Italy has become bullish on the meetings business. At BTC, the Italian trade show for the meetings, events, conferences, incentive travel and business tourism industry, the Minister of Tourism, Michela Vittoria Brambilla, announced that she has started the procedures that will lead to the establishment of the national convention bureau which will take the form of a publicly-owned joint stock company (S.p.A.), operating in partnership with meetings industry companies.

Minister Brambilla

“Our country has risen from sixth to fourth place in the international ranking drawn up by ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association), and is now positioned just after Spain and the UK,” said Minister Brambilla. “This is significant: it tells us that we have to invest in this sector, because it eases the seasonality of tourism. All the other countries already have a national convention bureau: we now want to improve our support for the industry, which, rather than one-off measures, will take the form of ongoing programs to enhance Italy’s offerings,” she said.

Minister Brambilla also announced that there will be a ministerial support committee for conference tourism, which will be tasked with creating tools to promote the sector, including a website and a printed guide on Italian meetings destinations and products.

She also revealed that Italian tourism will also have a presence at two upcoming international shows for the meetings industry: EIBTM in Barcelona in December and the new IMEX America in Las Vegas in October 2011.

At BTC, Lorenzo Cagnoni, the chairman of Rimini Fiera Group noted that Rimini’s new Palacongressi conference centre will soon opened. This high-quality facility is yet another affirmation of the region’s commitment to the industry, he said, adding that “despite the present economic situation, we have maintained our forecast that the new Palacongressi will triple current conference occupancy rates. We want to increase the size of BTC, a tool used in support of the growth strategy for this industry, which is already today worth around 30% of the entire tourism market in Italy".

The Region of Emilia Romagna very much believes in the conference industry, said Regional Councillor for Tourism Maurizio Melucci. “We have decided to allocate EUR 8 million to upgrading conference hotels, and together with the regional convention bureaus, we will undertake to reorganize the promotion and marketing of the sector in order to trigger a further jump in quality.”

Italian Meetings Industry Survey

The presentation of the Italian conference market survey Osservatorio Congressuale, sponsored by Meeting e Congressi magazine and Riviera di Rimini Convention Bureau, was one of the highlights of the BTC.

The figures were positive overall, and show that the Italian conference market is recovering: after its blackest period at the end of 2008, the strong performances of the second half of 2009 offset the declines in the first six months of the year. 2009 still closed with a negative figure in terms of meeting numbers, which came in at 102,515 (-7.76% versus 2008), but with two important indicators – participants and attendance – in positive territory. While the number of conference delegates neared 21.5 million (up 2.82% on the previous year), attendance days grew by 2.92% and topped the 35.5 million mark. Average event duration was also positive, rising from 1.62 to 2.6 days.

An analysis of the different venues suggests that hotels “suffered”, even in the second half of the year. Meeting attendance at hotels rose (+2.09%) but not by enough to offset the decline in the first six months (-11.89%). Conference centers (2.03% in the first half and +12.36% in the second), historic residences (+1.98% and +15.61%) and other conference rooms (-13.29% and +19.26%) fared better.