From High Fashion to Tourism – Matteo Marzotto interviewed by Rimini Fiera

There’s an interesting interview, over at the Rimini Fiera magazine, with the new President of the Italian Tourism Authority (ENIT) Matteo Marzotto, who was in Rimini recently to talk at the World Convention of Italian Chambers of Commerce.

Marzotto comes from the world of fashion, from the Marzotto group (A world leader in textiles, founded in the 1800’s), and more particularly from one of the great ‘Made in Italy’ success stories the Valentino Fashion House (the Marzotto group bought the brand in 2002 and were responsible for its launch on the New York Stock Exchange). Matteo Marzotto’s business acumen and international experience made him an obvious choice to work in the agency responsible for the promotion of Italy as a brand abroad.

Not surprisingly much of the interview concentrates on business-tourism as a model for promoting the country during these harsh economic times. Rimini Fiera, a state of the art conference centre, continues to prove that where there’s a good location, infrastructure, and services people will come.

There have, for example, been more than 118,000 visitors to the first major exhibition of the autumn, MondoNatura, proving that Rimini’s location and services are a winning combination.

Talking about a national strategy to promote business tourism in Italy, Marzotto commented: “Business tourism has important numbers and is an important opportunity to grasp. But there’s a lot of work to do. I’m thinking above all about services. We have built or are building Fiere and congress centres. Great, but we need hotels as well that are capable of meeting the needs of these particular tourists. Structures with lots of rooms and quality service.”

The thrust of the article, then, is that Rimini and its Fiera (and the soon to be opened Palacongressi) are a model resource from which the rest of Italy can learn.