TOP NEWS

📍 The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) report, in collaboration with YouGov, reveals a gap between travelers' desire for sustainable travel options and their actual behavior. A survey of over 10,000 respondents categorized travelers into six segments. Over 50% prioritize cost and around 30% prioritize quality over sustainability, with 11% to 7% considering sustainability a primary factor. Over 10% received no sustainability information from any channel. The WTTC report offers seven key recommendations, including economic benefits, ease of sustainable options, multi-tiered reward programs, and tailored marketing. Examples include Intrepid Travel labeling trips with carbon impact, Iberostar using AI to reduce food waste and prioritizing underused fish stocks, and Hilton installing electric vehicle charging points at over 1,800 hotels. For more information, visit www.wttc.org and https://it.yougov.com/.

🏖️ In 2024, Italian tourism platform recorded significant growth compared to 2023. Internationally, Italians favored European cities and New York; with Lisbon, Paris, Barcelona, Seville, and Krakow as top destinations. Domestically, Naples was most visited, followed by Rome, Florence, Palermo, and Genoa. Cultural and historical activities dominated preferences; top experiences included Naples underground tour, Auschwitz and Birkenau excursions, guided Marrakech visit, and evening boat tour in Budapest. More info at Civitatis.

🌙 Nocturismo, set to become a global trend in 2025, encourages the exploration of unique places and stories at night. Locations mentioned include Banff National Park in Canada, the Atacama Desert in Chile, Montalcino in Tuscany, San Pietro Island in Sardinia, and cities like Istanbul, Prague, New York, and Rome. It emphasizes experiencing the tranquility and mystery of familiar places under moonlight or artificial lights.

🏢 The historic "Treno delle Terme" inaugurated last Saturday, connects Milan Central to Abano Terme. Officials present included Enit CEO Ivana Jelinic, Fondazione Fs, and Italian Tourist Trains. The 1950s train offers a vintage travel experience, privacy, and velvet seats, promoting Italy's alternative tourist destinations, combating overtourism, and contributing to local economic development. Plans include extending similar experiences to Calalzo Pieve di Cadore and the Noto-Pachino line in Sicily.

🏢 Tuttohotel, the hospitality trade fair in Naples, concluded with 10,022 visitors and 190 companies exhibiting. 60 speakers from across Italy participated in 33 events, totaling 54 hours of discussions. 9 national and regional category associations, 50 technical sponsors, and 13 media partners were involved. Themes of quality, elegance, luxury, and sustainability were highlighted as market trends in the hospitality sector.

🌿 Bonduelle Food Service, part of Gruppo Bonduelle, will showcase innovative plant-based solutions at key food industry fairs in early 2025. They will attend Hospitality from February 3-6 at Riva del Garda (TN), and Beer & Food Attraction from February 16-18 at Fiera di Rimini. Featuring the Brunoise line and Contorno Rustico Minute®, the offerings also include frozen foods and canned products. Executive Chef Fabrizio Milione will provide demonstrations. Bonduelle Food Service, a 2025 premium partner of the Federazione Italiana Cuochi, will be at Hospitality's Pavilion B1, Stand D17, and at Beer & Food Attraction's Pavilion A1, Stand 001.

💰 Italian hospitality structures can access facilitated financing up to €100,000 under the "de minimis" regulation and additional exemption contributions. Criticisms include excessive bureaucracy, fragmented information, and unclear communication standards, as highlighted by Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè. Unequal geographic distribution of aid and project selection methods like "click day" are also issues. A centralized national strategy and portal, improved certification systems, and better training and information are suggested improvements to promote equitable, sustainable growth within the Italian entrepreneurial fabric.

🚢 Fiumicino Waterfront leads a project to build a new cruise ship port in Isola Sacra, backed by investor Royal Caribbean. The project, included in the jubilee decree, awaits environmental impact assessment from the Ministry of Culture. It plans spaces for leisure boating, cruise ship docking, a hotel, and a public park.

🏙 Emilia-Romagna attended Fitur 2025 in Madrid to promote vacation offerings with 12 local tour operators. They aim to diversify Spanish tourism flows beyond peak seasons with beach tourism, art cities, historical-religious itineraries, cycling, Food Valley, and Motor Valley. Regional Tourism Councilor, Roberta Frisoni, notes the increasing appeal to Spanish tourists. In 2024, the region saw 130,823 arrivals and 355,185 overnight stays from Spain, up 7.6% and 12.1% from 2023, based on provisional data from the Emilia-Romagna Statistics Office.

💎 Booking.com reveals a ranking for Valentine's Day travel, with Fukuoka, Japan, seeing a 551% booking increase, leading for February 14. Budapest follows with a 130% rise, and Athens completes the top three at +115%. Venice, Italy, just misses the podium with a 112% boost. Other notable increases include Patong Beach, Thailand (+110%), Krakow, Poland (+108%), Florianopolis, Brazil (+106%), Rome, Italy (+106%), Hurghada, Egypt (+101%), and Paris, France (+101%). The data reflects searches by couples from November 28 to December 5, 2024, for stays during February 14-16, 2025.