February 5th - February 11th

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – An agreement has been found between the Italian regions on the opportunity to organise on March a national conference dedicated to the mountains. This news comes from the coordination meeting of the regional councillors for Tourism, held over recent days in Trento. The regional representatives have made a request to the Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Francesco Rutelli. The proposal emerged over recent weeks and was instigated by Enrico Paolini, national coordinator and Vice President of the Abruzzo region, an area that has been strongly penalised up to now by the lack of snow at the beginning of the season.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – Reorganisation of the global presence of regional representation inside the International Tourism Exchange in Milan has been proposed by the national coordinator of councillors for Tourism, Enrico Paolini, who presented the proposal to the national coordination during the Trento meeting in recent days. Paolini was, in fact, talking about the possibility of creating one united area inside the exhibition area, comprising all the Italian regions without the individual stands for the 2008 edition.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – Italy is in first place in Europe for cruises. It is in the lead in the cruise industry, with 3 million cruise passengers in transit between the ports and four port locations in the list of the top ten homeports. According to the European Cruise Council (ECC), who presented the first integrated analysis on the European market, cruises in Europe represent a large percentage of the European economy, with € 8.3 billion in direct passenger and carrier expenditure, of which over € 3 million goes towards new ships and maintenance.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – The new Clickair link from Valencia to Milan Malpensa has started. The low-cost Spanish carrier leaves Valencia, which will shortly host the America’s Cup, every day at 9.10 pm and arrives in Milan at 11pm.

The return flight from Malpensa leaves at 11.35 pm and arrives at 1.25 am. The aircraft is an Airbus A320 with 180 seats, all one-class. Prices start from € 20.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – There are numerous offers for flights for Valentine’s Day. SkyEurope has launched a new promotion - two tickets for the price of one for all destinations, at the basic price of € 21 each way. The price is valid for bookings made on flights from 14th February until 31st March.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – A holiday in a traditional farm, in contact with nature, is possible in over 900 traditional locations that are part of the Gallo Rosso Association in Alto Adige. In the new catalogue, divided into the various areas of Alto Adige, there is a complete guide to the locations offered.

For those who love excursions and walks, those who prefer well being and relaxation, for sports lovers, couples and for families, there are numerous farms to choose from, each with its characteristics suitable for every individual requirements.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – The garden festival ‘Ortinparco’ in Levico Terme in Valsugana (Trentino) will be held from 21st to 25th April. The varied world of flowers and gardens can be found inside the Parco delle Terme.

‘Ortinparco’, organised by the Nature Conservation Environmental Promotion Service in the Province of Trento, will include garden and vegetable garden displays, flower arrangement workshops for adults and educational activities on the same theme for children.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – The organic label products in the Marche region will be launched in Germany at the Biofach 2007 World Organic Trade Fair that will be held from 15th to 19th February in Nuremberg. The Marche Region will have a large stand of 140 in a hall that will be completely dedicated to Italy, guest of honour in this edition.

At the event, which operators in the industry consider to be a must, there will be 2,100 exhibitors from 73 countries and about 40,000 visitors from 100 countries.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – The defence of the natural heritage and the economic and tourist opportunities connected with it are the theme at the convention that will be held on 20th and 21st February at the Hotel Cenobio dei Dogi in Camogli.

Promoted by the Portofino Coast Consortium, that will celebrate its twentieth birthday this year, the event seeks to shed light on the environmental issues that are fundamental for developing the area.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – Easter in the mountains for discovering ancient traditions. In Alto Adige, an area that hosts many festivals, the egg has always been a symbol of rebirth and fertility. In Villabassa in Alta Pusteria, after mass on Easter Sunday, 8th April, the Eierguffen competition will be held in the square. Armed with coloured hard boiled eggs, the participants must try to break their opponents' eggs.

Rome, 11th February - (Adnkronos) – The big art cities of Florence, Naples, Rome and Venice will meet in Venice tomorrow for a convention in the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti. During the day, which has been organised by the “CentroVeneto Association”, culture as a common element for identity, cohesion and social integration, as well as an economic development factor, will be discussed.

