Dina Ravera, president of Destination Italia Photos: Courtesy of Milano Finanza

From an interactive brochure, which boasts 350 pages, one can immediately grasp the kaleidoscopic richness of the tourism offerings that the Destination Italia Group provides for those eager to embark on an "authentic travel experience." Its recipe is to bring together over a thousand tour operators and travel agents scattered around the world through an online platform dedicated to luxury travel, the Sono Travel Club. 

Destination Italia was founded in 2016 with the support of Intesa Sanpaolo. Over the years, through various acquisitions, always with the participation of Intesa and the company Lastminute.com, it has reached a corporate structure that has allowed the company to be listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and to proceed with a radial development that first saw the opening of a New York office and recently the Intesa Bank offices in the central financial district of Shanghai. In recent weeks, during the Panda d'Oro event organized by the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Destination Italia won the award in the Destination Italy category. 

"It represents a significant achievement and perfectly expresses our ambitions to support growth in markets with the greatest potential," explained Dina Ravera, president. "We are an incoming tour operator, and the Asian market is very important to us, particularly the Chinese market. We have just opened our new office at the Shanghai Tower and held the inauguration at the offices of Intesa Bank, which are our partners." 

The event was attended by about a hundred people in both Shanghai and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), where the event was repeated at the International Central Service, again with partners Intesa Bank and Save. The business, although just starting, is already sending encouraging signals. 

Dina Ravera is the president of the group. After earning a degree in electronic engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, she gained managerial experience at McKinsey before taking on top positions in the mobile telecommunications sector at Wind and H3G Spa. 

Referring back to the interactive catalog, it is possible, for each of the Italian regions, almost with an entomologist's perspective, to find even brief one-day programs that lead to perhaps forgotten realities. Here are two examples from the countless proposals: A sweet journey to discover the tradition of confetti in Andria and Elegant Explorations: A sartorial odyssey in Florence. If these are the premises, the direct consequence, as Ravera asserts, "is to inspire and engage Chinese clientele with deep and meaningful travel; some examples include tours with vintage cars through the streets of Rome, visits to artisan workshops for leather processing, and private visits to the Vatican. Each activity is a complete immersion in the elegance and charm of Italy." It is the often-abused concept of tailor-made, or a garment to wear that makes you feel the comfort and pleasure of an experience. 

The Temple of Concordia in Sicily, one of Destination Italia's thousands of proposals

China-Italy connections  

The air travel sector between Italy and China is also growing, as Destination Italia is often at the top of many Chinese people's travel lists. Some places, such as Venice, attract the wishes of new Eastern tourists more than others. Thus, Venice's Marco Polo Airport has sought to intercept this new demand with new flights. 

The airport, managed by the Save Group, currently has a direct connection to Shanghai, operated by China Eastern Airlines. Since September 26, 2024, a non-stop direct flight between the two cities has been active, with four weekly flights and the goal of reaching daily flights in the summer season of 2026. The flight duration is about 12 hours and allows for a 40 percent time savings compared to connecting flights. The flight to Shanghai, which currently has an occupancy rate above 85 percent, is expected to transport around 70,000 passengers in the first year and will quickly stimulate travel from Venice to all of China and beyond. 

"The confirmation of the flight to Shanghai marks the beginning of a new season of exchanges and relations with China and the Far East for our airport, a path indicated by our president Marchi," explains Camillo Bozzolo, aviation development director of the Save Group. 

"The Chinese market is very important for us and still has much to offer. We want to be protagonists. Shanghai is not just a destination, but a connection point with the Chinese domestic market, South Korea, and Japan." 

China Eastern Airlines is the largest Chinese airline based in Shanghai. Together with the SkyTeam alliance, it ensures connections with 166 foreign countries and special districts, reaching 1,050 destinations. 

The connection with China serves all traffic segments: tourism, business, cargo, and visiting friends and relatives (VFR). The Northeast is the leading area for the number of tourists arriving from China, accounting for 13 percent of the commercial travel between Italy and China, generating an annual business volume of about 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion). 

Hence, there is strong potential for cargo activity as well, with forecasts of reaching 30,000 tons of goods transported in the first year with the new non-stop flight. As to the VFR segment, with about 70,000 residents, the Chinese community in the Northeast is the second largest in Italy.