Innovazione

✈ Virgin Atlantic collaborates with Joby Aviation to offer electric air taxi service to London Heathrow and Manchester airports. Supporting Joby's efforts for certification, Virgin will market the service and advocate for vertical landing areas at airports. The four-seater electric aircraft can cover routes up to 160 kilometers, potentially reducing Heathrow to Canary Wharf travel from 80 to just 8 minutes. Joby, also partnered with Delta following a $60 million investment, plans a UK network with competitive pricing.

🚢 Avalon Waterways by 2026 will revamp its entire fleet of European river cruise ships to meet luxury standards. This year, Avalon Artistry II, Avalon Impression, Avalon Illumination, Avalon Tapestry II, and Avalon Tranquility II will undergo renovation. In 2026, Avalon Expression and Avalon Visionary will be updated. Upgrades include new interiors, chic outdoor spaces with new furnishings, a second Starlink antenna for enhanced Wi-Fi, an improved Observation Lounge, updated fitness rooms with Kinesis weight machines, 15 new pedal bikes, and 4 new e-bikes. Pam Hoffee, the company's president, emphasizes the goal of perfectly designed cruises with these fleet enhancements.

✈ Air France unveils new La Première suite to be introduced on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in the coming months, with the first flight to New York-JFK in spring and expanded destinations like Los Angeles, Singapore, and Tokyo-Haneda by summer 2025. Benjamin Smith, President of Air France and CEO of Air France-KLM, highlights the suite's ground and in-flight private experiences, with nearly 3.5 square meters of personal space, 25% more than current cabins, and features such as a full-flat bed of two meters by 75 centimeters, five windows for lateral suites, sliding electric partitions for center suites, two 32-inch 4K screens, noise-canceling headphones, Bluetooth connectivity, 110V/220V electrical outlets, USB ports, wireless charging, and upcoming ultra-fast connectivity across the fleet.

📖 Claudia Randazzo, CEO of Trinity Viaggi Studio, notes a significant post-Covid resurgence in language travel. Adults, in addition to school-age children, are increasingly seeking courses abroad to enhance language proficiency and earn job-useful certifications. Trinity now offers tailor-made individual packages, including 5-star hotel stays, prestigious schools with one-on-one lessons, and sports experiences. They've also launched 'alternative' destinations for language study like the UAE, South Africa, Mauritius, and China, mainly targeting traveled teens seeking new experiences.

🍰 Guglielmo Cavezza, master pastry chef from Naples, won the 4th edition of the Mille&UnBabà contest with his innovative "Italo" babà. Praised for blending tradition and experimentation, Cavezza received 1000 kg of Mulino Caputo flour and €1000. The jury, including Sal De Riso and Gennaro Esposito, was impressed by his use of rosemary, basil, blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry. The event at Grand Hotel Vesuvio in Naples showcased international talent with unconventional ingredients like Argentine gin and fresh lucuma.

🏖️; Summer will see the resurgence of holiday village formula, appealing increasingly to families, according to Belinda Coccia, commercial director of Futura Vacanze, and Rabeea Ansari, managing director Southern Europe and emerging market for Club Med. Tradition and innovation are balanced, with tour operators investing in customer experience enhancements. Long-haul destinations remain popular, with Club Med sales about 70% long-haul, while Veratour's CEO Stefano Pompili highlights Egypt and Tunisia as exceptional performers.

🚂 Trenitalia's Business AV director, Pietro Diamantini, highlights the Italian railway sector's evolution with a focus on growing tourism influenced by international travelers and 'bleasure' trends, combining work and leisure. Trenitalia invested €1.3 billion in new trains, including the Frecciarossa TR1000-14000 set to enter service in October with a 40% increase in Executive class seats and enhanced onboard services. International expansion features the Milan-Paris route resuming on April 1, Paris-Marseille in June, and plans for a Milan-Rome-Munich connection by 2026, with growth in Spain also noted. Digital innovation will improve onboard Wi-Fi and entertainment, plus a user-friendly app for premium service bookings. Infrastructure enhancements in Southern Italy aim to streamline travel with upgrades like the Napoli-Bari route, increasing connections to Pompei, the Amalfi Coast, and Gulf islands. The Trenitalia Pass will enable travel agents to create customized travel packages for foreign visitors.

🚢 Busitalia announces a €44 million investment for 111 next-generation buses by summer, under CEO Serafino Lo Pane. The FS group company focuses on intermodality, including lake ferries on Lake Trasimeno and airport connections to Salerno, Perugia, and Orio al Serio for Brescia and Verona. They also plan new Dolomite links from Padova to Cortina. Aiming to enhance Italian tourism accessibility, they seek collaboration with travel agencies and online platforms to provide integrated services.

🚗 Busitalia (Gruppo FS) will deliver 111 new buses by 2025 with an investment of €44 million. The announcement was made at the BMT - Borsa Mediterranea del Turismo in Naples, by CEO Serafino Lo Piano. The buses feature ergonomic seats, USB/USB-C and 230V sockets, Wi-Fi, and accessibility for disabled persons, with 360° cameras and digital mirrors on some models. New strategic connections will enhance sustainable mobility, including Airlink services from Verona Porta Nuova and Brescia to Orio al Serio Airport starting April 14, and improved navigation on Lago Trasimeno with increased daily links beginning March 30, 2025.

💸 Uvet reported a positive trend for February's Business Travel Trend (BTT) Travel Value at 103, a 6-point increase from February 2024. The BTT Transactions rose by 5 points year-over-year. Average spending remained stable at 127. Flight BTT Travel Value reached 90 in February 2025, up from 84 in February 2024, with national flights increasing by 13 points year-over-year. Rail and Hotel BTT Travel Value both grew by 8 points. Car Rental BTT Transactions and Travel Value were stable, with average spending up by 3 points. Analysis over five years highlights the pandemic impact, with transaction indices at 31 and 33 in '20 and '21, but recovering to 62 and 73 in '22 and '23, respectively. Average prices peaked in '22 (index 127). The 2023 and 2024 data show signs of easing inflation. The indices are based on a consistent sample from a mix of large, medium, and small companies using Uvet GBT services from 2019-2024, covering air and rail transport, hotel stays, and car rentals, excluding variables like new client acquisition. The BTT reflects overall Business Travel trends, not just Uvet GBT performance.