Rome, 9th February - (Adnkronos) – Ars Amandi is the title of the programme that will take place in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme and in Palazzo Altemps, as requested by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, organised for Valentine’s Day. The event will take place on Wednesday 14th February at 6pm at Palazzo Massimo, in Largo di Villa Peretti, 1 (Termini Station) and in Palazzo Altemps, in Piazza Sant'Apollinare (Piazza Navona). The visits are free, but there are limited places and booking is compulsory.

Marrakech, 9th February (Adnkronos) – Morocco has chosen Alpitour, a company controlled by IFIL, for conquering the Italian tourist market. The three-year co-marketing agreement for the promotion of different Moroccan destinations on the Italian market has been signed in Marrakech. The opening of 5 new hotels is planned and using the airline Neos, Alpitour aims To guarantee regular links with direct flights for reaching the various locations.

Ferrara, 9th February (Adnkronos) – The “Nazioni Plus” project was presented this morning at the Castello Estense in the Sala del Consiglio of the Province of Ferrara, that aims to implement a system involving local enterprises for promoting the Lido delle Nazioni. The “Nazioni Plus” project involves tourist operators and local businesses that work within the Lido delle Nazioni, an area of great environmental and tourist value within the local council of Comacchio (Ferrara) inside the Po Delta Park.

Terni, 9th February (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Culture) - 180 couples have applied to take part in the traditional Festa della Promessa in the San Valentino Basilica in Terni, the city of lovers. “Like all saints, each with its own charisma – explained Father Mario Ottaviani to Adnkronos, the parish priest of San Valentino, who will accompany the young couples from all over Italy to the Santo-vescovo urn - St. Valentine has the special characteristic of helping couples to make their love dream come true”.

Lucca, 9th February - (Adnkronos) – “In our city there are many fans of the game Sudoku but this isn’t the only reason for expressing satisfaction for hosting the national competition that, again this year, will bring hundreds of competitors to Lucca. I share the concern, expressed in the press, of the Lucca hoteliers and restaurant owners due to the lack of events in the low season, even if I have to admit that over recent years the situation has improved. In any case this is an indication that the institutions have to consider changing the operative proposals". This was declared by the President of the Province of Lucca, Stefano Baccelli, whilst presenting the Italian Sudoku championship.

Potenza, 9th February - (Adnkronos) – The councillor for productive activities of the Basilicata region, Donato Salvatore, has been nominated coordinator of the national technical committee for creating the tourism portal “www.italia.it” by the State-Regional Conference. “The portal aims to promote the tourist offer in Italy – he explained – the economic resources for creating 'italia.it' will come from the national Financial Act".

Marrakech, 8th February (Adnkronos) – Alpitour, the tourist group controlled by IFIL, will be the only Italian partner of the Moroccan government for working on the development of the Mediterranean country. This has been laid own by the agreement that will be initialled tomorrow by the President and Managing Director of the Turin group, Daniel John Winteler, and the Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Adil Douiri, that involves the investment of € 1 million a year for the next three years. The agreement specifies that Alpitour will guarantee doubling the current tourist flux, taking it from 20,000 to 40,000 visitors per year.

Rome, 8th February - (Adnkronos) – Vueling Airlines, the new generation airline, is launching a new link between Venice and Madrid. The first flight is scheduled for 29th March and the cost of a ticket is € 30, including tax. This information comes from a memo from the Spanish airline. It is already possible to book tickets for the first flight on the website www.vueling.it.

Turin, 8th February (Adnkronos) – During a difficult season due to lack of snow in the mountain areas and a period of great promotion for tourism in the Turin area, the total traffic ban planned for 25th February could cause serious damage for the tourist operators and businesses in Turin. The alarm bells come from the representatives of the industry associations, Federalberghi and Epat, members of Ascom-Confcommercio in the Province of Turin.

