The Cultural Heritage of ENIT SpA

The Italian national tourist board, ENIT SPA, has a highly specialised cultural heritage relating to the tourist industry and promotion of Italian tourism in the world, with collections of books, documentaries and iconography dating back even before its foundation, in 1919, and relevant not only to its own history but also and above all to that of the country.

In 2019, to mark the 100th anniversary of its establishment, ENIT, in agreement with the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendency of the Lazio region, launched a complex and in-depth programme of study and recovery of the memory of its cultural heritage, which we now know to be composed of:

1. a document collection of over 4,000 linear metres;
2. an iconography collection of over 200,000 images, including historical posters, slides, photos, negatives, films, and more);
3. a book collection of over 14,000 volumes, housed in its library.

The material is rich and diverse, in content as well as in format, and reflects and testifies to the changes and events that have shaped ENIT, from its establishment to the present day, in fulfilment of its mission, namely to promote Italian tourism by increasing its attractiveness.

ENIT's Historical Archive - document and iconography collection - is continuously expanding thanks to an ambitious auditing, archiving, cataloguing and digitisation project which is still ongoing.

To date, the part available for viewing is divided into the paper section, for which a summary inventory exists, and the already digitised section. Currently, the digital section is composed of the iconography collection, consisting of 140,000 images, physically stored at the headquarters in Rome.

For information on the digital photo or historical document archive and on possible use of ENIT documents for showcasing, promotion or study/research activities, please email patrimonio.culturale@enit.it.

Explore the digital photo archive.

The ENIT virtual exhibition portal is the fruit of a desire to create a space to showcase the iconography collection.

Promuovere la Bellezza and Promuovere la Bellezza. Venezia 1600 are two visual immersive tours created respectively for the centenary of the foundation of ENIT and for the 1600th anniversary of the founding of Venice.

Explore the virtual exhibitions.

Paper catalogues of both these exhibitions have been produced, also for online viewing.

Download the catalogue In the Name of Beauty. ENIT: 100 years of cultural policy and tourism strategy in Italy

Download the catalogue IN THE NAME OF BEAUTY. VENEZIA 1600

For information and to propose the organisation of new virtual exhibitions: patrimonio.culturale@enit.it

The volumes in the ENIT Library can be browsed on the OPAC system, part of the Roma Capitale SBNCloud Pole and on the collective catalogue system of the libraries of the National Library Service.

For info: biblioteca@enit.it