The Omnia Group’s Shangri-La Roma’s new convention centre has opened.

A centre for private and corporate events

The Omnia Hotels Group recently celebrated the inauguration of its new Shangri-La Roma convention centre which has 13 meeting rooms equipped with cutting-edge technology for private and corporate events. There are also two plenary rooms, each of which can be divided into a further three spaces, a hall of around 400 sqm for catering services, an outdoor area with a terrace, and further rooms inside the hotel.  

The Omnia Group has eight properties in Rome

"This has been a complex project and we have given the city an important facility with all the appropriate services; we are now working on the new restaurant and the swimming pool," said Francesco Lazzarini, CEO of the Roman company that today boasts eight properties in its portfolio, all located in Rome, " We continue to invest in the city, for example with the new St. Martin Hotel and the Rose Garden Palace, which was completely renovated following the acquisition, as well as the Hotel Imperiale, which will open again on Via Veneto by the end of the year. Renovations on our latest acquisition next to the Opera House will also begin shortly: it will be called the Aria Palace, in homage to the opera."

Air Transat returns to the skies over Venice where it resumed seasonal connections from Toronto on 3 May, and from Montréal on 5 May. 

An extra summer flights on the Toronto-Venice route

These new flights will operate until October 2024 and this summer there is an extra flight on the route from Toronto: two weekly flights from Toronto and two weekly flights from Montréal will thus be operating.

“All flights are available on the GDS”

“Venice is strategic for the growth of the North-East basin," says Tiziana Della Serra, MD of Rephouse Gsa, which represents the airline in Italy. "This summer we have the novelty of doubling the connections from Venice to Toronto. The Toronto-Venice restarted on 3 May with one weekly flight (Friday) which, from 10 June will become two flights a week (Friday and Monday). The Montreal-Venice route restarted on 5 May with one weekly flight on Sunday and from 13 June there will be two flights a week, on Sundays and Thursdays. All flights are available on the GDS.”

“Venice is important for leisure, business and family reunion travel”

"We are very satisfied with the close relationship with Air Transat which, for the summer season is again operating  as in 2022 services,  but doubling the weekly flights to Toronto" - says Camillo Bozzolo, director of aviation development of the Save Group. -For the Venice airport catchment area Canada is an important market, with traffic volumes fueled by leisure, business and family reunion travel." 

Palazzo Castelluccio in Noto is the third Sicilian property for the Rocco Forte Group.   

Palazzo Castelluccio is in a UNESCO site 

Palazzo Castelluccio in  the town of Noto (Sicily), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was owned by Jean-Louis Remilleux, a French television producer, who after the acquisition in 2011 invested in a complete renovation of the palace, which lasted about four years. 

Rocco Forte has three properties in Sicily

From 2017 the palace was managed by the Grand Tour Foundation and opened to the public in 2018. The opening of the new property with its 60 rooms is planned for 2026.  In Sicily Rocco Forte already has the Verdura Resort in Sciacca and the Villa Igiea in Palermo.

Emirates is offering 18% more capacity on its Dubai-Rome route as demand grows in double figures.

Emirates’ traffic into Rome is growing

The airline is stepping up its commitment on routes between Dubai and Italy and boosting the use of the A380 on both its daily Rome-Dubai frequencies to increase its capacity by 18%. This step is linked to the strong demand for leisure traffic to Rome. Italy, in fact, particularly attracts tourists from Australia, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. In the last six months, passenger traffic from Australia has increased by 76%, that from Korea has risen by 85% and traffic from Japan has increased by 158%.

2,200 additional seats per week 

From May, the A380 replaced the Boeing 777; the EK95/EK96 service providing 14 seats in First Class, 76 in Business Class and 427 seats in Economy Class for a total of some 2,200 additional seats per week to and from Rome. In total, Emirates will offer 14,476 weekly seats on both Dubai-Rome routes, an 18% increase in capacity.

“In six months we have carried 17,000 more passengers” 

"Taking only the inbound flows from Australia, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia in the last six months, Emirates has carried 17,000 more passengers to Rome compared to the same period last year - explains Flavio Ghiringhelli, Emirates country manager Italy.  -This is an important increase that has prompted us to boost Emirates' presence at Fiumicino Airport with a second flight operated by the A380. The growing demand for seats from our customers travelling to Dubai and to the destinations served by our global network favours commercial relations between Italy and the destination countries, allows us to offer an even better service and consolidate the strategic role of this gateway within our network, and we can only be enthusiastic about this." 

Ryanair’s 19th Italian base is Trieste, and the airline is introducing 7 new destinations.

A new Boeing 737 8-200

Trieste Airport is the airline’s 19th base in Italy and it gets a new Boeing 737 8-200, a $100 million dollar investment. The airline is serving a network of 18 routes this summer, including seven new routes, six of which are international to Berlin, Brindisi, Budapest, Krakow, Paris and Seville; and domestic to Olbia, in Sardinia.

Ryanair’s growth will create 600 new jobs

"Ryanair has responded promptly to the Friuli Venezia Giulia region's abolishing of the unjustified municipal-tourist tax by allocating a new 8-200 Gamechanger aircraft – said the airline’s CEO, Eddie Wilson. -Ryanair's growth in terms of capacity, and the seven new routes will boost the region's economic growth with the creation of 600 local jobs".

“The summer season has got off to a very good start”

"The summer season, which started on 31 March, has got off to a very good start and is already posting a positive trend. - said the CEO of Trieste Airport, Marco Consalvo. -Thanks to this operation with Ryanair we are offering new travel opportunities for residents and inbound tourism is strengthened thanks to connections to new strategic markets for Friuli Venezia Giulia, such as Germany, Poland, France and Spain.”

ImmaTravel has 26 tours dedicated to discovering a less conventional Basilicata.

“We believe in thinking locally and acting globally”

Imma Travel’s 26 itineraries are designed to satisfy every type of visitor: from families to individual travellers, and from groups to nature lovers. And all the products are aimed at both Italian and international agencies. "For years I have nurtured the dream of making Italy known in a way that is different from how it is perceived and promoted,- says Anna Bruno, co-founder, together with the operator’s communications and marketing manager Anna Maria Malaspina. -And so together we embraced this challenge. We believe in thinking locally and acting globally, and as a result we are packaging some of our travel experiences also for international operators.” 

Imma Travel specializes in tailor-made itineraries 

"We have many requests from all over Italy, and we were surprised by the significant number of bookings coming from the Centre North, generated by travel agencies looking for a less-commercial Basilicata,- adds co-founder and sales manager, Anna Maria Malaspina. -We are, therefore, further stimulated to propose exclusive and tailor-made itineraries to our travel agent colleagues all over Italy and beyond.” 

The story of Venice’s Bauer gets a new twist as it passes into the hands of the Schoeller Group. 

Schoeller is a Swiss-German group

A few weeks ago news appeared in local newspapers that King Street Capital Management, the main financier of the collapsed Austrian group Signa, had taken control of the Bauer Hotel, with the intention of putting it on the market soon. Now Italy’s leading financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reports that the hotel has passed into the hands of the Swiss-German group Schoeller, along with two other Bolzano assets, the Walther Park and the Viva Virgolo company, already owned by Signa.

The sale is subject to approval by banks and regulators

The sale, the details of which were not disclosed, is subject to approval by banks and regulators and is expected to close in the coming months. In 2020 Signa had bought the Bauer, a luxury hotel overlooking the Grand Canal, obtaining a €135m loan from Raiffeisen to finance its renovation. But work stopped at the end of last year when Signa's collapsed.