Marrakech, 8th February (Adnkronos) – Alpitour is celebrating its 60th birthday and looking towards Italy for doubling the profitability of the group over a three year period, taking it from the current 2 to 4-5%. The President and Managing Director of the Group that is active in the tourist industry and controlled by ‘IFIL', Daniel John Winteler, announced the strategies planned until 2009, the day before the signing of co-marketing agreement with the Moroccan government. Alpitour is looking to bring about a 50% increase in tourism in Morocco.

Perugia, 7th February - (Adnkronos) – “Crossing the threshold of six million visitors for the first time is a historical result for Umbria”. This was declared by the Umbria Regional President, Maria Rita Lorenzetti, local tourism minister, at the presentation of the third report on tourism in Umbria. The President also underlined how "the increase in tourism in Umbria has been consolidated over the past year and marks the fact that the industry is picking up again".

Perugia, 7th February - (Adnkronos) – In Umbria, during the winter months, there are mainly Italian tourists, even though the operators in the industry have recorded a strong increase in foreign visitors. This is one of the aspects that has emerged from the third report carried out by the Regional Tourist Observatory on the joint trend of tourism in Umbria, presented this morning in Perugia. The data indicated in the document also included the confirmation that visitors are increasingly using the internet for their choice of destinations in Umbria (36% compared to a national average of 29.8%).

Venice, 7th February (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Culture) – Celebrate Valentine's Day in the rooms of a museum and get two entrance tickets for the price of one. On Wednesday 14th February, the Ministry for Culture Heritage has decided to let couples into state-owned museums with one entrance ticket.

Stintino, 7th February - (Adnkronos) – Stintino will be present for the fifth time at the ‘BIT’ International Tourism Exchange, that will be held in the Milan Exhibition Centre from 22nd to 25th February. The fishing village will have its own stand again this year showing the colours and individual characteristics of this area of the Asinara Gulf. But it won’t just stop at the ‘BIT’. Having already taken part in the Bratislava exhibition, the next trade fair event will be ‘Holiday World’ in Prague, from 15th to 18th February.

Bologna, 7th February - (Adnkronos) – The “Tourism Culture School Training Work Sport” commission is proceeding to examine the bill for the new law on tourism, which will modify regional law no. 7/1998 on the ‘Organisation of regional tourism. Projects for tourist promotion and commercialisation’, in the presence of the Councillor for Tourism and Commerce, Guido Pasi, evaluating and voting on the amendments presented by the commissioners. The first 10 articles have been approved with a series of modifications compared to the committee’s draft, in order to respond to the suggestions made during the recent meeting held to discuss the bill.

Rome, 7th February (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Culture) – Italy is an attraction point all over the world for culture, tourism and conventions. This is the Italy that the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Francesco Rutelli, described during the Assembly organised this morning by Italcongressi in association with EUR SpA and the Fiera di Roma, on relationships for competing, aimed at creating an exhibition and convention district in the Eur area of Rome, with the cooperation of the Institutions and operators in the industry.

Naples, 7th February (Adnkronos) – A tourist, art and culture campaign, promoted by Naples City Council will be used in order to attract Italians and foreign visitors to spend the Valentine’s Day celebrations in Naples. Organised by the Councillors for the Environment and for Tourism, in association with the Province of Naples, the campaign aims to promote the city’s image as an ideal place to spend Valentine’s Day, through promotions, presentations of books and tourist activities.

Palermo, 7th February - (Adnkronos) - On Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th February, for the closing days of the 62nd edition of the ‘Mandorlo in fiore’ festival in Agrigento, Trenitalia, the italian national train company, has planned to run 18 special train connections with Agrigento, of which 14 will be to and from Porto Empedocle and, only in Sunday, 4 trains to and from Aragona Caldare. The special trains, that will be run in addition to the normal Trenitalia timetabled connections, will provide quick access to the centre of Agrigento and the areas where the festival is taking place.

