Innovazione

🚢 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.

🏖️ Casa Cook, a premium lifestyle hospitality brand, launched in 2016 in Rhodes, is set to open its first Italian facility in Madonna di Campiglio in June. The brand, which has expanded into Greece, Egypt, and Turkey, joins the portfolio of four existing Casa Cook hotels. Goldman Sachs Asset Management Company acquired the Casa Cook and Cook’s Club brands in May 2023, marking a new growth phase. The Madonna di Campiglio hotel, managed by Treasurests Hospitality Group and part of the Jp Hospitality division of Hospitality Investors Club, will feature 50 design rooms, a gym, spa, and an innovative boot room. Three-star Michelin chef Jacob Jan Boerma will oversee the culinary experience. Design is a collaboration between Casa Collective Ltd and Remo Marsala, founder of Vision Alphabet. Future expansions in Italy may include seaside locations like Sicily and Marina di Pisa, while in Europe, potential growth areas are Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, and Portugal.

📈 Going, launched in 2022, eyes 2025 with ambitions to increase its revenue from €33 million in 2024 to over €45 million. Maurizio Casabianca, the chief commercial & operations officer, highlights the growth, tripling pre-Covid figures. Growth drivers include a synergy with Disney, positioning Going as the official distributor in Italy for Walt Disney World Orlando. Combinations with Disney World and authentic experiences are spearheaded by Ivana Di Stasio, focusing on eco-sustainable travel. Additional destinations like Japan offer alternative itineraries. The 'Stylosophy on tour' training events began on March 12, accompanying a 14-stop roadshow and incentives detailed by sales director Mariagrazia Verna. New offerings include Going Resorts in Sharm el Sheikh, Marsa Matrouh, Crete, and Rhodes, featured in a new catalogue available next week.

💻 Alidays CEO Davide Catania presents interactive travel planning platform's latest tech advancements to agencies in Central and Southern Italy at Circolo Rari Nantes in Naples. Utilizing AI, the platform AlyDa provides travel solutions considering clients' preferences, from music to food, culture, and nature, generating options in seconds, complete with a QR code for easy client communication. A new feature for creating trip content, soon available to all partners, is announced. Additionally, a new Guided Tours catalog for small groups of 2-14 people has been released. Despite slow U.S. bookings due to the 'Trump effect,' Asia receives positive booking responses, as confirmed by Catania. Olga Mazzoni, CEO of Thema Nuovi Mondi, shares insights on the U.S. at the Alidays event.

💳 Trenord introduces 'Digital Gate' at Milan Central station for 100% digital purchases, offering cashless payments through mobile apps like PayPal or Satispay. Travelers can now buy train and Malpensa Express tickets at this new counter, with the service expanding in the coming months to include additional digital customer services. Tickets can also be sent via WhatsApp.

📍 Centara Hotels & Resorts targets expansion and renovation with over €408 million to be invested over the next three years. The European roadshow begins in Milan, hinting at potential investments in Italy, Germany, and Denmark. Jurairat Mongkolwongsiri, VP Sales, expects Italian guests to rise from 4% to the fifth-largest market, aided by new properties in the Maldives: Centara Mirage Lagoon Maldives and Centara Grand Lagoon Maldives. With an estimated revenue of €422.4 million in 2025, Centara aims to upgrade its 92 hotels across 11 Asian and Arabian Peninsula locations to a luxury status, offering more than 20,000 rooms with an average occupancy rate of 77%. The Centara Grand Hotel Osaka and Centara Reserve in Koh Samui are highlighted, with more announcements anticipated at the TTG Travel Experience in Rimini.

🤖 Lysa, an Artificial Intelligence avatar introduced by CartOrange, has been aiding travel consultants for two weeks in four defined areas: providing travel information, assisting in travel proposal creation, performing back-office operations, and enhancing human performance through daily commercial coaching. Gianpaolo Romano, CEO of CartOrange, emphasized innovation and the AI's ability to simplify work and improve commercial performance by up to 35%, according to Stanford University. Trained on CartOrange's internal database of over 15,000 trips, Lysa represents a significant investment by the company.

🖥 Railbookers Group uses AI to identify travel trends and destination popularity, CEO Frank Marini likens AI impact to the '90s internet revolution. However, only 12% of tour operators worldwide currently deploy AI, despite significant discussion in recent years.