Hospitality 2026 closes with solid results and a growing central role for outdoor hospitality within the sector

The 50th edition of Hospitality – Il Salone dell’Accoglienza, organised by Riva del Garda Fierecongressi, has closed with a positive outcome, confirming last year’s figures and further strengthening its position as a benchmark platform for the entire Italian hospitality supply chain.

Almost 20,000 visitors attended the four-day event, with a particularly significant share of new operators (38%), increasingly focused on investment, innovation and the development of medium- to long-term projects. This profile was also reflected in exhibitors’ feedback, which identified Hospitality as a highly qualified environment for connecting professional demand and supply.

Alongside the traditional segments of food & beverage, hospitality technologies and contract furnishing, the outdoor and open-air hospitality sector once again recorded steady growth in both interest and participation. This trend is now cutting across the entire hospitality industry, involving campsites, holiday villages, hybrid accommodation models and operators increasingly focused on integrating comfort, sustainability and high-quality outdoor experiences.

“With its 50th edition, Hospitality celebrated the evolution of the HoReCa sector by placing the entire ecosystem of businesses, operators, partners and associations at its centre,” underlined Roberto Pellegrini, President of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi. “A milestone that further strengthens the exhibition’s role as a hub for a community able to engage in dialogue and grow together”.

The contribution of the open-air sector and the role of industry associations

Within this broader framework, the active presence of the open-air tourism sector emerged as one of the most dynamic elements of the 2026 edition. FAITA Federcamping and FAITA Trentino played a leading role throughout the event, organising numerous discussion panels, training sessions and initiatives dedicated to the evolution of outdoor hospitality, once again confirming Hospitality as a privileged forum for dialogue between operators, institutions and companies across the supply chain.

This pathway reached a highly symbolic moment of visibility with the first edition of the Best Camping Village Awards, organised by Teamwork Hospitality and designed to highlight excellence within the Italian open-air hospitality sector. The awards spotlighted leading destinations across the country, recognising management quality, service innovation, sustainability and the ability to deliver high-value tourism experiences.

A clear indication that open-air tourism is now a structural component of the national hospitality system, no longer a niche segment but a strategic driver for territorial development and the evolution of contemporary accommodation models.

Training, relationships and emerging trends at the heart of the event

With more than 750 exhibitors and over 150 training events, the content programme once again proved to be one of Hospitality’s core strengths. Workshops, talks and in-depth sessions offered professional development opportunities and valuable exchanges on key topics such as innovation, sustainability, accessibility and business model transformation.

Growing attention was also paid to inclusion and accessible hospitality, like with the “Di Ognuno” project, through experiential projects that directly engaged visitors, as well as to emerging beverage trends, including the rapidly expanding segment of low- and no-alcohol drinks, now firmly embedded within the exhibition’s structured offering.

“This edition confirms the solidity of the event and its ability to evolve alongside the sector,” commented Alessandra Albarelli, General Manager of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi. “The quality of the content, levels of participation and overall engagement demonstrate Hospitality’s role as a reference platform for innovation and development across the entire hospitality value chain”.

An increasingly cohesive system looking to the future

Hospitality 2026 therefore concludes by consolidating its role as a strategic hub for the Italian hospitality industry, capable of connecting diverse yet increasingly interdependent sectors: hotels, foodservice, services, wellness and open-air tourism.

The growing focus on outdoor hospitality, the active involvement of industry associations and initiatives such as the Best Camping Village Awards all confirm how campsites and holiday villages are taking on a central role in the evolution of today’s tourism offering.

The next edition is scheduled for February 2027, with the 51st Hospitality – Il Salone dell’Accoglienza set to continue this path of growth, integration and innovation across the entire hospitality ecosystem.