Sardinia’s Abi d'Oru Hotel gets a €20 million restyling with 50 sustainable renovated rooms, and a new swimming pool.

Rooms and suites named after famous Sardinians

The Abi d'Oru Hotel in Porto Rotondo reopens its doors for the 2023 season on 27 May, with a new look and a collection of seven suites and junior suites dedicated to eminent personalities in the history and culture of Sardinia. Each room is a small world containing the legacy left by a well-known Sardinian personality: from judge Eleonora d'Arborea to Nobel prize for Literature winner Grazia Deledda, from Antonio Gramsci to the designer Edina Altara, and from the great artist Maria Lai to Eva Mameli, the first woman in Italy to teach botany at a university.

A spa and a Bee Happy area for kids

With three restaurants and bars, the Abi d'Oru boasts one of the richest gourmet offerings on the coast, coordinated by executive chef Pierluigi Putzu. For lovers of relaxation, there is the Abi Spa, and for little ones, there is the new Bee Happy area which is made from eco-friendly, plastic-free and recycled materials. 

A restyling costing over €20 million

“There have been and will be many investments, but we are on the right path. It will be an amazing season for the Abi d’Oru, we are preparing to welcome everyone to our wonderful Sardinian home,” says managing director, Diana Zuncheddu. The restyling will resume this winter and be completed by the 2024 summer season, for a total investment of over €20 million."

The Gardens of Castel Trauttmansdorff in Merano, a must for nature lovers, consist of over 80 spectacular botanical environments.

A magnificent botanical garden

The seven kilometres of paths crossing the complex lead to four thematic areas, with plants from all over the world. Several fascinating guided tours are available to explore this magnificent botanical garden. Throughout the season, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle is a 90-minute daily guided tour at 11.15 a.m. The cost is €7 per person. The Discovering Trauttmansdorff experience must be booked three weeks in advance on the trauttmansdorff.it website and allows groups to share this walk. The Immersion in Trumansdorff tour lasts 120 minutes and must be booked at least three weeks in advance. It costs €9 per person.

Special guided tours for disabled visitors

Visitors with disabilities can book (three weeks in advance on the site) a guided tour of the various botanical landscapes for €7, excluding the entrance ticket. In the Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens, which are free of architectural barriers and obstacles, dedicated guides ensure even more serenity for visitors with disabilities during the 90-minute visit.

The Touriseum has films, models and sound effects

The Touriseum is a journey through the history of alpine tourism and includes a welcome toast followed by a presentation on the history of Trauttmansdorff Castle. To participate send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The cost is €4 per person. The Touriseum consists of some 20 rooms with mechanical and miniature models, films, and sound effects. Thematic tours for groups are also available upon request. 

Ryanair, the No.1 airline in Europe and Italy, will operate 40 routes at Palermo airport this summer.

A 60% growth compared to summer 2019

Ryanair has announced its biggest ever summer schedule with 40 routes, including a new route to Parma and increased flights on over 15 existing routes including Bari , Bologna, Dublin, Marseille, Milan, Naples, Trieste, Valencia, Venice, and Vienna This record operation will see Ryanair base 5 aircrafts in Palermo for summer 2023 and support over 3,100 aviation jobs. Ryanair's schedule for summer 2023 in Palermo foresees: 5 based aircraft, 40 routes, including one new route to Parma, +60% growth compared to summer 2019, over 575 flights per week – including about 200 weekly flights to Rome and Milan - and more than 4 million passengers to and from Palermo every year.

Flights from €25 one-way

Ryanair will operate over 575 weekly flights during summer 2023, offering the widest choice of flights at the lowest prices in Europe, while increasing both inbound tourism and local employment. To celebrate 25 years of Ryanair in Italy, customers and visitors to Palermo can now book a well-deserved summer break from just €25 one way for travel until June 2023, only available on the Ryanair.com website.

Five aircraft based at Palermo airport

“As the largest airline in Europe and Italy, Ryanair is delighted to celebrate over 20 years of operations in Italy and ten years since the opening of the Palermo base, with the launch of the largest ever schedule for summer 2023, with 40 exciting routes. This new schedule is underpinned by Ryanair's commitment to Sicily, where it will base five aircraft at Palermo Airport and support over 3,100 jobs.” said Eddie Wilson, Ryanair CEO.

The new FCO Connect check-in area in Rome Fiumicino Airport’s railway station, is an innovative train-air product.  

Checking-in seconds after stepping off the train 

Developed by Trenitalia, ITA Airways and Aeroporti di Roma, the new check-in desks can be used by passengers travelling to the airport on a Frecciarossa train, or on a Leonardo Express train in conjunction with a high-speed train to Rome’s central Termini station, and departing on an international or intercontinental flight operated by ITA Airways (with the exception of the USA and Israel). This means these passengers can check in and deliver their baggage seconds after stepping off the train in the airport station.  

More efficient connectivity for passengers

The new integrated product is another step by ITA Airways to team up with key passenger transport players, and to reply to the diverse needs of travellers by offering integrated and efficient travel experiences, said Fabio Lazzerini, ITA Airways CEO and general manager. "Integrated train-to-air mobility, through our airport hub, will enable more efficient connectivity to and from Italian cities with international destinations."

