Tourism: The great “invisible industry” knows no crisis

ITALY (eTN) – Tourism in Italy reverted back from the regions to the state, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage and Activities, Dorina Bianchi, opened a debate by declaring: “The transfer of powers from the state to the regions for tourism did not work and the reform of Title V of the Constitution adopted by the Renzi government expects that the strategic tourism planning – together with foreign trade and foreign policy – to be again exclusive jurisdiction of the Italian state.”

This was reiterated by the Tourism Secretary when speaking to an audience from the Masters in Tourism Economics program at Bocconi University in Milan. She added that recognizing the “importance of tourism for the economic development of the country, Minister Dario Franceschini has allocated substantial resources for the ‘Strategic Plan for Culture’ – more than one billion euro.”

The centrality of the state, therefore, will aim to enhance the different local circumstances and new professionalism in the travel and tourism industry.

At the meeting at Bocconi, coordinated by Magda Antonioli Corigliano, Director of the Masters in Tourism Economics, Antonella Carù, Director of the Graduate School; Melissa Peretti, Country Manager of American Express; Francesca Lo Schiavo, Oscar winner; and Dante Ferretti (six nominations) for the sets of the Scorsese’s film, The Aviator, were among those that gathered.

The roundtable welcomed the participation of qualified professionals in the tourism sector: Lucio Attinà, CEO of Alitalia Loyalty; Jacopo Biondi Santi, member of the family of the producers of Brunello di Montalcinowine; Elisabetta Fabri, President of Starhotels; Fabio Galetto, Google Italy; and Leonardo Massa, Country Manager of MSC Cruises, who enhanced the recent purchase of an island in the Caribbean archipelago by MSC Cruises so that their passengers may continue their sea cruise on the ground.

From their interventions, news, and innovations, it was confirmed that there is a great Italian entrepreneurial capacity in the world, along with difficulties to overcome – the outstanding prospects for great Italian wine from the open Asian market (China in particular) along with the heavy duties of certain countries of South America – up to 300% – which bring the cost of a bottle of high quality up to $2,000; the rapid transformation taking place in the search for hotels, flights, and anything else through the Internet; and the impetuous development of the Italian cruise line, dominated by Anglo-American, which will lead to a doubling of passengers on domestic ships by 2027.

But there is a profound cultural change taking place in the global society to be taken into account – the progressive (relative) abandonment of the desire to possess material goods (with a consequent reduction of attachment to the land) to the desire for new experiences and new knowledge that travel guarantees.

For this, tourism – the great “invisible industry” in the world – knows no crisis.