Over 100 sellers for 80 foreign buyers, the heads of national and territorial institutions, an evening of networking and conviviality, a day of work in an extraordinary location among Italian professionalism and passion.
Discover Italy, in the setting of the former Convent of the Annunziata in Sestri Levante, has turned on the lights, in this complex moment, on the potential of incoming in Italy.
“Tourism is an important value,” said Enit President Giorgio Palmucci, who attended the event, “not only with regard to the seaside areas but as a diversified national heritage including art, culture, nature and traditions. We collaborate with the Regions and territorial bodies to keep the sentiment of foreign visitors towards Italy high. Opportunities must be seized today to chart the future of the sector, which is destined to grow in the coming years”.
“Today the limitations are minimal and we are looking optimistically at the next winter season with protocols already in place,” added Maria Elena Rossi, Enit’s Marketing and Promotion Director. The summer has brought positive results and the major events have also started again. The new prospects for sustainability have highlighted how active, sports, food and wine and luxury tourism are the pillars of this recovery”.
Liguria, host of the event, welcomed sellers and buyers with excellent numbers.
There were 2,389,705 tourists in July and about 3 million in August who chose Liguria as their holiday destination. A record summer, which recorded an increase compared to 2019, the last season before the pandemic that had already consecrated our region among the favourite destinations for Italians and foreigners.
“The presences of Italian tourists – explained the Councillor for Tourism of Liguria Gianni Berrino – always compared to two summers ago, have increased by almost 5.5%. The same foreigners during the month of August have begun to reach our resorts reversing the initially negative trend compared to 2019. While there has been a drop in arrivals from the Russian Federation, Great Britain and intercontinental destinations, there has been a boom in arrivals and presences from Germany, with growth in August of over 56%, and from Switzerland with almost 60%. Arrivals from Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands were also up. Foreigners, however, have grown by 33% compared to 2020, in particular Germans (numbers obtained thanks to the processing of data from Liguria Digitale), were 92% more than last summer. Very particular was the trend of the Americans who were practically not present during 2020, while they returned to Liguria already at the beginning of June, registering a +96% in July.
The networking revealed a changed scenario compared to the pre-pandemic. Those who made groups now deal with individuals, those who managed Mice have now thrown themselves into leisure. Booking mechanisms have changed, prices are dynamic right up to the last second and adapt to the flow of demand. Those with budgets have returned to agencies for their trips and, beyond contracts, much is based on interpersonal relationships between partners.
In the evolution, however, one fact remains unchanged: Italy is the dream of all foreigners.
