WORLD TRAVEL MARKET – ITALIAN TOURISM 

Evelina Christillin inaugurates the Italian stand at WTM

Food and wine, with its regional specialities. Sport that inspires emotions and unifies. Culture, that feeds the Italian style of life. Great events, showcase of a country full of treasures. Scenic natural landscapes that enchant in their variety with a particular attention to sustainability to enhance an extraordinary tourism offer.

These were the outstanding themes of our participation to the World Travel Market with a new stand, more modern and more representative of the new Enit, more capable of expressing, with a unified image, the variety of our Regions in terms of knowledge, communication and digital language.

The stand was inaugurated by our new President, Evelina Christillin, together with the Italian Ambassador to the UK, Pasquale Terracciano, and the Italian Under-Secretary for Tourism On. Dorina Bianchi. The President said: “ I am extremely proud to present a new Enit which brought together great cities, Regions and private tourism companies under the same Brand Italia, we will place a great deal of importance in promoting the historic hamlets in Italy that, together with our great art cities, are at the heart of our Country.”

Italy is number 1 in the world for culture and tourism according to the Country Brand Index, a yearly list compiled by FutureBrand based on the brand image of countries all over the world. Italy has the highest number of Unesco sites in the world (51) and the highest number of food and wine products with certified DOP, IGP and STG in Europe (285). Italy is desired but also appreciated: 82.4% of tourist to Italy have a positive “sentiment” towards our country, an enviable value that is testimony to the Italian flair in welcoming, engage and satisfy our tourists (Travelappeal 2016).

Fabio Maria Lazzerini, board member of Enit pointed out “ If I had to choose a definition for today I would say “Italy is back”, with a new stand, a new image, new strategies” and furthermore “We realize that tourism is evolving more and more into the “experiential” dimension, taking the distance  from simply visiting: what travellers ask from us today is to immerse themselves in our lifestyle, tasting in person the “Italian Way of Life”. According to this we have to use all the marketing tools to capture and interpret the tourist's needs, passions and peculiarities.  This approach coupled with analysis of “big data”, the exploitation of the digital media and social networks, the reinforcement of the market coverage (with particular attention to the emerging markets) and the realization of strategic partnership,  represent the fundamental stages of our future development.”

A special welcome was given by Claudio Ranieri, Leicester City FC Manager, by phone who remarked “I believe that between Italian and British citizens there is a mutual respect: they admire us for our creativity and dedication and we admire them for their ability to apply meritocracy”.