Destination Italia, a leader in high-end tourism and Italy’s largest TravelTech company specializing in quality incoming tourism and experiential travel, celebrated at the Intesa Sanpaolo building the opening of its new office in New York. The event, which featured presentations by Dina Ravera, President of Destination Italia, and remarks by Fabrizio Di Michele, the Italian Consul General in New York, marked a significant milestone for the company.
Founded in September 2016, Destination Italia has been at the forefront of digitalizing tourism services, offering exclusive and advanced travel solutions tailored to international Tour Operators and Travel Agencies. The company’s TravelTech tools enable the creation and operational management of high-end, tailor-made travel packages and web booking activities. These services not only cater to a diverse range of international customers but also respond effectively to the ongoing digital transformation in the tourism industry, making services more efficient, innovative, and customized.
Through its plug-and-play platform, Destination Italia distributes the opportunity to purchase, aggregate, and structure exclusive travel packages and selected tourist services in Italy to travel agencies, tour operators, and third-party platforms via XML integration.
Destination Italia operates under two main brands: “SONO Travel Club,” targeting the luxury segment with highly personalized services, and “Destination Italia,” focusing on the mainstream market, offering quality and competitiveness. Since its inception, the group has hosted over 500,000 tourists from 85 countries, offering access to over 10,000 accommodation facilities in Italy.
In 2021, following a management buyout initiated in 2020 and finalized in February 2021, the majority shareholder of Destination Italia SpA became Lensed Star, holding 67.56% of the company’s capital. Other key shareholders include Lastminute.com founders with 24.9% and Intesa Sanpaolo with 6.4%.
In 2019, before the pandemic, Destination Italia recorded a consolidated production value of €35 million. This was primarily driven by the Russian market, accounting for approximately 20% of Destination Italia’s turnover in 2019. Additionally, the United States (17%) and Australia (14%) were significant contributors. Other markets included Spain, Brazil, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, and China.
However, in 2020, due to the global tourism crisis triggered by the pandemic, Destination Italia’s production value dropped to €7 million. The luxury segment represented 52% of the Gross Travel Value (GTV), followed by the XML channel (21%) and the mainstream segment (27%).
Despite the challenges of 2020, in 2021, the company saw an improvement, with the production value increasing to €7.9 million.
In 2022, Destination Italia experienced a strong rebound in global tourism, as evidenced by the data recorded up to November, with bookings surpassing €20 million. In May 2022, bookings reached €10 million, marking a 480% increase compared to June 2021 and a 120% increase compared to June 2019, which was a record year for Destination Italia.
Destination Italia’s business model is innovative, digital, and highly scalable. The company acquires and structures exclusive and modular travel products and services from its network of Italian accommodations and tourism providers. Through its plug-and-play platform, international travel agencies and tour operators can autonomously select and purchase the best Italian travel experiences for their clients.
Destination Italia aims to become the “Leader in Italy in incoming tourism” dedicated to High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI), contributing to the recovery of the Italian tourism sector post-COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this goal, the company plans to consolidate its presence in existing markets, enter new foreign markets such as China, Japan, and Korea, strengthen its position as a technological leader, and explore external growth through targeted acquisitions of technology companies in the tourism sector.
The company also plans to enhance data utilization processes, including a strong focus on artificial intelligence and data monetization, to increase profitability and focus on experiential tourism and luxury segments. Destination Italia aims to achieve full automation of the booking process through machine learning evolution and predictive forecasting algorithms for more accurate commercial planning.
Key Statistics for Destination Italia:
- Operating in 85 countries
- Over 1,100 client tour operators
- Over 10,000 Italian accommodation facilities
- Hosted over 700,000 foreign tourists in Italy
- Production value in 2019: €35 million
- Production value in 2020: €7 million
- Production value in 2021: €7.9 million
- Bookings as of November 2022: €27.4 million
- Employees: 85
