The Italian embassy in Prague held a new round of business meetings between Czech travel agencies and representatives of Italian regions and cities. After the success of 2015, the event again aimed to enrich the offers available to Czech tourists in Italy. More than 50 of the most important Czech tour operators met with institutional representatives and officials from the tourism sectors of the regions of Basilicata, Marche, Puglia and Umbria, and from the municipal councils of Orvieto and Ravenna, which presented their local excellences and tourism itineraries marked by history, art, culture, beautiful landscapes and good food. Currently Italy is the second favourite destination for Czech tourists after Croatia and is the only country to boast a steady increase in visitors. A total of 562,000 Czech tourists visited the country in 2013, staying an average of more than a week, and increased to 659,000 in 2014.
Business meeting between Czcech travel agencies and representatives of Italian cities and regions
The 2015 statistics are not yet available but, according to estimates by Alessandra Abagnato of the ENIT (Italian National Tourism Board) office in Vienna, the figures are destined to increase. Tourism is an enormously important factor for trade, said secretary general of the Italian-Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Matteo Mariani. Ambassador Aldo Amati was particularly pleased: “With the growth in average incomes, the Czechs have developed a deeper interest for Italian tourist destinations other than the typical itineraries in northern Italy. We have therefore decided to continue last year’s initiative with our friends of the Association of Tour Operators & Travel Agents of the Czech Republic (ACCKA) bringing new central and southern regions [of Italy] to Prague with their holiday offers in beautiful and fascinating places. We need to stimulate the Czechs’ traditional curiosity for Italy, guiding them through new itineraries to secure visitors’ loyalty to the Italian way of life,” he concluded.