“We put ourselves in the passenger’s shoes” 

"We put ourselves in the passenger's shoes and thought about how to make the service better, guaranteeing a simple experience from the minute they buy a ticket,” said Luigi Corradi, CEO and general manager of Trenitalia.  "Working together as a system is crucial for the development of intermodality, which is a key theme in Trenitalia's strategy." 

Making train-air travel an advantageous alternative

For Marco Troncone, managing director of Aeroporti di Roma, intermodality is a way to multiply sustainable connectivity opportunities.

"Together with ITA Airways and Trenitalia, our aim is to make integrated train-air travel an advantageous alternative for passengers."

If you are looking for seaside relaxation with great cuisine on Liguria’s western coast, the Mare Hotel is the ideal choice.

Located in Savona, between Genoa and the Côte d'Azur

Equipped with every comfort, including a private beach of fine sand, Mare Hotel has 67 rooms and is located just a few minutes from the centre of Savona. Its strategic location, halfway between Genoa and the Côte d'Azur, makes it the perfect destination for a break and the electric bicycles provided by the hotel are a great way to discover the Ligurian hinterland. 

Fine dining in the A Spurcacciun-a restaurant 

Mare Hotel's pride and joy is the fine dining A Spurcacciun-a restaurant, helmed by Chef Simone Perata, who with flair and creativity uses local products that arrive fresh daily from local fishermen, breeders and farmers. The Marea Savona bistro offers a more classic menu for light and tasty lunchs, or informal dinners with traditional Ligurian dishes.

A Sushi Bar and a seaview terrace

For fans of Japanese cuisine, Sushi Beach celebrates the freshest fish with sushi, sashimi, carpaccio, nigiri and tartare freshly prepared by Japanese chefs.  And for a refined aperitif or a romantic after dinner, the large panoramic terrace facing the sea is the ideal place from which to admire a sunset or the night sky wile sipping a cocktail by the pool. 

La Plage Resort, by the sea and overlooking the Isola Bella in Taormina, is a top choice for a spring break in a magical setting. 

Maldivian-style bungalows hidden among centuries-old pine trees

Inside a nature reserve and directly overlooking the beach, La Plage Resort has Maldivian-style bungalows hidden among centuries-old pine trees, a few steps from the cable car that leads directly to the centre of Taormina. The jacuzzis on the private terraces of the renovated suites, are ideal for spending relaxing moments in the privacy of your home away from home overlooking the blue Mediterranean. 

Sicilian and Mediterranean cuisine in the Fusion Restaurant and the Beach Club

"Over the past two years, we have used eco-friendly materials to upgrade facilities and the property, hidden as it is between the sea and the pine forest, offers guests something new every year," says Giuseppe Marchese, CEO Ragosta Hotels Collection.  The resort also stands out for the quality of its Sicilian and the Mediterranean cuisine, which is helmed by chef Giovanni Puglisi and to be enjoyed in the Fusion Restaurant or at the Beach Club, which is also the perfect place for an aperitif at sunset or for a special event. 

The Group’s Roman property is the Palazzo Montemarini 

Guests looking for total wellbeing will head for the gym and the Expure Spa, with a maxi jacuzzi, Turkish bath, massage room with dedicated treatments, relaxation area with herbal tea corner, and regenerating paths that combine the benefits of water with warm baths. La Plage Resort Taormina is part of the Ragosta Hotels Collection together with the Hotel Raito Amalfi Coast and the Relais Paradiso, both in Vietri sul Mare, as well as Palazzo Montemartini Rome, A Radisson Collection Hotel, next to the Baths of Diocletian in the centre of the capital. 

Italy is gearing up for summer 2023 with "Italia open to Meraviglia", a €9 million campaign in which Botticelli's Venus steps out from the famous painting, which hangs in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, to be seen in spectacular Italian destinations, wearing trendy contemporary outfits. 

The campaign will debut in Dubai in May

The campaign "Italia Open to Mraviglia" will debut in the United Arab Emirates at the ATN Dubai from May 1 to 4, on the stand of ENIT, the Italian national tourist board. The new artwork also includes the new italia.it logo, which features the Italian flag in the shape of a window wide open to the globe. The claim is "Open to meraviglia,” and the campaign is from the Armando Testa Group. It features different Italian locations with Venus in Venice lingering with her smartphone and wearing an elegant outfit, and Venus in Rome holding a bike with the Colosseum behind her.

Italia Open to Meraviglia - Venice

In 2022 visitors spent over 26 million euro

The campaign "Italia Open to Meraviglia" will target major international airports and railway hubs in Europe, the United States, Central and South America, China, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. In terms of tourist flows, Italy ended 2022 with a nearly complete recovery compared to 2019. In 2022, international visitors spent over €26 million in Italy, with Germany spending the most (€8,195 million), followed by the United States (€4,686), France (€3,907), the United Kingdom (€3,566), Spain (€2,332), Austria (€2,249), Switzerland (€2,115), Canada (€1,010), and Japan (€274 thousand).

“We will support all the actors involved”

“Enit is working with the Ministry for Tourism to achieve a unified and homogeneous vision of Italy that can involve and support all the actors involved,” says Ivana Jelinic, president and CEO of ENIT, the Italian national tourist board.