Pupils from ten schools in the provinces of Venice, Padua and Rovigo are the protagonists of the Veneto Region's educational pilot project, which aims to promote awareness of tourism and sustainability. 

A combined effort

The idea cones from the Veneto Region Tourism Directorate and foresees the participation of the International Centre for Civilization of Aqua Onlus and the UNESCO World Network of Water Museums. The project is part of the European strategic project, supported by the Italia-Croatia Interreg program, in which Veneto participates together with another 6 Italian and 5 Croatian regional bodies. 

High hopes for the younger generation

Veneto’s Commissioner for Tourism, announcing the launch of the initiative, said that the project aims at training young people by actively involving them and stimulating their creativity on the themes of slow, accessible and sustainable tourism.

Hard Rock Cafe Italia with its Italian three locations, Florence, Rome and Venice, has become a benchmark for the tourism industry and for inbound operators thanks to its unique hospitality model and the experiences it offers customers.

 Gala dinners, fashion shows, team building and more

In the past 50 years, since the opening of the first London Cafe in 1971, Hard Rock Cafe has become a true icon not just for lovers of music and good food, but also for all those who fall under the spell of the Hard Rock myth. The Italian cafes, while remaining faithful to their origins, have become increasingly popular venues for private events, corporate meetings, training courses, gala dinners, fashion shows, events for the launch of new products, team building, birthday parties, weddings and much more.

 Courses for school children in total safety

This autumn saw the educational courses starting again in total safety and in compliance with national health regulations. Once again they tell the story of the Temple of Rock to hundreds of classes, giving their younger fans an all-embracing experience surrounded by the memorabilia of the greatest music stars of the last 50 years.

Courses in sustainable development and digital citizenship

In addition to the now traditional music, food and cuisine educational classes, for the school year 2021-2022 each café will focus on certain themes. For example in the Florence cafe the subject will be sustainable development, and focus on the objectives of the 2030 Agenda through the history and experiences of Hard Rock Café. Digital citizenship is another topic which will be addressed to understand how and what to communicate respectfully and consciously.

The history of rock for school goers

At the Rome cafe the novelty this autumn is about how great music festivals have contributed and been an integral part of the evolution of customs and society and, in some cases, have witnessed and been an integral part of epoch-making changes around the world. At the Venice cafe the 15 songs that have made the history of rock, and why they have become part of everyday life, will be explained to the children taking part in the courses.

PromoTourismFVG. Forward thinking and quick reactions spell success this summer

German visitors made a welcome return to the Friuli Venezia Giulia region this year, arriving as early as 2 June. But, while other regions had a good summer thanks to domestic arrivals, Friuli Venezia registered a slump in Italian visitors, a drop that was handsomely compensated by the German and Austrian markets. “Unfortunately we lost out on the Italian market and also on traditional visitors from Hungary and Poland due not just to Covid but also to economic problems. German arrivals made all the difference and we had a really bumper summer.” said Bruno Bertero, Marketing Director PromoTourismFVG, the region’s tourism development and operations agency.

The season ran to mid-October and choices shifted towards minor attractions

Summer continued on a positive trend, and unexpectedly extended after 15 August into September and up to 15 October. “Our operators changed their work methods and, rather than closing on 15 September and despite the problems they had finding staff, they were ready for the challenge and really pulled it off. The other novelty was that choices shifted, with people not only taking seaside holidays but also requesting our art cities and above all our smaller cities, UNESCO sites and towns and villages.”

“Operators dropped their dependence on the OTAs by at least 20-25%”

During the lockdown ProTurismoFVG worked on new strategies, preparing operators and creating a wide range of new products. In August arrivals were up by 90-95% over 2019, with many hotels running at 110% occupancy. Digitalization was widely adopted with very positive results. “Our operators worked very well by going directly to the market. They dropped their dependence on the OTAs by at least 20-25%, embracing direct distribution and handling their own revenues, pricing and distribution.

