On 15 October Italy, with the Italian National Tourism Agency (Enit), will launch the first flagship store on the Asian market on the Ctrip platform - an innovative commercial exercise aimed at representing and promoting the evolution of Italy's tourism image. Found on the Chinese digital platform Ctrip, of the Trip.com Group a world leader in the travel industry, it consists of other platforms such as Skyscanner, and involves the Italian regions and art cities, increasing the visibility of the Italian brand on the Chinese digital system.

A ground-breaking move

This move leverages the industry-leading technology and vast user base of the global travel group to connect directly with Chinese travellers. The Flagship Store is an official showcase for the destination, and an integrated presentation tool for Italy’s image. The page will be displayed when future Chinese tourists look for inspiration to give shape to their travel dreams in the Bel Paese.

The collaboration of the Italian regions

By aggregating the contents provided by the Italian regions participating in the project, the Flagship Store Italia on Ctrip contains travel itineraries, promotional videos and information on destinations. The promotional platform is also developed in an app version for mobile devices.

Italy as a trailblazer

Italy is one of the first countries in the world invited to have its own official profile on this platform. The initiative is part of a broader strategy developed by the Italian Tourist Board for positioning on Chinese digital platforms, a strategy that includes an important presence on all major social media.

Digital investments put Italy on the world stage. Palmucci

"Digital has become an incentive to increase the users' interest in new forms of tourism, such as virtual guided visits to museums, theatrical performances or online concerts. Investments in merchandising and platforms are firmly positioning Italy on the world stage,” said Enit’s president Giorgio Palmucci.

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.