Italy Masterplace 2024

10 new Italian Tourist Destinations Compete on the International Tourism Stage.

Talent for tourism and hospitality are at home in Italy: thousands of ancient villages, breathtaking views, cultures and traditions, archaeological sites, food and wine and craftsmanship, each unique to a specific territory.

A vast collection of rough diamonds which, in orded to shine, need to be discovered, polished and promoted. Despite the potential, the bulk of international tourism still seeks Italy’s classic destinations: the large cities of art and the "high consumption" tourist areas -- a problem for sustainable tourism, and a huge opportunity for local communities to diversify.

This is precisely where Destination Italia comes into play: the Italian leader in high-end, experiential incoming tourism launches "ITALY MASTERPLACE", the first competitive format for tourist destinations. If you have ever seen a talent show, you have already understood how Italy Masterplace works: a competition between new tourist destinations who, supported by Destination Italia’s incoming tourism experts, will hone their talents and present themselves on an exceptional stage: New York City!

All In all, 10 Italian locations will be selected with the support of Destination Italia's Local Experts to present their "tourism talents". Five events, a prestigious New York location, plus a final event for the proclamation of the first Italian Masterplace.?

Each event will be dedicated to 2 destinations that will present in front of an audience of 50 "Top Delegates" selected by Destination Italia in New York among top tourism operators, journalists, influencers and opinion leaders.

All tourist destinations can participate: both those in the start-up phase and those in more mature stages. The project is highly strategic for Italy, as it fosters the creation of the pillars for growth and sustainability of the Italian tourist market through the development of alternative destinations, new forms of tourism, new tourist seasons.

For local communities, Italy Masterplace project represents a unique opportunity for international visibility, growth of high-quality tourism intake, smoother seasonalities, employment growth, and increase the value of real estate assets, particularly those in historic centres/with artistic value.

And it is an opportunity for local communities to open up to new cultures, develop new professional skills that increase the level of competence in hospitality.

How Italy Masterplace works

Italy MasterPlace takes place in New York and includes 3 phases:

1. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS: the governance bodies of territorial institutions and/or local tourism systems, through the support of our Destination Local Experts, can propose their candidacy to Italy Masterplace Staff. Once the request is positively evaluated, the Product Department of Destination Italia Group will help all candidates to define which vocational assets must be honed in order to increase their competitiveness and what activities must be undertaken. Such activities will be carried with the assistance of our Destination Local Experts, who will assist the local tourist organizations and stakeholders in developing and packaging attractiveness, experiences, accommodations, events and so on. At the end of this phase, Destination Italia will identify the 10 new Italian destinations that most deserve to take part in the competition.

2. FIVE EVENTS: a committee of 50 "Top Delegates" – selected tourism operators, expert opinion leaders, journalists, financial institutions, managers and community leaders in the United States -- will express their preference during 5 events (two destinations per event). During each event, the "Go to Market" model of each destination is presented: media visibility in the US, proposition of the destination to Destination Italia’s customers and relationship network.

3. THE FINAL: the 3 destinations which will have obtained -- during the events dedicated to them -- the greatest number of preferences will compete to become Italy Masterplace 2024. The final will take place on December 12th, 2024 by a VIP Jury chaired by Dina Ravera, President of Destination Italia, during a final exclusive event again in New York City

Discovering and Making the Talents of Italian Tourism Shine

Dina Ravera, President of Destination Italia Group, says: “With Italy Masterplace we want to create, develop and enhance Italian tourist destinations through a bottom-up process that starts from the uniqueness that each territory offers and create a finished product ready to be promoted to international markets.”

?

Massimiliano Cossu, CEO of Destination Italia Corporation, goes further into specifics: “Italy MasterPlace is an opportunity to create, scale and promote new tourist destinations in one of the most visited countries in the world, through a healthy, profitable competition between destinations. This is a process that originates in the territories with the fundamental help of our Local Experts, and which starts with the identification of thematic and vocational guidelines that are then declined into a digitalisation activity. The output is the the creation of authentic, local tourist products – accommodations, experiences, events, services, stories. The work will be completed and enhanced by giving the selected destinations direct access to Destination Italia's distribution channels through the launch ("go-to-market") in New York City. It is one of the very few cases in which a “game” generates real economic value and potential employment in the long term. This is not an academic exercise – it’s real, it creates new tourist attractors, new demand for them, new forms of tourism and new seasonalities. Italy MasterPlace further strengthens the growth of the Destination Local Expert network, now present in 13 Italian regions, and enriches our digital platform with experiential content, in line with the development of the Business model supported by the Capital Raise actions now almost completed..”

How to participate in Italy Masterplace 2024

For more information go to ?https://hs.destinationitalia.com/italy-masterplace#progetto