ITB 2022: ENIT offers previews of new tourism guidelines
PRESS RELEASE
ITB 2022: ENIT OFFERS PREVIEWS OF NEW TOURISM GUIDELINES
ACCESSIBILITY, SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION ARE THE KEY WORDS
TOURISM MINISTER MASSIMO GARAVAGLIA PRESENT REMOTELY
Italy offered a sneak peek of several points of its tourism plan up till 2030 at the ITB tourism exhibition, the most important B2B trade fair dedicated to tourism in Germany until 10 March, where ENIT and MITUR are present, with Minister Massimo Garavaglia as their remote representative. ENIT brought the regions and tour operators together in a planned synergy that centres environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability, innovation and digitalisation. These pillars imply a rethinking of the future, involving the public and private sector and a strong internal and external communication ecosystem, supported by new technologies. Accountability and reliability are more crucial than ever to restoring traveller confidence, along with the tourist pass being discussed in Europe. Thanks to its digital ecosystem, first in terms of engagement among European tourism offices, and its activities aimed at potential tourists and tour operators from all over the planet, ENIT and Italy are focused on a relaunch.
ENIT is supporting the private sector, as well as public-private partnerships, with various calls for tenders and is working to facilitate access to funding and economic resources for travel entrepreneurs. Thus Italy, with the National Tourist Board, has made a stop in Germany, which is the leading country in terms of tourist presence and expenditure: more than 7.6 billion euros of revenue in Italy in 2019 with an increase of +7.4% compared to 2018 and a 17.2% share of the international total. Germany is in fact historically the main source of tourist arrivals to Italy. German travellers recorded almost 59 million nights in Italian accommodation establishments in the pre-pandemic period, accounting for 26.6% of the international total. Their favourite regions continue to be Trentino-Alto Adige with 19 million arrivals, Veneto with 16 million and Lombardy with 5.2 million. Together they reach a share of about 69% of the total. Accommodation structures welcome 53.6% of the tourist inflow from Germany, with 31.5 million pre-Covid nights. In non-hotel establishments, the 27.2 million overnight stays were up 2.4% with respect to 2018. ENIT is increasingly focused on the paradigms of accessibility, sustainability and innovation, with which it connotes its action, and has planned dozens of events and initiatives to showcase the beauty of “Made in Italy” in synergy with the regions on the virtual platform. Domestic travellers will support the recovery together with neighbouring European countries, such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, who have shared strong ties for many decades. The international situation underlines the importance of domestic and proximity tourism flows for a full recovery by 2024.
"The DACH area represents the main tourist catchment area, confirming the preference of Italian destinations including during and after the pandemic, maintaining around 60% of foreign overnight stays, the main share of international inflow to Italy. In 2022, we are focusing on big cities, as hubs for growing international tourism to become more sustainable, slow and outdoor tourism, and promoting trips off the beaten tourist track. We think that tourists will still be cautious, even without Covid restrictions, so the outdoors and caravanning are growing even more,” says Roberta Garibaldi, ENIT CEO. “ENIT has never stopped its activities, carrying out its tourism plan and providing reliable information on the developments of the pandemic, on the security measures of many Italian destinations, and on the tourism industry,” says Giorgio Palmucci, ENIT President.
Francesca Cicatelli
ENIT Press Office
Phone: (+39) 392.9225216
e-mail: francesca.cicatelli@enit.it