TOP NEWS

🏆 Olimpiadi iniziano in Italia il 6 febbraio, 2026. Ipsos Doxa: 76% italiani riconoscono l'evento, 67% identificano Milano-Cortina come sede. 71% seguirà l'evento. 52% ha emozioni positive, 39% indifferenti, 9% negativi. 6,2 milioni scelgono la neve, 2 milioni nei luoghi di gara. VRetreats: turismo alpino in crescita post-pandemia, superato livelli pre-Covid nel 2023; 55% turisti stranieri. Crescita trainata da arrivi da Germania, Svizzera, Austria, UK, USA.

📈 Volonline Group's international expansion continues with over 23,500 directly contracted hotels worldwide. In 2026, they plan to enter the foreign retail market, focusing on the Balkans (Albania, Kosovo, Azerbaijan) and Spain. Led by Gianni Galli, their product office has rapidly expanded their offerings to include more than 800,000 hotels globally. CEO Luigi Deli highlights their business model and innovative strategies inspired by successful international markets.

📅 During Tuttohotel Napoli, experts discussed the future of Italian hospitality, emphasizing technology and territory enhancement. Pietro Ceparano highlighted the growing importance of enotourism in the wine business. Giulio Gambardella noted that by 2026, 54% of travelers will use AI for trip planning. AI aids in waste reduction, with hotels like Marriott cutting food waste by over 50%. However, human warmth remains irreplaceable. Rosario Lopa emphasized supporting Italian tourism post-COVID and amid economic challenges.

🍬 Italia Zuccheri's Infundo brand reaffirmed its leadership in artisan pastry at SIGEP 2026 in Rimini. The event featured renowned pastry chefs like Iginio Massari and more, focusing on sustainability and quality ingredients. Infundo showcased professional sugars meeting bakery needs. Talks included experts like Angelo Musolino and discussions on beet sugar sector efficiency. Alessandro Benincà emphasized technical dialogue. This reinforced Italia Zuccheri's role as a strategic partner in contemporary pastry.

🌽 Nel 2025, le vendite di prodotti biologici in Italia sono cresciute del 6,2%, raggiungendo 5,5 miliardi di euro. La Distribuzione Moderna rappresenta il 64% di queste vendite, mentre i negozi specializzati sono cresciuti del 7,5%. Con 2,5 milioni di ettari di superfici bio, l'Italia è vicina al target europeo del 25% entro il 2027. Il 23 febbraio 2026, l'evento "RIVOLUZIONE BIO" esplorerà il mercato e i consumi fuori casa, con 7 italiani su 10 che scelgono bio.

📍 Italy's luxury tourism is thriving as per Virtuoso's Luxe Report 2025 and ENIT's data at Fespo. From 2000 to 2024, international tourism spending in Italy rose by 81.2%, reaching €54.2 billion. Luxury hotels number 771, with 103,656 beds, recording 4.7 million arrivals (+7.6%) and 14.1 million overnight stays (+9.7%). Shopping tourism saw 458,000 overnight stays from January to September 2025, up 46.8%. Italy ranks top 3 in Europe for golf tourism, attracting visitors aged 35-65 spending $2,000-$5,000 per trip.

⛷️ 6.2 million Italians are expected to vacation in Italy for winter sports, largely in February and March, with 96.5% staying domestically. Hotels are favored by 28%, followed by B&Bs (17.9%) and alpine lodges (15.3%). The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics have heightened interest: 84% of adults are aware, and 55% plan to watch. About 2 million will attend in person, with 70% staying within 30 km of events. 94% see the Olympics as a promotional opportunity for Italy.

📈 4L Collection Hotels ha registrato un fatturato di oltre 36 milioni di euro per il 2025, segnando un incremento del 7% rispetto al 2024. La tariffa media giornaliera è aumentata del 13%. Sono state erogate oltre 4500 ore di formazione e più di 1000 ore in programmi culturali e di impatto sociale. L'adozione di software di intelligenza artificiale ha migliorato la qualità dei servizi.

💸 2026, globally: Visa predicts AI-driven commerce will transform shopping habits as AI starts handling transactions for consumers and businesses. Stefano Stoppani of Visa Italia mentions digital personal shoppers powered by large language models to cater to preferences. Emphasizing digital identity strengthening due to advanced cyber threats. The Genius Act in the USA, supports stablecoins alongside fiat, promoting cross-border transactions and crypto-wallets. By year-end, expect single-click checkouts, reducing multi-step processes, presently at 16% in 2025.

🌐 Sabre urges the travel industry to rethink trust in the era of autonomous AI. The company's whitepaper, "The Secure AI Advantage," highlights the strategic shift towards embedding trust in AI-driven processes. Scott Moser, Sabre's CISO, emphasizes the need for trust in AI actions, requiring continuous data authentication and verification. Key principles include data privacy, dynamic identities, real-time observability, and proactive governance, essential for AI's transformative potential in the travel sector.