Ferrara, 6th February (Adnkronos) - The aim of “Nazioni Plus” is to create a “global tourist resort”, by integrating tourist and commercial operators and the local institutions. The project is part of an advertising campaign for the area around the Lido delle Nazioni, designed to make the most of the tourist offer in the area. The “Nazioni Plus” project, strongly promoted by the local operators and supported by the Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara, Confcommercio, Confesercenti e the National Confederation for Craft and Small and Medium Enterprises (C.N.A.), will be presented to the press on Friday 9th February at 11am in the Sala del Consiglio of the Provincial Offices in the Estense Castle, Ferrara.

Milan, 6th February (Adnkronos) – Italy, the home of cruise tourism. The Peninsula has overtaken all the other European countries in the industry in terms of ships built and passengers embarking and in transit. This information has come from the "European Cruise Contribution" report, presented today in Brussels, commissioned by the European Cruise Council, the association that groups together the main enterprises in the industry, whose President is the President of Costa Crociere, Pier Luigi Foschi. The Italian shipyards are currently working on the construction of 16 out of the 35 new cruise ships ordered at the end of 2006, 42% of the potential of the new investments for the three year period 2007-2010.

Rome, 6th February (Adnkronos) – All rail traffic can be seen in real time with a click of the mouse or by mobile phone. The new website of the Italian national rail company, www.viaggiatreno.it, “trains in real time”, successfully reached the end of its experimentation phase today and its graphics will now be "smartened up" and new services will be added. It will be possible, for example, to check if trains arriving and departing are on time.

Lucca, 6th February - (Adnkronos) – The month of February this year will be dedicated to carnival and typical products of the Valle del Serchio with the promotion campaign “del bello e del buono” in the Province of Lucca. The campaign is supported by various institutions and bodies (the first of which being the Provincial administration) and will continue for the rest of the year, stopping off in various towns in the Valle del Serchio and Alta Versilia.

Genoa, 6th February (Adnkronos) – The Liguria Region has reopened the presentation terms for applications for funding from the FIR (Regional Investment Fund) for tourism. From 15th February to 15th April hotel operators that manage 3, 4 and 5 star accommodation, beach bars and equipped public beaches in zones of Ob.2 will be able to apply for funding for restoration work, extensions, renovations and structural or technological improvements and property purchases.

Genoa, 6th February (Adnkronos) - Employment and wealth are growing in Europe with the development of the cruise industry and Italy is the main country to benefit from this. The information has come from the "European Cruise Contribution" report commissioned by the European Cruise Council (ECC) in association with Euroyards, MedCruise and Cruise Europe, presented today in Brussels. In Italy the cruise industry employs over 61,000 permanent members of staff and records direct expenses of € 2.5 billion.

Genoa, 5th February - (Adnkronos) – There has been a large increase in tourist fluxes from Australia to Italy that, after Britain, is in second place as favourite destination. The favourite place? Australian tourists have shown the most interest in the Cinque Terre in Liguria. This information emerged from recent research carried out by Enit, the National Tourism Agency that, in its latest publication, showed that in 2006 the Cinque Terre rose to the highest step on the Legambiente Guida Blu podium, passing 128 quality tests for marine wildlife, services, facilities and tourist offer.

Rome, 5th February (Adnkronos) – “Italcongressi has pointed out Eur as the ideal model for convention tourism for constructing the first convention district in Italy”. This was announced by the President of Italcongressi, Massimo Fabio, to RaiUtile, during a television programme dedicated to convention tourism in Italy.

Fabio underlined that “it is the market that creates industrial districts and in Rome, from Fiumicino to the “historical” area of Eur, there are already various facilities able to accommodate about 35,000 people".

Rome, 5th February (Adnkronos) – Italy will be one of the main features of the 13th edition of IMTM, the biggest tourism exhibition in Israel and one of the most important in the Middle East, that opens tomorrow in Tel Aviv. Over the two days of the exhibition, the Italy-Israel Chamber of Commerce has set up two stands where the delegations of the Veneto and Calabria Regions and the Province of Brescia will present their tourist destinations to the local public. There is always a strong interest in Italy. In 2006 about 600,000 Israelis came to stay in Italy.