DIGITALIZATION, INNOVATION, SUSTAINABILITY AT THE SERVICE OF THE CUSTOMER
At one of the extraordinary examples of Italian Renaissance architecture, the evocative Chiostro del Bramante in Rome downtown, ITA Airways launched as Main Partner True Italian Experience with its Chief Executive Officer, Fabio Lazzerini, in the presence of the Executive Chairman Alfredo Altavilla, and with the participation of the Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia. This project was welcomed with enthusiasm and great interest by all the Italian institutions, represented by the following participants: Ettore Sequi – General Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Massimiliano Fedriga – President of the State-Regions Conference and President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Roberto Gualtieri, Mayor of Rome, and Giuseppe Sala Mayor of Milan.
True Italian Experience is an innovative digital hub for the development of tourism towards Italy that brings together the main stakeholders of the Italian tourism industry to create a “system” for promoting worldwide all the experiences that can be enjoyed in Italy through a dedicated website.
“The ITA Airways initiative with True Italian Experience is a winning challenge that goes in the direction of greater involvement of all operators for a better national tourist offer – said the Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia. The objectives of the tourist season are to reach the 2019 data and it is a duty we have towards all operators after two years of blockade given by the pandemic”.
“True Italian Experience allows us to create a ‘system’ by bringing together the main public and private players in the Italian tourism industry, working for the enhancement of sustainable, innovative and inclusive experiences in our country – said Fabio Lazzerini, Chief Executive Officer of ITA Airways. We give to this initiative our valuable contribution of Flagship Carrier: our commercial presence in 67 countries that will gradually grow up to 89, the access to more than 80,000 points of sale – that will become more than 100,000 – of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies in the world, the visibility that our touch points provide to customers. At the same time, we create a new source of income for ITA Airways by significantly expanding our ancillary revenues. The goal is to bring travelers to choose Italy, to love it and to recommend it as the most varied and engaging tourist experience in the world. We want to contribute to the growth of Italian tourism revenues, as this is part of our commitment. This is a wide-ranging project that represents an asset of enhancement for the Company, which places itself at the center of this system as a point of reference both institutionally and in terms of business.”
Tourism digitalization, customer centricity, innovation and sustainability are the pillars of ITA Airways and True Italian Experience. Today, these objectives have been integrated into a single digital ecosystem for the promotion of the territory and the offer of travel experiences, ensuring a new and cutting-edge approach to enhancing Italy.
True Italian Experience’s main mission is to re-launch and highlight even the most hidden corners in Italy, which are difficult otherwise to discover. This is achieved also through the production and worldwide distribution of editorial and informative content that captures all the beauty of the country. And it is particularly important after the long crisis due to the Covid emergency, which caused tourism to slow down dramatically.
As a matter of fact, today according to the True Italian Experience Observatory, 93.8% of people interviewed described Italy as their ideal destination, particularly for its culture, art, good food, nature and sport.
69.4% of users around the world would like to come on holiday to Italy, thus confirming the trend of returning to pre-pandemic travel habits. A 71.1% of the users consider the personalization of the travel experience to be one of the crucial elements in planning a holiday.
DIGITALIZATION
ITA Airways has in digitalization one of the pillars of its strategy to guarantee the customer a richer and more innovative offer which fits perfectly with the digital hub of True Italian Experience.
“Live Italy minute by minute” is the claim of True Italian Experience and one of the platforms forming the digital ecosystem has been developed around it: in detail, it is an innovative platform that already offers 1,440 emotional videos (one for every minute of the day), which have been filmed among the Italian beauties and territories. These videos tell the story of the most hidden Italy and offer unique experiences that bring Italian tradition and culture to life. These videos inspire the user, leading him to explore and configure his journey in line with his needs.
In addition to the videos, the True Italian Experience digital hub contains all the related tourist services: ITA Airways flight bookings, hotels, transfers, rent-a-car, and everything needed to create a unique experience. There is also the possibility of further customizing the trip, starting from the ideas proposed or, alternatively, creating a tailor-made travel package. The True Italian Experience offer will be promoted and sold through the network of ITA Airways partner travel agents who will be able to access the TIE platform dedicated to B2B. This offer can be purchased by the customer in the already active B2C hub or, alternatively, configured by the customer on the B2C site and purchased, following further customization at the nearest travel agency.
INNOVATION
ITA Airways is the one and only airline to be present in the digital hub of True Italian Experience, and it is taking a leading role in promoting Italy in an innovative and unique way in global markets. True Italian Experience and ITA Airways are different realities, but they that are integrated synergistically to contribute to the growth of Italy’s “tourism turnover” thanks to a latest generation digital service. With True Italian Experience, ITA Airways makes its network of 64 destinations of which 23 are national, 34 are international, and 7 are intercontinental available to visitors and to the entire system that forms the digital hub, plus all the destinations that can be reached courtesy of the 24 codeshare agreements with the world’s leading airlines.
SUSTAINABILITY
A shared pillar of ITA Airways and True Italian Experience is Sustainability. In fact, both work every day to develop a sustainable and quality tourism, which is a rich and conscious discovery of the territory. A wide range of experiences that offers not only simple visits but also the culture, tradition and lifestyle of the Italians.
There is also a particular attention to the offer of intermodal transport and easy access to e-mobility systems. For ITA Airways and True Italian Experience, sustainability also means giving visibility to the many tourism startups in the area, to cooperatives that use assets confiscated by the state for tourism purposes, to associations that work with people with disabilities, to groups of travel guides who take care of sites and museums in more distant areas
CUSTOMER CENTRICITY
ITA Airways and True Italian Experience develop their business by placing “The Customer” at the centre. Both aim at offering a best-in-class travel experience, with personalized services that do not end with the flight and stay, but rather ensure a deep and emotional 360° experience, which can only be achieved through a strong digitalization of processes and a great attention to detail. True Italian Experience’s entire digital hub is based on the use of Big Data which, courtesy of Artificial Intelligence technologies, allows the customers to discover Italy and its distinctive experiences based on their own passions and travel interests. The aim is to guide the consumer from the inspiration of the trip to the planning of the stay in Italy, helping him to discover the peculiarities that our country can offer.
SECURITY
ITA Airways and True Italian Experience place the safety and health of their customers at the top of their list. For this reason, they have developed this innovative project on facilities and experiences that can guarantee maximum safety to the visitors, while complying with all Covid-19 protocols. All travel experiences are tailored to the customer and designed to offer strong emotions, while at the same time meeting the highest standards of health and safety.
