Destination Italia is launching new projects to attract high-spending travelers.
Attracting high-spending tourist flows
“The summer season has confirmed the solidity of our experiential incoming model, positioning Destination Italia as a leader in attracting high-spending tourist flows, contrasting with the slowdown experienced in certain areas of the luxury segment,” says Dina Ravera, president of Destination Italia, painting a positive picture of the season that has just closed. "We had positive results from proximity markets - the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal - accompanied by promising signs from high-spending markets such as the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia. Flows also resumed from China and India, also thanks to the opening of our office in Shanghai, which gives us a direct and constant presence. Long-haul markets such as the United States, Oceania and Latin America remain remarkably resilient, supported by a strengthening of our market shares. We are also working on opening a new office in Brazil, with the aim of consolidating our presence on the South American continent.
Positive trends
The average spend per booking also did well, with a significant increase of +20% for the Destination Italia brand and +30% for the SONO brand, focused on high-end experience travel. "This figure reflects the growing centrality of the experiential component. Our Local Expert project, which involves local figures to build authentic and tailored experiences, is proving to be a very effective asset. Our customers are looking for value, authenticity and personalization, and are willing to invest in exclusive content if they perceive uniqueness, quality and attention to detail".
The future
With this in mind, Destination Italia looks to the future with confidence, "sustained by constant growth that has strengthened our position in key markets. In particular, we expect a further expansion of demand from North America, where we are already present with an operative office in New York. We also have good expectations for the Asian market, also thanks to the recent opening of the office in Shanghai, and from the Latin American market thanks to the planned opening next year of an office in Brazil. At TTG in Rimini we will present this international growth strategy as part of a broader plan: to strengthen Italy's leadership in quality experiential tourism, building direct bridges between global demand and the authentic heart of our territories. This model is able to offer competitive and distinctive responses based on proximity, personalization, and in-depth knowledge of the area, culture, art, food and wine, sports, craftsmanship, and design heritage of each individual Italian territory. All this thanks to the use of advanced technological tools and the physical presence of our sales network internationally which is always ready to immediately intercept the desires, changes and new requirements of each specific market".
The projects
"In addition to the constant strengthening of our sales network and our proprietary technological platform, we are engaged in projects with a high territorial impact. In particular, thanks to tenders won in recent months, we will start redeveloping two historic buildings in the municipalities of Frontino and Pietrarubbia, turning them into experiential hospitality venues. It is not just a matter of recovering old buildings, but of generating value for the community and boosting the economy and the local culture and identity. The launch of the partnership with the association “I Borghi più belli d'Italia” (Italy's Most Beautiful Small Towns) and with the association of the “Cammini di Nicola Caracciolo” (Nicola Caracciolo's Paths) is also part of this as these two associatipons share with us the desire for an authentic Italy, on a human scale. We are working on a joint programme that puts together cultural, landscape and sustainable experiences, linked to territories that are often off the radar of mass tourism.”
