Italy: Hottest ticket in town

THE Italian State Tourist Board in London is asking head office for more hosted invitations for UK operators to attend the country’s top international travel show, Borsa Internazionale del Turismo.

To be held in Milan next month, the tourist board has been inundated by requests for places.

A total of 50 places to the two-day BuyItaly workshop are traditionally hosted by the tourist board, Alitalia and event organiser EXPOcts, but ENIT travel trade officer Marianne Whooley said they had received 65 requests this year, the 25th anniversary of the exhibition.

The BIT exhibition, at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre in Milan from February 12-15, is Italy’s leading travel show, focusing entirely on the Italian market. Last year it attracted more than 5,000 exhibitors representing 128 countries.

It is divided into two sections – the four-day supplier exhibition and the BuyItaly workshop, on February 12 and 13, where suppliers meet overseas operators. A new BITALY workshop dedicated to incoming tourism has been organised for February 15 for Italian operators to meet buyers from abroad.

Citalia product manager Heather Green said: “BuyItaly is invaluable in terms of meeting suppliers. The only drawback is that we have to man our desks on both days because suppliers pay to see us, so we never get to see the rest of the exhibition.”

This year, the exhibition has two new sections – one focusing on rural tourism and another targeting the meeting, conferences and incentives market. Other themed areas include the new Bit Incentive for meetings, conference and incentive organisers; Bit Spa; Bit Golf; Bit Open Air, focusing on outdoor tourism; Bit Virtual, covering technological innovation for tourism; and Bit Gusto, devoted to food and wine tasting.

For the first time, the show is open to the public on all four days – with restricted access on February 14-15.

Each day is themed to appeal to a specific audience. Saturday’s focus is trade and tourism; Sunday’s is trade and travellers; Monday is aimed at professional operators and buyers, while Tuesday is for the trade, business travel agents and incentive organisers.

A one-day ticket to the show costs about £8, with a four-day ticket about £18. Visitors can pre-register on-line at www.bit.expocts.it.