETOA events in London. Every year we like to add at least ten new experiences, ranging from culinary tours to excursions like those on the Maratea coast by boat, canoe or kayak.  This year these sea products were particularly successful with the Spanish market.”  Martulli’s top markets are America, Germany, France and Spain, with clients looking to rediscover places of the past, where ancient traditions are still alive.

Alberobello Puglia

Hot-air balloons and an open-bus in Matera 

“They like to interact with the locals like the grandmother who invites them into her home and shows them how she makes pasta. It is a rediscovery of ancient traditions and ancient roots.  We work with both individuals and groups of all kinds, and we have hot-air balloons over Matera where we also have an open-bus in collaboration with IoBus of Rome for the Sassi and Murgia areas.” 

Discover the Travel Deals

The new guide focuses on regional theatres.

The Marche Nord’s Itinerary of Beauty guides, an exploration of an untouched environment rich in art and history, are adding a new guide featuring its regional theatres which are in many of the 21 towns that have already showcased their attractions in the earlier Itinerary of Beauty guides. The new edition will feature cities like Fano, Pesaro and Urbino as well as smaller towns including Apecchio, Pergola and Cagli, and like the earlier editions will be distributed at major Italian and foreign trade fairs, and in regional tourism offices.  

“Showcasing the attractions of large and small municipalities”

"The latest Itinerary of Beauty features our historic theatres, many of which are still active.- said Amerigo Varotti, director of Confcommercio Pesaro e Urbino Marche Nord which has produced the guides.  -The guides showcase the attractions of our large and small municipalities which also produce many excellent food products like our Prosciutto di Carpegna, Olio di Cartoceto and Caciotta di Colfiorito cheese, all of which have the protected designation of origin.”  

Tacconi are a typical Marche pasta

Another specialty of the Marche are tacconi, a type of pasta made with broad-bean flour. “To hold the mixture together we add wheat flour and then form it into long thin noodles,- says Adele Cerisoli of La Palomba Hotel in Mondavio. – The tacconi can be enjoyed in soups or in the traditional Marche style, tossed in lard with garlic and topped with crunchy pork jowl and parsley.”   The Marche city of Pesaro, which is famous as the birthplace of the great opera composer Gioacchino Rossini, will be Italy’s Cultural Capital 2024.  

Lot Polish Airlines is upping the ante on Rome Fiumicino from Warsaw Chopin Airport, the carrier's main hub 30 October 2023. 

A Boeing 737 Max 8 in service on the route

The new route is in addition to the existing Warsaw-Radom service, which was inaugurated last 28 April and will also be maintained during the winter season with a Boeing 737 Max 8 in service on the route.

“We see high demand for our flights to the Eternal City from Radom”

“Being the national carrier, we work hand in hand with Polish companies,- says Lot’s president Michał Fijoł. - In the last two years our exporters have placed goods worth over 100 billion zloty in Italy. Better connections with the capital of Poland's great economic partner will contribute to further growth in trade. Rome is also at the top of the cities that Poles visit most often, as we see with the high demand for our flights to the Eternal City from Radom."

A better choice for passengers

"This is a significant development that consolidates our partnership with Lot Polish Airlines," added Ivan Bassato, chief aviation officer Aeroporti di Roma. "This new Warsaw flight further increases the choice for passengers, also in view of the next Jubilee to be held in Rome in 2025.” 

Partnership is the keyword of the Ospitalità Natura network of accommodation facilities for low-impact holidays.

A concrete approach to sustainability

Launched at the end of 2020, the Ospitalità Natura network, a joint venture between the Rimini-based consultancy firm Teamwork and the organic products company NaturaSì, now has more than 45 affiliated facilities, up 30% on last year. With a concrete approach to sustainability which the American magazine Skift calls the "from marketing to operations" trend, Ospitalità Natura has entered into numerous partnerships with associations and start-ups that help accommodation facilities on their path to ecological transition.

Ospitalità Natura EcoGreen Agritur Fiores

Introducing environmentally-friendly products 

Thanks to the founding partnership with NaturaSì the Ospitalità Natura facilities can count on products or services from companies that are green. The Florenz campsite in Comacchio, among others, has thus been able to install three professional water dispensers.  Ospitalità Natura has also teamed up with Officina Naturae, a Rimini-based company that is one of the first in Italy to reduce the impact of cosmetics and cleaning products on the environment. 

Ospitalità Natura Holiday Village Florenz

Organic and vegan courtesy sets

The Ripostena Country House which has flats overlooking the Sienese countryside has introduced a certified organic and vegan courtesy set and cleaning products in packaging made of 100% bioplastic. The same approach has been adopted by Daniela of the Bio Boutique Hotel Xu in Rimini, who has chosen a natural and organic courtesy set for her guestrooms.

Ospitalità Natura Ripostena Country House Hotel

Replanting trees felled by a storm

The network can also create synergies and original ideas. Such as the sustainable rate proposed by Matteo of the Olympic Spa Hotel in Val di Fassa with Vaia, the start-up created following the 2016 storm that destroyed thousands of trees between Trentino and Veneto. Vaia is a way of involving and empowering travellers who, by choosing the sustainable rate, can support replanting the felled forests around the hotel.

Ospitalità Natura Olympic SPA Hotel

Delta Air Lines will debut in Naples with new daily New York JFK flights from 25 May 2024.

Three more weekly flights to Venice

The investment in the Italian market does not stop here: from 31 May 2024 the existing daily connections from Atlanta to Venice will also be upgraded, with three additional weekly flights, bringing the total number of connections to Venice to ten per week. In the peak summer months Delta Air Lines will operate up to 94 weekly flights between the US and Italy to meet the increased demand for travel between the two countries. 

Additional frequencies to 4 Italian airports

In addition to the new route to Naples and additional frequencies on the Atlanta-Venice route, Delta will operate an overall schedule of direct flights to Rome Fiumicino from New York-JFK, Atlanta, Boston and Detroit, from New York-JFK and Atlanta to Milan Malpensa and to Venice Marco Polo from New York-JFK. All Delta flights to Italy are operated in partnership with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic.

“Italy is one of the largest transatlantic markets for Delta”

"This is an important moment for Delta with the new daily flight to Naples and increased capacity to Venice next summer. Italy is one of the largest transatlantic markets for Delta, and we are very excited to be serving four Italian cities," said Matteo Curcio, Delta's senior vice president EMEAI. "We are seeing unprecedented demand for our connections, and we look forward to supporting inbound tourism by welcoming more visitors to Italy from the United States.” 

Delta One passenger travel with Trenitalia in first class

Delta's Air+Rail service also provides easy connections with Delta's direct flights from Rome from four Italian cities, including Bologna and Florence, with operator Trenitalia. Delta's Air+Rail service is simple, as bookings include both air and rail segments. Delta One passenger travel with Trenitalia is in first class.