In-house training and a dedicated staff

“The lockdown months gave us a chance to do specialized training and the operators were pleasantly surprised by the cost savings. We do tin-house courses, deciding on which projects we need to concentrate. I know my operator’s requirements, and I give them with what they need to succeed. We have a staff of six who respond to every single market request; Promoturismo FVG is dedicated to providing mediation between local operators and buyers.”

“The British market really wants to return”

Bertero is confident that the 2021/22 winter season can be a success, but only if the issue of access to the ski slopes is resolved. He added that if limitations persist, working together with local operators they will find a way to overcome them “What we really need, and what we are asking for is to be kept in the picture. Now we are only getting partial information and this is holding us back. Hopefully the classical markets will return and Europe will restart. England has always been an important market for us and we know the British really want to return.”

Transavia started operations on the new Rome-Paris Orly route on 22 October. With this new route, the low cost airline of the Air France-KLM group, continues its growth and connects Europe’s major cities.

“We want to offer more city break destinations”

“We are very pleased to launch this new route which allows our Italian customers to enjoy Paris,” said Nicolas Hénin, CCO Transavia France. “What we want is to offer more city break destinations to our passengers. We have many expectations for this route, which is why the service will be extended to next summer.” 

Rome-Paris Orly fares start from €34 one way including taxes

Transavia will operate up to four weekly Rome-Paris Orly flights on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with fares starting from €34 (including taxes) one way. This winter the city of Nantes will also be accessible from the Italian capital with Transavia operating two weekly flights (Thursday and Sunday). Passengers departing from Rome can also fly to Rotterdam with Transavia on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The American company based in New York, Miami and Los Angeles is part of the APG network of the world’s main GSA companies in over 170 countries. The partnership will promote Welcome to Italy in the North American market through a customized sales platform aimed at the network of 45,000 travel agencies affiliated with APG. 

Interfacing with international distribution channels

The US travel agencies will have direct access to the Welcome to Italy platform from which they will be able to manage the catalogue of products and services and offer them to customers with the desired mark-up. "Thanks to this agreement with APG our group will be interfacing with important international distribution channels,” said Massimiliano Cossu, Portale Sardegna’s Managing Director.  

Sharing Italian knowhow with the US market

“The partnership not only opens Welcome to Italy to the North American market it also means entering into significant strategic partnerships with historical providers of the international tourism chain. We will be sharing our tourism knowhow with American operators who have preferred Italy for their customers for decades, allowing American tourists to benefit from authentic and original travel experiences.”  

The 23rd edition of the only exhibition dedicated to archaeological heritage will be held in the Cafasso Tobacco Factory and Paestum’s Archaeological Park from 25 to 28 November. This unique international archaeological heritage exhibition is an occasion to study and debate cultural heritage and tourism, a meeting place for business, leisure and cultural operators and a workshop for foreign buyers.

Over 100 exhibitors from 20 countries

The successful format has the collaboration of international organizations such as UNESCO and UNWTO and counts 10,000 visitors, 100 exhibitors from 20 countries, 70 conferences and meetings, 300 speakers, 120 operators and 100 journalists. Special sections include ArcheoExperience dealing with experimental archaeology and the reproduction of techniques used in the past to create daily use artefacts, and ArcheoIncoming, an exhibition area and workshop with tour operators who promote Italian tourist-archaeological destinations. 

A prize for the discovery of the year 

ArcheoMeetings is a space for press conferences and presentations of cultural and territorial development projects, and the International Archaeological Discovery Khaled al-Asaad Award is for the most important discovery of the year and is named after an ancient Palmyra archaeologist.

Sicily ranked sixth among the most beautiful islands in the world, in the annual ranking of the World's Best Award by Travel + Leisure, finishing behind the top two islands in Greece, Milos and Folegandros, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Lesser Antilles, Madeira in Portugal and the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This is a particularly significant result because to draw up the ranking readers are asked to rate their travel experience, taking into account a series of factors from hospitality, to the sea, food, culture and places to visit.

