“It’s about creating mutual understanding”
ITB China News caught up with ENIT President Alessandra Priante as she outlined Italy’s aim to attract more Chinese tourism throughout the country, as well as her vision for the future.
How important is the Chinese market for Italy?
China is absolutely crucial for Italy. We have to bear in mind that for long-haul Asian tourists, we cannot promote Italy just in all its diversified elements, it’s difficult to explain. For them, Europe is Europe, which includes Italy.
How is Italy adapting its tourism offer to Chinese visitors?
We want to encourage these visitors to travel from Italy to Italy rather than coming to Italy from Paris for example. We’re working hard with the Minister of Foreign Affairs for good facilitation of visas as there is strong demand. China wants Italian content, they want to bring people back to Italy. We need to make sure this happens.
Often, Chinese tourists come to Italy using Chinese local structures. We need to train our operators with Chinese visitors to make sure that they welcome them rather than just relying on Chinese operators. This is our responsibility. We also have to return to China. It is very important that there’s bilateralism in our relations. It’s not just about bringing people to us, it’s about creating mutual understanding.
we need to make sure that travellers reach all of the different destinations within Italy.
What is your vision for tourism to Italy for the next few years?
My vision has three parts: data, training and diversifying. We need better data and to use AI to interpret it. I would like us to become a reference as a predictable platform, I want accurate predictions for the future as this helps everyone plan. When it comes to training, I mean we need better schooling of tourism professionals, we need to be rigorous on this point. And lastly, we need to keep doing what we are doing: making sure that travellers reach all of the different destinations within Italy. We want to give them a diverse offering with something for everyone.
