Fabio Datteroni is the new general manager of the boutique Hotel Lupaia, located in the Tuscan countryside of Val d'Orcia and owned by Heidi and Christopher Mueller. 

Has helmed resorts and 5-stars

Tuscan by birth, a native of Sinalunga, a small town just 20 kilometres from Lupaia, Datteroni boasts a career spanning over 15 years in Italian luxury hospitality. He has held key roles at the helm of numerous resorts and 5-star residences, such as Castello Banfi - Il Borgo, Castello del Nero Hotel & Spa, as well as significant experience at the helm of La Perla in Corvara, Terme di Saturnia and, more recently, La Palma in Capri.

"My Tuscan-ness is rooted in the local territory and traditions”

"My Tuscan-ness, which is rooted in the local territory and traditions, is what transforms every stay at Lupaia into an authentic journey through the beauties and peculiarities of this wonderful region," says Datteroni. "It is, therefore, a source of great satisfaction for me to take on this role."

Leonardo Hotels’ Nyx brand is to open in Rome in the former Hotel Cicerone.

The hotel is in Rome’s Prati district 

The Leonardo Hotels group has acquired the Cicerone Roma Hotel from Banco Bpm and, according to some insiders, the deal is expected to exceed €70 million. The property, located in the Prati, a downtown district in the Eternal City, will reopen at the start of 2025  following a complete renovation as Nyx Hotel Rome by Leonardo Hotels.

“We are ready for further expansion in Italy"

The Nyx Hotel Rome, with some 300 rooms on eight floors will have a restaurant, a bar, a courtyard with a terrace and a multi-storey car park. Three meeting rooms with a capacity of up to 100 people complete the offer. "We are delighted to have acquired this hotel in such a desirable location in the centre of Rome. With our first Nyx hotel in the capital, we are ready for further expansion in Italy," says Yoram Biton, managing director of Leonardo Hotels Central Europe.

With double-digit passenger growth driven by international traffic, Genoa Airport is ready to start building a connection with the future Genova Aeroporto-Erzelli railway station.

International traffic is up by 17%

Last April, passengers at Genoa’s Cristoforo Colombo Airport were almost 125,000, an increase of 12% over the same month last year. The inversion of the trend is also confirmed by Assaeroporti's figures for March 2024, which show a marked improvement compared to the first months of this year. The growth forecast of 2024 over the previous year is confirmed with the recovery chiefly driven by international traffic with an increase of 17% (against +10% for passengers on domestic flights).

KLM and Lufthansa operate from Amsterdam and Munich

This year the network includes 18 routes and among the summer novelties are the new SAS flight from Copenhagen and the doubling by KLM and Lufthansa who have introduced a second daily frequency with early morning departures for both Amsterdam and Munich. The domestic network includes flights to Bari, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Naples, Olbia (with Volotea and Alitalia), Palermo and Rome; the international network from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Manchester, Munich, Paris Orly and Tirana.

A new airport-railway connection

By the end of 2025, Genoa airport will be connected first to the railway and then to the maritime station, with an integrated mobility system designed for the needs of cruise passengers who choose the Ligurian capital as their home port. The first stage of the new integrated logistics system is the moving walkway between the Cristoforo Colombo airport and the future Erzelli/Aeroporto railway station, which will give passengers direct access to the terminal building. The project is estimated to cost some €29 million.

Connecting the station with the cruise terminal 

The second stage envisages the construction of a footbridge similar to the one at the airport, connecting Genoa's cruise terminal and the Porta Principe station.  The goal is to complete the connection by the time the Genoa Airport-Erzelli railway station comes into operation, which is scheduled for December 2025, with work scheduled to begin by the end of 2024. 

Interest grows from Europe, the US and South America for Sicani Villages.

An educational tour for select buyers

Following its success at the Mediterranean Tourism Exchange in Naples, Sicani Villages’ recently concluded an educational tour with a select group of top buyers from Europe, the United States and South America. This trip allowed the buyers to discover hidden treasures, experiencing firsthand the products and the local scene.

Foreign arrivals to Sicily are up 24.8% over 2022

The inbound flows to Sicily, presented earlier this year at the Bit 2024, confirmed an increase of 10.8% over 2022, with foreign arrivals growing by 24.8%. This trend is due in part to the lengthening of the tourist season and the diversification of the products of offer.

“Many of these arrivals want to discover their family roots”

Sicani Villages’s most popular packages include such local experiences as convivial dinners in home restaurants and the opportunity to immerse oneself in the local lifestyle as a true insider.  "Six months from the launch of the project we are increasingly convinced that it is important to offer experiences outside the usual itineraries,- says Laura Massoni, Pure Sicily. -This means allowing travellers to connect intimately with places and people. The United States and South America, especially Argentina, represent a significant share of the foreign market, many of these arrivals want to discover their family roots and discover authentic Sicilian places and communities."

Volotea has a new route from Brest to Rome Fiumicino with two frequencies a week, on Thursdays and Sundays.

Eight cities connected to Rome by Volotea 

The Spanish airline has put more than 20,000 seats on sale for the new route that expands its portfolio of destinations available to the Roman airport, helping to support the flow of incoming tourists eager to discover the Eternal City.  In 2024 eight cities are connected by Volotea to Fiumicino: one in Italy (Olbia), six in France (Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lourdes/Tarbes, Nantes and Srasbourg) and one in Spain (Bilbao).

“We are shortening the distance from France to Rome”

"We are further shortening the distance between France and Rome,- comments Valeria Rebasti, international market director, Volotea. -With the new connection, French tourists will have one more opportunity to organize a getaway to Rome and to discover art, history and good food. Brest enriches our bouquet of destinations, bringing to seven the number of international connections available to Rome Fiumicino, in addition to the important route in territorial continuity to and from Olbia.”

“Volotea confirms the attractiveness of our market”

"Volotea's growth once again confirms the attractiveness of our market - adds Federico Scriboni, head of aviation business development at Aeroporti di Roma. -The Brest flight further enriches the network of air connections to France, expanding the offer to as many as 16 destinations served directly from Rome Fiumicino during summer 2024."

The Sense Experience Resort is located in the picturesque Gulf of Follonica, in the heart of Tuscan Maremma. A luxury Tuscan retreat.