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Written by Andrea Trevisan - Bancosta Cruise
Cruising around Italy is a beautiful experience which I would recommend to anyone! Either you would like to travel in a small cruise yacht, in a boutique or a large contemporary cruise ship, Italy has a lot to offer also for group travel and MICE events.
BIT MILAN 2023 - WHEN THE FASHION CAPITAL OF MILAN HOSTS THE MAIN TOURISM EXHIBITION IN ITALY
Every occasion I land in Milan, I enjoy getting reminded to be in a world fashion capital from the moment I reach the airport terminal. I immediately notice the generally fashionable style of most of the travelers transiting between the top designers’ shops.
Between 12-14 February 2023, Milan was not only the well-known fashion capital that most of us love, but also the capital of Italian tourism.
That was the reason for me to travel at BIT (International Tourism Exchange) Milan 2023 which was hosted at the Allianz MiCO. BIT is the world's first marketplace for the Italian tourism product, uniting a wide representation of all supply chains under one roof, including Italian regions, foreign tourism boards, consortiums, private operators, hospitality companies and carriers.
This year BIT Milan was particularly focused on on emerging niches, thanks to three macro exhibition areas: Leisure with proposals from destinations and operators, BeTech for digital services and start-ups, and the MICE Village entirely dedicated to business travel.
ATTENTIVE TRAVELER
There was a particular attention to sustainability, which has been the recurring theme of BIT 2023 with proposals for an increasingly attentive traveler who wants to experience the destination not "as a tourist," but with the same respect and authenticity as the locals: from slow tourism to affordable luxury, from bleisure to nature and the outdoors.
I felt absolutely proud to see the incredible variety that my country of origins can offer.
From amazing winter sports resorts to pristine water destinations and everything in between.
Needless to say, that when it comes to culture and culinary experience, Italy is second to none.
CRUISE TRAVEL IN ITALY
Cruise travel in Italy was also an important topic at BIT Milan 2023.
I was happy to meet a number of cruise lines such as MSC Cruises, Costa and as well the new exciting luxury cosmopolitan brand Explora Journeys (featured as well in our website).
Italy offers a coastline of around 8.000km, a number unique destinations can be reached via the sea. In fact, it used to say that Italy is a country of a country of “Saints, Navigators and Poets”. I obviously belong only to the second category :-).
No wonder that on the Navigators side we are proud to mention Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) and more…
The good news is that you don’t need to be a great navigator to explore Italy by sea!
Cruising around Italy is a beautiful experience which I would recommend to anyone! Either you would like to travel in a small cruise yacht, in in boutique or a large contemporary cruise ship, Italy has a lot to offer also for group travel and MICE events.
HOSTING THE PERFECT CRUISE EVENT ITALY
I discussed with a number of event organizers which are thinking to organize an event on board a cruise ship and it is something I absolutely support.
In 2018 I had the pleasure to participate to a 4-day corporate event organized on the ultra large cruise ship of Royal Caribbean “Symphony of the Seas” sailing mainly in Italian ports and I remember it as one of the most productive and interesting events I ever attended.
The facilities were perfect, we could dine in a number of restaurants and experiences several venues, it was never boring and there was a significant amount of time for fun and team building activities.
So, if you would like to arrange any event around Italy of any size on board a cruise ship, please do not hesitate to contact us, we would be delighted to help you in finding the right solution for you.
When I was on my way back to the airport, I felt like I had little taste of Italy within 4 hours of attendance to the trade show. A bit like visiting the “Italia in Miniatura” park near Rimini.
Always beautiful to be back in Milan and in Italy!