Everything is ready for BIT Milano. After last year’s digital edition, the international event dedicated to tourism returns to Fiera Milano City, from Sunday April 10 to Tuesday April 12, 2022. This real business platform, in support of industry and tourism operators, will see the presence of 893 exhibitors (12% from abroad from 31 countries) and highly profiled buyers from 47 countries, in particular from Europe (36%) and North America (16%), as well as from Central and South America, Middle East, and Africa. Following the “Bringing Innovation into Travel” theme, sustainability and innovation will be the key words in the in-depth conferences and in all the exhibitors’ proposals.
Timetables and tickets
The day open to visitors is exclusively that of Sunday April 10, from 9.30am to 6.00pm. The cost of the online ticket is €5. On Monday 11 and Tuesday 12, admission is reserved for industry professionals, for which pre-registration is required. Access to the exhibition center will be allowed only to holders of a “reinforced Green Pass”.
The International Tourism Exchange is not specifically dedicated to outdoor tourism, but there are several interesting events for this sector as well. Below you will find a selection with date, time, place, and a brief description.
Sunday, April 10
Hidden Italy, the nation’s strategies for tapping into flows
11.30-12.30, Coral Room 1 – Pad. 4
Overtourism is a term of the past. Italy’s hidden treasures hold the potential to develop the economy and boost employment. Provided that, even before thinking about advertising, infrastructure and a comprehensive, flexible offer are created.
Bleisure and new travel dimensions in the context of respecting biodiversity
12.30-13.30, Coral Room 2 – Pad. 4
Business and leisure: once two fundamentally incompatible concepts. Today, however, they are coming to represent a starting point for business travel, which is experiencing great difficulty.
Monday, April 11
Food and wine tourism, the perfect blend of digital solutions and local experience
10.00-11.00, Coral Room 4 – Pad. 4
Food and wine tourism today is no longer tied down to a specific time or place. It’s gone from mere physical travel to a state of mind bound to a desire to experience, to discover, to get involved. There is a “before” and an “after” which become elements of preparation, guidance, and enduring memories of the experience. Digital technologies have facilitated this shift, enabling businesses to rethink what they offer and develop an ongoing relationship that enriches every stage of the journey.
The future to come: scenarios beyond the crisis with the top players of the Italian travel industry
11.00-12.00, Coral Room 3 – Pad. 4
Institutions, tourism boards, tour operators, travel agencies, business travel, MICE, transportation, hospitality… Tourism stakeholders discuss and outline the scenarios that will mark the coming months.
Why big data is key in the tourism industry and how to get the most out of it
11.00-12.00, Coral Room 2 – Pad. 4
Knowing the future in order to get ahead of it. Having a data repository that can predict what customers will want with remarkable precision is an invaluable asset. But to do it successfully, not only do you need the data, you also need to know how to process and interpret it.
Food and wine tourism: greener, more inclusive and social
11.30-12.20, Coral Room 4 – Pad. 4
Tourists are increasingly sensitive to the issue of sustainability. They want to be given the means to minimise negative impacts and generate value for destinations. In food and wine tourism, there is a strong desire to take part in experiences characterised both by a green approach and being socially responsible. Destinations and companies are, therefore, called upon to reflect on themselves and what they offer, focusing on sustainability, now key for travellers too.
Hospitality and safety: innovation defining new guidelines
13.00-14.00, Coral Room 1 – Pad. 4
It will be innovation that will show hospitality leaders how to move forward in order to ensure guests the utmost safety while also safeguarding the economy for businesses.
MICE, the era of extraordinary events through technology, creativity, flexibility and unexpected locations
14.30-15.30, Coral Room 5 – Pad. 4
Conferences and events have changed dramatically over the past two years. In locations, in numbers, in companies’ needs, in timeframes, in costs and in the creativity offered. An analysis with the experts aiming to combine face-to-face activities and digital solutions.
Tuesday, April 12
Fast & Slow: a destination’s ultimate two-speed approach for meeting new demand
10.00-11.00, Coral Room 5 – Pad. 4
Fast is the burst required today to adapt infrastructures, spaces, villages and local communities, unaccustomed to tourist flows, to the increased demands of new tourism. Slow is the virtue of not getting lost, at risk of a sharp drop in appeal. A fusion that, no matter how difficult, is a must.
Technology in support of the circular user experience
11.30-12.30, Coral Room 5 – Pad. 4
Technologies at the service of the circular user experience must be oriented towards improving the quality of tourist practices, assuming intelligence and sustainability as the right paradigm to improve the quality of life and the social value of both guests and local residents.
Exponential tourism recovery in Italian villages
11.30-12.30, Coral Room 4 – Pad. 4
Local Tourism & Destination Management: Village recovery through involving the local community and sustainability.
NRRP and local enterprise networks: a great opportunity for circular development
11.30-12.30, Coral Room 1 – Pad. 4
The National Recovery and Resilience Plan is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, though it is highly conditional. Places interested in proximity tourism are offered a great scope in fund granting, though it comes with equally great complexity. Cooperation between public and private stakeholders is strategic.
Technology and partnerships: how tour operators are shaping their futures
12.30-13.30, Coral Room 2 – Pad. 4
The event includes a series of interventions on the importance of public and private interventions, systemic and strategic, at the territorial level, to promote tourism that considers sustainability from an economic, environmental and social point of view. The different interventions bring different perspectives that are integrated in the strategic and integrated definition of the promotion of tourist destinations and products, in view of a memorable customer experience. Promotion of parks, LAGs and redefinition of strategic city/resort plans are case histories.
Google Observatory on Digital Tourism – 70% of bookings happens online: how to maximize revenues, while maintaining profitability
12.30-13.30, Coral Room 3 – Pad. 4
Due to COVID-19, Tourism has radically changed. More than 70% of people today look for information and book online. Demand aggregators gained relevance both for transports and for accommodations, impacting corporate’s margins. During the Observatory we will discover how it is possible to drive online traffic directly on a company’s websites, strategically using the available information and the tools that Google offers.
High-performance technology for environmentally friendly travel
13.00-14.00, Coral Room 3 – Pad. 4
This seminar focuses on the importance of technological investments and digital innovation to ensure the sustainability of tourist destinations and content or products. Starting from the PNRR guidelines on technological investments and high-innovation start-ups, there will be examples of technological investments at the service of communication and digital marketing as well as the development of the market share, but also the creation of innovative content and experiences with a high emotional and multisensory impact of cultural tourism and food and wine.
Who will overcome the organised tourism e-commerce challenge?
14.00-15.00, Coral Room 2 – Pad. 4
The physical and virtual worlds have long coexisted in the travel industry and the last two years have expanded travellers’ use of email, WhatsApp and phone. Operators and agencies have now realised the importance of having a presence at all touchpoints. However, the e-commerce challenge is far from easy to overcome. Which strategies should be used to avoid falling behind?
Travel as an ethical approach to the local area and its resources
14.30-15.30, Coral Room 5 – Pad. 4
Ethics and sustainability are close to the hearts of millennials and beyond. These topics represent an unfulfilled development opportunity for those inland areas less well-known for hugely appealing quality, but with exceptional cultural, traditional and natural/environmental value and variety.
On foot, on horseback, by bike: the luxury of time
15.30-16.30, Coral Room 2 – Pad. 4
You start alone, with family, with friends, with the dog. The emotional experience and the awareness of a respectful presence of increasingly fragile habitats and open to local cultures enriches. The sustainable journey, in its various forms – from proximity to the great exotic journeys – is experiencing a moment of strong global expansion thanks to the mature sentiment of circularity of values and the impact and distribution on the territory of the economic drive generated.
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