Italy actively increases Middle East awareness
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The Italian travel and tourism industry is poised to outperform the wider Eurozone industry thanks to its focus on tourists from emerging markets, a report unveiled at the inaugural WTM Vision Conference in Milan has revealed.Tourism arrivals into Italy during 2010 increased by 2.2% compared with the Eurozone average of a 2.5% rise, according to The Travel Industry Global Overview by Euromonitor International.Italy’s tourism arrivals are predicted to increase by only 1.75% this year with a 2% rise in 2012. Overall, tourism arrivals in the Eurozone will increase by 2.78% in 2011 and 2.62% the following year.This news comes as the Italian Tourism Board announced it was also actively seeking to increase its visibility in the Middle East region at ATM 2011 in Dubai last week.Speaking to TDME, Paolo Rubini, Director General of the Italian State Tourist Board, said: “We are planning for the second part of the year to organise a workshop in the UAE where the major tour operators of the entire region that use Dubai as a hub can work with the Italian Tourist Board to understand fully what we can offer.” Only a year ago, the Italian State Tourist Board opened its first office in the UAE. The bureau has 60 percent of its offices in Europe and 40 percent worldwide. Rubini said he was looking to reverse this with increasing office numbers in the Middle East and Asia.”The demographics of tourists we get into the country also reflect this,” he said. “Sixty percent of our tourists are from Europe and 40% are from elsewhere.”
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