TOP NEWS

🏨 The Italian hotel sector leverages guest welcome books as a key to success and revenue generation. A well-crafted book includes essential property details, local tips, house rules, and GDPR compliance for guest registration—an Italian legal requirement. The shift to digital welcome books offers 24/7 accessibility, dynamic content, cost-saving on printing, and facilitates strategic upselling for increased revenue, like spa packages and culinary tours, all while reducing administrative tasks. Chekin's digital guides enhance guest experience and profitability, offering a 14-day free trial without credit card requirements.

🏨 Sara Digiesi, CEO of BWH Hotels Italia & Malta, heralds another year of revenue growth, with the international sector being pivotal. The group now encompasses 170 properties with a projected B&B gross revenue of €377 million, up 7% from 2023. Annual average occupancy hit 74%, with a 3.8% average price increase per room. US arrivals constitute 30% of total guests, highlighting the resurgent Chinese and Middle Eastern markets, alongside the emerging Indian market. BWH Hotels expanded with 12 new entries plus 6 upcoming, adding a total of 769 rooms in 2024. SIHO - Hotel Operations, a management company, began managing its first property four months post-launch. BWH is also investing in the future of hospitality through a strategic partnership with Hospitality Innovation Academy (HIA).

💐 Wedding tourism strengthens Italy's tourism sector, with a press conference in Rome revealing positive trends. In 2024, Italy hosted 15,100 foreign couples' weddings, a +11.4% increase from the previous year. Average spending per wedding rose to €61,500, a +4.2% increase from 2023. The USA (30.4%), the UK (20.7%), and Germany (8.7%) were the top markets, with growing interest from China, Russia, and Japan. Villas, villages, and castles remained popular venues, and over 22% of weddings occurred in autumn, showing a sector destagionalization. The demand for specialized wedding planners and innovative formats like "quiet weddings," immersive ceremonies, and green weddings is rising, reflecting a focus on sustainability.

🚿 Napolillo Industry, a Rome-based industrial laundry service provider for over 400 hotels including Bulgari Hotel, Six Senses, and Hassler, strengthens its future by welcoming experienced managers Giulio Marini and Daniele Schiavello from Fitex Capital. Focusing on sustainability, the company dates back to the '70s and invests in technology. It plans to launch an advanced water recovery system in the coming weeks, aiming to cut water consumption by up to 70%.

🏡 a&o Hostels celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025 and allocates over €500 million for expansion and sustainability initiatives in collaboration with StepStone Group and Proprium Capital Partners. The group's a&o Firenze Campo di Marte is the second Italian hostel after Venice's 2017 opening, bringing the total to 42 hostels with 30,000 beds. The Florence location features a renovated '60s facade and a modern design with a two-story glass lobby, open-air breakfast terrace, AI-created Florence-inspired room graphics, and a multifunctional courtyard. Technological upgrades include water-based air conditioning, photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, seven self-check-in terminals in 13 languages, 24/7 cleaning robots, electric vehicle charging stations, a digitally programmed convection oven, and an app-based mobile key. In 2023, a&o Hostels recorded 6.1 million overnight stays, 2.7 million guests, and €217 million in revenue, with a commitment to reducing CO2e emissions per night to under 3 kg and offsetting the rest through environmental projects.

🏨 Hotel websites serve as a cornerstone for marketing and sales strategies, increasing visibility, direct bookings, and overall revenue. They provide a brand representation and customer engagement platform with reduced third-party commission costs. Key strategies to enhance a hotel's website include SEO, high-quality content and media, user-friendly design, exclusive offers, and showcasing customer reviews. Focusing on SEO, user experience, and direct marketing tactics can significantly boost direct bookings and reduce operational costs.

🎡 Emilio De Risi shares his experience at Bit, highlighting Giulia Canini's talk about travel awareness rather than sustainability. Bit featured close proximity to Molise's Agnone bell, a millennia-old bell-making site with papal emblem authorization. "Cammini Aperti" collaborates across five regions for the 10th and 11th May event, with 27 excursions including paths of San Francesco and San Benedetto. DreamPacker targets 21-45-year-olds for travel adventures starting in June with Vietnam and Egadi. Technology and AI insights from Marco Matarazzi (Slope) and Fabio Di Prima (HotelCube) discuss AI integration, software usability, and the potential shift due to open-source AI like Deepseek. Emilio concludes with a chance encounter with Sara Prontera from Nicolaus and Valtur.

📌 Italy's short-term rental tax regulation changes in 2025 impact the flat-tax option "cedolare secca," increasing the tax rate from 21% to 26% for owners with multiple properties. Aimed at benefiting smaller-scale landlords, the new rules require proper registration, unique property identifiers, budget adjustments, and possibly consulting tax professionals to ensure compliance and profitability.

🍕 Paolo Masi, professor at the University of Naples Federico II, introduced a 4-year study conducted by southern Italian universities and the CNR, presented in a book titled "L'arte del pizzaiuolo napoletano tra tradizione e innovazione". The study, which analyzed everything from production protocols to environmental impact, found that wood-fired ovens produce fewer CO2 emissions than electric ones. The pizza industry in Italy generates €15 billion annually, with 8 million pizzas consumed daily, 40,000 pizzerias employing 100,000 permanent workers, doubling on weekends, and the associated consumption of 200 million kg of flour, 225 million kg of mozzarella, 60 million liters of oil, and 260 million kg of tomatoes.

🏖️ Italy celebrates its second consecutive year as the leader of the European Tourism Reputation Index by the Demoskopika Institute, scoring 115.5 points, surpassing Greece (108.4 points) and Spain (102.8 points). Italy excels in two out of four indicators: research and destination popularity, ranking second in tourism offerings evaluation. Gian Marco Centinaio, Vice President of the Senate, acknowledges the need for improvement in accommodations, dining, cultural offerings, and better use of web and social media promotion.