TOURIST BUSES AND ART CITIES: A RELATIONSHIP TO BE PERFECTED

The issue will be debated at TTG Incontri in Rimini with Nicholas Greenfield, one of the authors of the Charter adopted in Brussels to regulate the relationship between  municipalities, the citizens of art cities and tourists.

A chance to help seize the opportunities offered by coach tourism and grant a better quality of life to tourists and residents. 

Turin, October 2010 – It is not just Italy that has to face the problem of tourist groups which  pour daily into art cities. The debate involves the whole of Europe and therefore has been dealt with at the European Union level, with a crystal clear preamble: ‘Groups mean business’. This is indeed the peremptory title given to the new charter adopted by town administrations, tour operators, hotels and coach companies to regulate the matter, under the guidance of Brian Simpson, president of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism. Author and signatory to the charter is also Nicholas Greenfield, ETOA’s (European Tour Operators Association) Head of Tour Operator Relations, who will take part in TTG Incontri - the main b2b tourism fair in Italy, organised by TTG Italia, member company of the Rimini Fiera Group - in Rimini on October 22 to expound the document and to trace, together with the Italian sector operators, the new rules of coach tourism.

‘Italy profits hugely from group tourism–Greenfield states -. But there’s always the risk that local authorities take decisions without first establishing a dialogue with the representatives of the tourism industry. There’s also the risk that town residents and their administrators use tourist groups as a scapegoat for the problems connected with traffic congestion. The truth is –Greenfield adds – that groups of travellers moving by bus reach their destinations in compact clusters, managed by a tour leader and travel on ecological means of transport which are relatively small compared to numbers of passengers they haul.

The objective of the charter drawn in Brussels is therefore to explain how group tourism in cities is, in spite of what is commonly thought, easily manageable and, not least, profitable. ‘Provided that– Greenfield specifies – the world of politics and the world of tourism work in partnership. Only then can the management of criticalities be simplified, by constantly consulting tourism operators, respecting their planning schedules, giving timely information on the changes in charges, taxes and road and transport systems’. Greenfield does not fail to remind the most sceptical that ‘tourism is the trump card for the Old Continent and therefore fundamental for the economy of the whole European Union’.

The forum that will see Nicholas Greenfield as protagonist, ‘Buses and art cities between entrance fees and incentives: a troubled relationship’, will take place on October 22 from 3.00 to 4.30 pm, at TTG Incontri, in Rimini Fair District.

Taking part in the debate:

• Nicola Biscotti, coordinator of the Committee of the Associations of private enterprises managing road passenger transport 
• Yuki Trivisonno, marketing manager of APT Servizi Emilia-Romagna, a region that has recently launched the Coach Operator Marketing Project
• Jean Richard Salamin, Car Tourisme Suisse

Note for editors

TTG Incontri, main international b2b tourism fair in Italy, will take place in Rimini from October 22 to 24. Together with TTG Incontri takes place TTI, main workshop for the sale of the Italian tourism product. 

For information: TTG Italia Press Office. Sabina Fornasari, Elisabetta Bertalot: tel +39 011 4366300 (ext. 4); email: press@ttgitalia.com

Media consultant for Emilia Romagna: Gabriele Pizzi: gabpiz@libero.it