10 hightlights in TTG Travel Experience, Rimini (Italy)

After the big stop due to the pandemic, tourism worldwide is slowly coming back, especially in the open countries (meaning not Asia and Oceania), for them it will take longer. Everybody wants to be back on track and travel the world, meet new people and carry out cool experiences.
I am very lucky to have been invited to the most important tourism exhibition in Italy, TTG: the Italian marketplace for travel and hospitality. TTG took place at the same time with SIA Hospitality Design and SUN beach & outdoor style in Rimini organized by Italian Exhibition Group, the three events, the tourism supply chain under one roof, saw a definite upturn in the operators’ confidence curve: a key theme with which this year’s edition was opened. All measures to return to a safe physical events have been taken: everybody had to show their negative covid test or their covid vaccination passport:And temperature was taken at the entrance. So everybody, feels safer in the halls, of course still wearing masks indoors.The figures of TTG:
– Visitors registering 90% of the number recorded at the 2019 edition
– 700 buyers from over 40 foreign countries
– 62% from Europe and 38% from outside Europe
– 19 halls with 1,800 brands
– 9 arenas with 650 hours of discussion and information
Here you can read my interview with Nicola de Pizzo, Exhibition Manager of TTG.
Check #GraupixRimini for more details and comments on my social media.The highlights of the 58^th TTG spoke  about the language of confidence in people, life, nature and the future.
And my hightlights among the international exhibitors:
– Saudi Arabia: opened for tourism in September 2019 and being present in TTG Rimini represented their first exhibition in Europe and they were also a partner country. They chose the most important Travel & Tourism Exhibition in Italy to promote their country.
It is the 12^th biggest country in the world and it is still so unknown, in September 2019 the level of awareness about Saudi Arabia was 7% and now is 12%. So there is plenty of room for improvement.
Lucky me, I have learnt so much talking to the people in charge of the Tourism in Saudi Arabia: in Riyad we can have any kind of luxury experience and of course some desert experience, and in Jeddah in the Red Sea, we you can find even snowed mountains. And food is slightly different in every region, being rice the star product, new flavours and dishes like mansaf made by cooking mutton in a broth of fermented yogurt or hameees: blends the cooked meat’s textures with soft onions packed with local spices and cooked together.
And from October 20th to end of March you can find the festival Riyad Season with non-stop events, music festivals, etc. Really inspiring.
I can’t wait to travel to Saudi Arabia!– Slovenia: it is a small extremely sustainable country and one of the greenest in Europe: 60% of their land is forest, as they say «we are green, we live green, we act green and we promote green». Four geographical regions define the country: Alps, Mediterranean, Karst Plateau and Pannonian Plain. The key word is diversity: very different landscapes, proposals and gastronomies. Speaking about gastronomy: seven chefs with star Michelin in such a small country, big achievement.
And one of my favorite plans: just 45 minutes aways from Ljubljana, the capital, you can find Rimske Terme, a wellness resort with three hotels. As they say «You can’t spell Slovenia without love».
Another country added to my bucketlist.– Ecuador: being one of my favorite countries, this has been the first participation of Ecuador in TTG, they had a small booth but very busy one, and the results of the exhibition were fabulous. Before covid tourism in Ecuador was growing between 15% and 17%, for example around 17.000 Italians visited Ecuador in 2019.
The main goal is to make awareness of the South American country and contact with the tour operators.
Here you can read all my articles and experiences in Ecuador.– Japan: another of my favorite countries in the world. Even if Japan has now, borders closed for tourism, Japan wants to show their willingness to receive tourists as soon as borders reopen.
Their main goal in TTG was to support the tourism sector and show to the world that Japan is ready to receive tourists as soon as borders reopen, actually even more ready and conscious than ever and the new normal will be their normal. They featured their main outdoor areas for trekking but as well the ones liaising tradition. Nature embracing harmony with the people.
The destinations ouf of the most typical ones to share authenticity and places with no over tourism. And, of course, sustainability plays a key role.
Here you can read all my articles and experiences in Japan.
– Colombia: another of my top countries in the world, had a nice representation in TTG. They have taken advantage of the world having stopped in order to redefine some of their products, they divided Colombia in 6 regions.
Things we need to know: Colombia is the country with most biodiversity by square meter in the world, in Colombia we find 1000 different rhythms, and 50% of moorland in the world, are in Colombia. We can also do safaris in Colombia, of course not with the big 5, but with many other animals.
Here you can read all my articles about Colombia.– Croatia: being one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, the main goal in TTG has been to show their natural areas and to show that they have been very busy in the summer saison 2021, summer season 2021, reaching by 94% of the tourists of 2019 with 12 million nightly stays.
From the shores in the South Dalmatian islands bathed by the gently sun of the Adriatic Sea to the top of Dinara, the highest peak in the country, through swamps filled with wildlife in Posavina or the Mediterranean richness of the forests in Mljet. And of course, through 6278 km Croatia’s coastline offers an exciting challenge of 1244 islands, islets, so lots of places to go. My highlights among the Italian exhibitors:
– Rimini: the hosting city is one of the Italian cities that changed a lot in the last few years. The main road at the sea, has been -and it is still being- converted into an amazing Sea Park for walkers, to sport, and to enjy the very well equipped area in front the huge and beautiful beaches.
Add to your list the new Fellini Museum and the new Teatro Galli, the two new jewels in Rimini. A city being constantly updated with new proposals for its citizens and for the whole-year tourists.
I can’t wait to be back to Rimini (not only to go from TTG to the hotel and back).– Sicily: my favorite island in the Mediterranean, it has the best landscapes, archeological sites and gastronomy. The most exclusive proposals by MDF Incentives & Slow Tours like learning how to make a granita from the ices of the vulcano Etna, or with the own boat around the island and cook with the fishermen, MDF offers an experiential Sicily, back to the roots, back to the real and traditional local experiences. – Ischia: another stunning island in the Mediterranean, not so well known by international travellers, but offering lovely experiences and gastronomy: trekkings, villages and castles, museums, and all just 45 minutes by speed boat from Neaples.
The island has vulcanic origines, this means also there are some natural spring waters and hot sands, so that one of the most important dishes is cooked below the sand.
Add Ischia to your bucketlist.– Umbria: to me is the best kept Italian secret, a region like no other and not so promoted as others. Lovely villages, art, food. This is Umbria, in the centre of Italy. Absolutely popular is Assisi among the Catholics, but we cannot forget the Roman city and experiences like having dinner in La Locanda del Cardinale above a Roman Domus. Visit the Infiorati de Spello – for the Corpus Domini festival, almost a thousand people work to create carpets and pictures made of flowers along the town’s narrow streets-.  Absolutely over the top rural hotels like a Torre del Nera, a hotel diffuso, which is a hotel occupying most the houses of an ancient village. I cannot wait to be back in Umbria!A never-ending travel bucket list. Even though I have been travelling a lot for many years, there are always stunning places to visit.