Beyond the icons: Italy’s strategy for year-round, countrywide tourism

ITB Berlin News caught up with ENIT President Alessandra Priante on the last day of the show this year. She outlined Italy’s aim to diversify tourism throughout the country, as well as her vision for the future.

Did Italy have a main message at ITB Berlin this year?
The main message is we are more united than ever, with 14 regions and a lot of private sector with us at the show this year. We are definitely ready for what we are expecting to be a great season. Territories are working together and we are moving forward with our strategy to encourage tourists off-season and decongest the main points of attraction.

What are your strategies for encouraging year-round tourism?
One of them, for example, is leveraging the mega-events that we’re hosting, specifically the Winter Olympics Milano Cortina 2026. In this case we’re combining two regions, Veneto and Lombardy, and we’re combining a city destination and a mountain destination. It’s the essence of the collaborating we want to see taking place. We also want to leverage the opportunity for travellers to stay before and after the event.

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.