The agreement signed today in Milan between Colline e Oltre Spa and Destination Italia Spa will allow national and international tourists to discover enchanting places in the Oltrepò Pavese area and enjoy extraordinary experiences capable of transforming a holiday into an exciting adventure to be remembered forever. New horizons open up for the development of our territory
Destination Italia S.p.A., the largest Italian Travel Tech, leader in experiential Incoming tourism in the Luxury segment, and Colline e Oltre S.p.A., a company owned by Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia and Fondazione Giordano dell‘Amore, announced today that they have reached a multi-year contractual agreement for the promotion and marketing of tourist services in the Oltrepò Pavese area.
According to the agreement, on Destination Italia Group‘s digital platforms (both B2B and B2C) holiday packages and stays will be promoted and distributed, as well as tourist experiences chosen in the area in collaboration with the Colline e Oltre team. The partnership between the two players will guarantee visibility and commercial distribution in the national and foreign markets to the Oltrepò Pavese tourism product with strong development potential. Colline e Oltre S.p.A., headquartered in Pavia, has the mission of realising joint interventions for the relaunch, qualification and valorisation of the tourist accommodation, wine, food and wine and cultural sector of the Oltrepò Pavese territory.
With EUR 3.9 billion in 2022, Lombardy is the leading Italian region for added value in agriculture (11% of the Italian total). Pavia is the fifth province in Lombardy in terms of added value (327 million euros in 2021), sixth in terms of employment (5,400 employees).
About 77,800 hectares are earmarked for rice cultivation, with a production of 3.7 million quintals in 2022 (the first province in Italy in terms of area allocated and second in terms of production, after Vercelli with 4.6 million quintals in 2022, followed by Novara with 1.9 million quintals). Wine grapes are destined for 12,500 hectares, with a production of about 750,000 quintals of grapes for PDO and PGI wines in 2022. In the wine category, the province of Pavia has 12 PDO/PGI products, with a turnover of 125 million euros in 2022 (+3% compared to 2021). The province‘s wine vocation finds particular expression in the Oltrepò pavese area: the 75 municipalities that make it up employ more than 95% of the people working in the beverage sector in the entire province; the companies active in the area account for almost 70% of the provincial total (source: Intesa Sanpaolo and Unioncamere Studies and Research Department).
The choice of the Destination Italia Group as a partner of the Travel Industry will favour the creation of a network of entrepreneurial subjects in the area who will be prominently involved in the construction of the tourism product and in events to promote and enhance the territory. The agreement is fully in line with the activities for the development of internationalisation projects for Destination Italia that the Group is currently carrying out in foreign markets.
Dina Ravera, President of Destination Italia declares: ‘The partnership agreement that we are signing today is a virtuous example of how by networking among leading companies not only in tourism, but in the economy and finance, and in institutions, it is possible to launch projects to relaunch and enhance our tourism system. A system that, in terms of quality and offer, has no equal in the world, but often suffers from a delay in the infrastructure that should promote and support it. I believe that this agreement can make a concrete and synergic contribution to enhancing the excellence of our country‘.
Matteo Casagrande, General Manager of Colline e Oltre states: "We are proud to bring Oltrepò Pavese to all the main tourist platforms in the world thanks to this collaboration, and we are pleased to do so with a team made up of excellent professionals in the area.
