tourism-italia.com

According to Reuters, Italian Tourism Minister Vittoria Brambilla is planning on opening 10 to 15 luxury casinos to boost the Italian tourism sector. These casinos would be housed in five star hotels and form part of a 19 point plan set out by Brambilla to help tourism in Italy, especially in the poorer southern areas. However, her plans still need to be approved by the government and the local municipalities where the casinos will be situated. There are currently four northern municipal-controlled casinos in Venice, San Remo, Campione near Como and San Vincent. The new casinos will include two re-opened casinos in Taormina in Sicily and San Pellegrino Terme near Bergamo. So far this year, casinos have taken 347 million euros in bets with Venice taking the largest amount. If Brambilla’s plans are approved then these new casinos could be the boost that Southern Italy needs to finally break out of the shadow of the North.

Tags: casinos, Sicily, Venice, Vittoria Brambilla

The Italian State Tourist Board must be grinning from ear to ear with the news that Italy has been voted the best European destination for a long holiday in the Sunday Times Travel Magazine Reader Awards. They beat Greece and Spain into second and third place for the title because “with its mix of ‘the best sights, smells… and designer bags,’ you know ‘there’s a holiday for everyone in Italy.  The newspaper even recommends some experiences for readers to experience such as food in Siciliy and the beaches along the Tuscan coast. But really I’m not surprised really that Italy won. Seeing as I write a blog about Italy, I know what a fantastic place it is. I’m just glad that it is getting some recognition and that people are realising just how unique and interesting Italy is!

Tags: Sicily, Tuscany

Maybe it’s just me, but I find the idea of a 60 metre statue of a saint having the ability to recycle solar energy really weird. But that’s the plan of the curators of the shrine of Padre Pio. They want to build a statue of the friar atop a hill in Rignano Garganico, where it will be able to collect and recycle solar energy thanks to a new paint being developed by scientists in Bologna. When it is finished, the statue of Padre Pio will be the world’s first example of ‘green’ religious art. However, the statue will cost several million euros to build, which the curators say will be collected from the followers of Padre Pio. Padre Pio’s shrine in Foggia draws almost a million visitors every year and makes millions of euros for the local economy. The annual turnover of the shrine is said to be close to 120 million euros, which includes souvenirs, two magazines, a satellite TV station, and the offerings of its pilgrims. This is all well and good, but the idea of a giant statue of a saint which can recycle solar energy still sounds like some space age project that will never really work!

Tags: Bologna, religion, statue

To the disappointment of thousands of people (perhaps), Yoko Ono has cancelled her performance at the La Fenice theatre in Venice to commemorate the September 11th attacks. The only reason she gave for the cancellation was that it was a “personal decision”. I’m not a huge Yoko Ono fan, although not as bad as those who blame her for splitting up The Beatles, so I can’t really see the big deal about her pulling out. Apparently she is a “pioneer in performance and conceptual art” and “she remains one of the most influential artists today”. Really?! As far as I’m aware, most people only know who Yoko Ono is because of John Lennon. Or maybe I’m just not in touch with the art world, seeing as some of her works are currently being shown at the Palazzetto Tito in Venice. But I’m sure Italy must have enough artists to fill the gaping (?) hole left by Yoko Ono’s cancellation……

Tags: La Fenice theatre, Venice, Yoko Ono

Now I’ve been to quite a few Italian restaurants in my time, but never have I received a bill for €695 for lunch. But that is exactly what happened to a Japanese couple in Rome last month at the Passetto restaurant. The tourists say that a waiter offered to bring them a few dishes which they did not choose and were then brought wine. However, when the bill came they were amazed to find that they had been charged so much money. Understandably, the story has angered mayor and does not do much for the reputation for Rome, which is already thought of by many as fairly expensive. So the moral of this story is, check what the price of what you’re ordering before you order or you may have big surprise when you get the bill!

Tags: expensive, reputation, restaurant, Rome

Italy has long been the world’s largest consumer of bottled water, but now Venice is fighting back! According to the NYT, venetian officials have now started a campaign to encourage more people to drink tap water instead of bottled water. They are fed up of the amount of plastic bottles floating around the city and the sheer cost of rubbish collection. Therefore they have come up the brand Acqua Veritas. I think that it is a fabulous idea! Not only because I am fairly eco-conscious but also because I think it will improve the reputation of the city. This is a fairly light-hearted story and so the more publicity it gains, the more people may want to visit Venice. So not only a good environmentally friendly idea, but perhaps also a good tourism marketing campaign.

Tags: campaign, environment, marketing, Venice

As you have all probably heard by now, a devastating earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the city of L’Aquila early this morning killing more than 134 people, according to Reuters. Rescue workers are struggling through rain to try and save those who are still trapped. The earthquake hit around 3:30am this morning and many people were still asleep. Many houses, churches and other buildings have been destroyed and the number of homeless people is around 50,000. Silvio Berlusconi has declared a national emergency and flown to the affected area. His cabinet is said to be providing €30 million for emergency assistance. My heartfelt condolences go out to those affected by the earthquake.

Tags: Berlusconi, earthquake, emergency, L'Aquila, Reuters

According to the npr website, the economic slowdown has finally hit Italy with the tourism sector shrinking by 25% since 2008. Apparently it is the Americans who the Italians are missing the most as data from the Bank of Italy shows that there were 2.5 million American tourists in 2006 compared to just 1.75 million in the first nine months of last year. This is worrying news as the tourism industry is worth 10% of Italy’s GDP and 150,000 people who were dependent on tourism have already lost their jobs. With a lack of italia.it website and fewer local tourists, Italy may not have seen the worst of this recession yet. However, more people may now be able to visit Italy with big brands having to cut their prices!

Tags: Bank of Italy, economy, less tourists, NPR, USA, visitor numbers

So, as most of you have probably already realised, there is a lot of snow today…. especially in the Milan area. You just can’t escape the stuff. Now as much as I love snow (and I do, believe me), it can be quite a pain. Especially if you are one of the thousands of people who were planning to fly today from Malpensa or Linate airports, or if you are David Beckham waiting to fly into Milan from Dubai. But if you’re stuck anywhere today, just enjoy the fact that you have a day off and maybe go outside and play in the snow! Or think of all those people who pay a lot of money to go on holiday somewhere where it snows and you have it for free.

Tags: airport, Dubai, Milan, weather

An earthquake hit the cities of Parma, Milan, Genoa and Florence today, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale. The National Institute of Geophysics in Rome has said that the epicentre of the earthquake was near Parma. According to Italian news reports, two churches have minor damage but no-one is injured. I have experienced earthquakes before and they are pretty scary stuff! I’m just glad that no-one was injured and that the magnificent architecture of Parma, Milan, Genoa and Florence was not damaged. However, for Italy this earthquake was relatively strong. The last strong earthquake occurred in Molise in 2002 and measured 5.4 on the Richter scale.

Tags: earthquake, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Molise, National Institute of Geophysics, Parma, Rome