In the top ten for the second consecutive year

Alberto Sarmonà, Regional Councillor for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, commented on the ranking: "This is an important recognition, above all for the fact that our island was included in the prestigious top-ten for the second consecutive year, climbing three positions compared to 2020 when it finished in ninth place. At last the world is realising how special Sicily is for its nature, landscapes and cultural beauties. This is what we have to offer visitors and the regional government is working tirelessly, focusing on our unique beauty to build our future.”  

But what is it about Sicily that won over the readers of Travel + Leisure? What gives the region the edge is above all its immense cultural heritage. “We have ancient Greek and Roman sites and museums, wonderful friendly people, and the best food you will ever taste” and  "The coastal cities are as beautiful as any you can imagine," are just two of the comments that were made by Travel + Leisure readers.

Sicily is indeed a true treasure trove of stunning attractions from the Gulf of Patti to Mondello Beach, from the Valley of the Temples to the Scala dei Turchi, from Modica to Taormina, from the Gulf of Aci Trezza to Mount Etna, and we could go on…..    

Italy has had a much better summer than last year, driven by the performance of seaside and leisure destinations and thanks to an unprecedented domestic demand.  Hotels too are showing signs of life again with a higher occupancy than they recorded in 2020. But the summer cannot cancel the difficulties of an industry facing an emergency that has not yet been fully resolved. If, on the one hand, tourism showed its resilience, on the other there are serious critical issues that cannot be ignored. One such is business travel which remains flat despite some recent timid signs of recovery, while visitors to the art cities are growing although levels are still a very far cry from those of the pre-Covid era.

The lockdowns have led to a lack of qualified resources for the hotel industry

However it is not just the fluctuations in demand that are worrying Italian hoteliers as the long lockdowns have also generated a widespread lack of qualified resources. According to Fipe-Confcommercio, the Italian bar, restaurant and catering federation, during the peak season hotels and restaurants had to manage with a hundred thousand fewer workers. In fact many staff moved on to other job, even taking less remunerative offers that are perceived as safer and more reliable.  

50% of tourism in Italy depends on business travel which is substantially absent

“The V-curve of the recovery recorded in July and especially in August was mainly driven by domestic flows and some European arrivals, but it cannot and must not mislead us,” said Giovanna Manzi, CEO  Bwh Hotel Group Italy. “A good 50 percent of tourism in Italy depends on business travel, which at the moment is substantially absent. Corporate travel is also vital for the so-called Big Four, Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice, which account for almost 40 percent of Italy’s tourism turnover. So there is little to celebrate, even if the summer went well overall, but we had a difficult spring and the prospects for the autumn remain uncertain.” In July Bwh Hotel Group Italy’s turnover was 39 percent lower than in 2019, while August approached pre-Covid levels (-13%). During the first eight months of the year the company's turnover remained 60% lower than in the same period pre-Covid.

The Green Pass, a useful tool we hope will be extended

For Luca Boocato, CEO of Hnh Hospitality, the glass is a little more than half full. "Given the circumstances I would say that this summer was decidedly positive: especially for seaside destinations that fared better than expected as did secondary locations like Verona and Trieste. But yes, the main destinations such as Rome and Milan did suffer, and while Venice pulled up slightly it is far removed from 2019 levels.” Another challenge for Hnh Hospitality over the last 18 months has been the constantly changing regulatory context added Boccato. Hnh Hospitality’s seaside properties exceeded the 2019 season by 18.5 percent.  The art cities of Rome, Trieste, Verona and Venice also posted good results while business hotels in Mestre, Verona, San Giovanni Lupatoto, Bologna and Padua did not fare so well due to the contraction in business and MICE demand. "The Green pass has proved to be a useful and effective tool and we hope it will be extended as necessary."