TTG Experience 2024: Italy and the world under the spotlight
My key takeaways from this year's tourism fair in one of world's most visited countries.
After attending ITB in Berlin and Top Resa in Paris earlier this year, last week I’ve visited the TTG Experience tourism fair in Rimini, Italy.
TTG is one of the main tourism fairs in Europe with around 2,700 exhibitors between tourism boards, airlines, tour operators, technology providers, startups and thousands of tourism professionals attending.
With Italy being one of the most visited countries in the world (64.1 Million international visitors in 2023), I was particularly interested in hearing from leaders and experts about the latest trends and figures in this country.
In this article I am sharing my impressions and some key takeaways.
#1 - The travel industry looks in good shape
Similar to other tourism fairs I’ve visited this year, experts across various sectors at TTG shared optimism and an overall positive outlook: In 2023 there were 1.3 bln international arrivals globally, with 55% of all international travelers choosing Europe, according to PwC.
Looking at this year, international travel recovered to 96% of pre-pandemic levels between January and July 2024, according to a recent report.
#2 The year of “Veritas”
Each year TTG Travel Experience proposes a main theme, inspired by the market environment at the time. This year’s edition leading theme was Veritas:
“Veritas” is a Latin word chosen to invoke the indispensable search for factual truths. In an age in which we have seen artificial storytelling, not always authentic reviews and false information proliferate online, a new need for truth arises.
Tourism and hospitality companies discuss how to face a growing challenge: how to provide authentic information, scientifically verifiable market analysis and truthful stories to their customers.
The aim is to go beyond “clichés”, to recognise that travellers are no longer simply consumers, but thinking, self-assured individuals.
#3: AI and Sustainability are here to stay
Two recurring topics in the tourism industry this year: Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability.
Sustainability has been around for some years now, with experts still arguing whether travelers always “walk the talk” when it comes to sustainable choices, and a few brands using sustainability more as a marketing tool (the so-called greenwashing) rather than a real force for good.
Some keynotes at TTG focused on debunking some myths around sustainability, or on the role of agricultural tourism and secondary destinations in fighting overtourism (48.1% of international arrivals to Italy are concentrated in just 6 regions out of 20).
And what about Artificial Intelligence? It’s still unclear to what extent AI will change the travel industry, with some experts arguing it will disrupt areas like distribution and travel discovery and others being more cautious.
Some keynotes at TTG discussed the role of AI mainly in Hospitality, especially in the areas of revenue management and marketing.
#4: The rise of experiential travel
Another growing trend in the industry: experiences. The global marketplace for travel experiences is worth $1 Trillion, according to a research by McKinsey:
Once upon a time, travelers might have picked a destination first and only later started choosing what to do upon arrival. But today’s travelers don’t treat experiences as afterthoughts. Their travel decisions are increasingly based on specific activity interests.
It’s no surprise, then, that experiential travel -from enogastronomic to outdoor to cultural- was also one of the most talked about topics across all keynotes at this year’s edition of TTG.
#5 - Italian regions steal the scene
While TTG is an international tourism exhibition, its main focus is promoting Italian tourism abroad. Therefore, beside the 66 stands representing countries from all over the world (compared to 170 at IFTM), every Italian region was represented with a total of 20 stands occupying several almost one fourth of the entire exhibition.
In fact, walking through the Italy pavilions was like a journey, reminding visitors about the incredible cultural heritage making each region in Italy country so unique and worth experiencing.
Some regions managed to really stand out, either through impressive stands (I particularly liked Sicily’s stand layout and display of a collection of typical ceramics artwork) or more with catchy messages (like Tuscany’s “Endless Renaissance” tagline).
TTG Experience 2024 - Final thoughts
This tourism fair was another great opportunity to take the pulse of the tourism industry, this time in one of the most visited destinations in the world
Compared to the ITB in Berlin or the WTM in London that have a more global focus, I found the TTG Experience much more Italy-centered, with the majority of space at the fair reserved to Italian exhibitors and many conferences about data and tourism trends in Italy.
While the exhibition is quite big, one day was enough to visit most stands -unlike for example the ITB in Berlin, where you’ll need at least two days to explore all areas and pavilions.
To make it easier to manage the schedule and navigate through the exhibition grounds, registered visitors and exhibitors had access to a very intuitive app where it was possible to find conferences and exhibitors.
All in all, it’s great to see that so much is going on in the tourism industry and that there are so many things still to come.
Looking forward to next year’s edition!
About me
As a passionate traveler and tourism professional I’ve experienced hundreds of journeys, from common to exceptional: From hiking the Andes to flying Business Class, from camping in Serengeti to staying in luxury resorts in Maldives.
In my career I’ve driven brand collaborations, scaled up communities and websites and helped tourism companies tell their story and sell their products worldwide.
On Beating Jetlag I'm wearing the traveler's and tourism insider’s hat to talk about unique traveler journeys and other "juicy" topics in travel & hospitality.