ITALY

ITALY

ITALY

ITALY

The British appetite for Italy has been voracious since the days of the Grand Tour – and the favourable exchange rate has only helped to boost the country’s popularity yet further.

Add to that low-cost airline Ryanair opening up more routes across the Mediterranean’s ‘boot’ and demand is likely to remain guaranteed.

Northern Italy’s importance as a commercial centre has led business airline Gandalf Airways to offer a twice-daily service – daily on a Sunday – from its base in Milan Orio to London City. Return fares range from £94 to £512.

During the summer, British Midland intensified price competition on key UK-Italy routes by inaugurating scheduled services from Heathrow to Milan and Rome.

In addition, Italian carrier Meridiana starts a direct service from Gatwick to Turin on October 29. This move has been welcomed by tour operators including Cresta, which reports growing demand for the city.

Despite the variety of routes into Italy, most operators still report that Tuscany is the major lure for the UK market.

Sicily, however, has seen good results in attracting UKvisitors, according to Italian State Tourist Board UKand Ireland director Edoardo Betti. Betti was keen to paint an accurate picture of the island, which lies off the toe of Italy’s boot.

“It is as different to the north of Italy as the Scottish Highlands are to Devon,” he said.

“It doesn’t have anything like the same infrastructure as the north and its history, climate, traditions and mentality are all so different.”

Sicily operators include Magic, The Individual Travellers, Italiatour, Citalia, Crystal and Italian Life.

Citalia sales and marketing manager Michaela Forster said that the small island accounts for 5%of the operator’s total programme, and confirmed that it is still selling well, particularly Taormina, after an exceptionally good 1999.

New for 2001 from Citalia are the Aeolian Islands as a stand-alone destination. Always a popular add-on, seven-night durations lead in at £719 next summer.

Italy’s cities also continue to perform well, despite Rome not quite pulling in the numbers that were expected during the Holy Year. Cresta’s league table of most popular cities shows the biggest jumps for Milan and Verona, while in the regions, Lakes Como and Garda have experienced visitor increases of 77% and 100% respectively.

Cresta brand manager Ian Lomas attributed the rise to a number of factors. The new British Midland flights into Milan Malpensa have brought discounts of up to £135 per person for breaks in Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Cresta’s use of Airtours charters from Birmingham, Gatwick and Manchester to Verona also figured highly.

One potential blot on the horizon though for Italian tourism is the country’s unreliable snow record for skiing. Warm winters have produced disappointing seasons recently hit numbers at some resorts, mainly those at lower altitudes.

However, Betti disagreed: “Snow is something we can’t guarantee but we haven’t noticed any drop in bookings for the past two years.”

Inghams is expanding its programme for winter to include resorts at higher altitudes such as Solda, on a glacier at 1,900 metres in the Ortler Mountains.

Already using the busy resort of Selva, the operator is also introducing the quieter, more traditional centres of Ortisei and St Christina and the upmarket resorts of Corvara and Arraba, situated in the Dolomites.

First Choice has included some Italian resorts in its all-inclusive ‘total ski’ product, new for the 2000/2001 season; however, with lead-in prices from £309, these breaks are aimed at less-demanding skiers, whose main concern is price.

First Choice product group manager Cathy Rankin said:”Italy has to work hard now to fight decline – for example, by increasing snow-making capacity in the Milky Way.”

Towering success:Tuscany remains one of the most popular destinations with British visitors