Dynamic, busy, safe: the 57th edition of the TTG Travel Experience was inaugurated on October 14th at Rimini expo centre. Along with the “Regeneration! by SIA” format and the 38th edition of SUN dedicated to outdoor and seaside tourism, from Rimini signs of courage and confidence.
RIMINI (ITALY) – A dynamic proposal, with all the Regions ready to present cities, territories and experiences as never before. Busy with a warn response of professional attendees at the Expo. Safe, in complete compliance with government regulations for the prevention of the pandemic and redesigned according to the IEG #safebusiness protocol. This was the start of the 57th edition of the TTG Travel Experience, “Regeneration! by SIA” and the 38th edition of SUN, the three expos of the Italian tourism marketplace inaugurated at Rimini expo centre, simultaneously with the IBE International Bus Expo. After the institutional greetings by IEG President Lorenzo Cagnoni, the Mayor of Rimini Andrea Gnassi and Emilia-Romagna Regional Councillor for Tourism Andrea Corsini, the green light was given by Simona Ventura, who hosted a talk show at which the Undersecretary for the MIBACT Lorenza Bonaccorsi, the President of ENIT Giorgio Palmucci, CONI President Giovanni Malagò and Federalberghi President Bernabò Bocca pooled the signals arriving from industry members and institutions: the world wants to travel to return to Italy, the system must therefore be supported with effective economic policies.
At the opening, IEG President Lorenzo Cagnoni stated, “The expo system is alive when it acts to support enterprises, connected to the market. And the hotel hospitality and tour operator systems believed in us. TTG is a true business platform for tourism in our Country. Here we can understand the result of stopping an industry which has as its raison d’être the movement of people. In the coming days we shall understand the meaning of starting to head for new goals.”
“We are at a crossroads in history”, stated Rimini’s Mayor Andrea Gnassi, “which obliges us to change our development model. Tourism has been hit at its very heart: it doesn’t export goods, but people, who have been forbidden to meet. What is needed now is an industrial policy in a sector, like tourism, that has always been described as strategic. Rimini is already a key case history for the way in which it has redesigned its cycle tracks and for the experience of its seafront’s landscape. I hope to be here as if in an incubator in which product innovation accelerates.”
“From TTG”, added Andrea Corsini, Emilia-Romagna Regional Councillor for Tourism, ”a message of hope and confidence can be launched for the tourism sector, but also and above all a new forward-thinking ability, thanks to which can meet tourists’ new demands, feeding a good dose of innovation into the system. In recent months we have all understood the value of being part of Europe, but now we ask this same Europe for an undertaking to support this great industry.”
CONI President Giovanni Malagò observed, “The pandemic caused great changes in the sports world. It's sufficient to think of the Olympic Games being moved to 2021 and the numerous events cancelled or postponed. But on this scenario, there are also great opportunities: the new generations are attracted by new sports, such as surfing, rock climbing and skateboarding. Discipline that not surprisingly have been included in the Olympic sports. Gathering these new sportsmen and women and providing them spaces to show their ability and train also means grasping great opportunities for our cities to rethink their facilities. As is being well done, for example, in Emilia-Romagna.”
“We need vaccine and money”, remarked Federalberghi President Bernabò Bocca. “Only vaccine will enable us to come through this situation. Until then, we ask all concerned to think of the numerous enterprises in difficulty. We don’t expect random financing, but we talk on a daily basis with Undersecretary Bonaccorsi. Something will change in the tourism business and meetings, thanks to technology. One thing is certain – anybody who wants to go to the seaside wants to go there physically. People want to travel and come to Italy. I’m optimistic, we shall see an upswing already in the second half of 2021. But without collaboration between public and private concerns, nobody can make it alone.”
“Until a vaccine is available”, added ENIT President Giorgio Palmucci, “the variable when choosing a destination will be safety. 85 percent of the people who travelled in 2020 considered the measures taken by entrepreneurs and certain territories to be safe. We must talk more optimistically about tourism in safe conditions. Nobody can say they are Covid-free, but from the 28 offices that ENIT has worldwide, we perceive this feeling regarding Italy. The negative image has disappeared, because we told the truth about the virus. The Covid hasn’t destroyed our ‘hardware’: we must continue to describe the beauty of our locations in the USA, Japan, and China and also to those Italians who haven’t yet rediscovered it. Events such as TTG show that we can respect the rules, without being frightened.”
“The undertaking of the Government alongside the tourism sector”, concluded Undersecretary Lorenza Bonaccorsi”, will also continue in coming months, following the commitments made at the beginning of the year. This summer we managed to ensure that it was possible to safely experience the beauty of our Country’s seaside, mountains, villages and cities. Now it is necessary to manage to live together, in this phase in which there is a return of the contagion, aware of the fact that it is now necessary to act and work to unravel the knots accumulated through the years and construct a new Italian model of tourism. We must do so with the same method used until now: lining up all the things required and collaborating with the trade and industry associations and all those involved in this sector. Aware that we are now already an example for the world and with the aim of soon once more becoming the hospitable Country that everybody dreams of visiting.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
