On 21 June 2004 Treviso Tecnologia organised an important conference, in cooperation with the Marca Treviso Tourism Promotion Consortium on critical issues and innovation in the tourism and hotel sector. These issues should in fact be viewed at a particular juncture for our territory, brought about at Regional level by the recent initiative “Veneto for you” and, at local level, by the Strategic Plan for Growth which was signed by the Treviso Provincial Administration and the Chamber of Commerce. Promoting the Marca as a culture, tourism and sport area represents, as a matter of fact, a strategic growth axis for our territory over the next few years. The event, given the particular importance and value of the actions planned, was sponsored by the Veneto Region and the Treviso Provincial Administration. A high number of entrepreneurs and operators in the tourist and hotel sector, tradespeople and restaurateurs, Service Firms and Specialised Consultants, also from neighbouring provinces participated to this significant initiative.

The event was therefore an opportunity to carefully consider the potentials for growth and valorisation of the tourism sector in our province, which ranks last among other Veneto provinces with just 1.3 m of presences/year.
Dr. Vittorio Panciera - Regional Manager of the Project Unit for Foreign Trade, Economic Promotion and Internationalization - introduced the main regional strategies, as well as relevant legislation and initiatives for the sector.
Dr.Marzio Favero – Cultural Assets and Tourism Councillor of the Treviso Provincial Administration – explained the Provincial Administration’s proposal for setting up a local tourism network, whose main purpose is highlighting the widespread artistic and cultural assets in the province as well as its wealth of quality wines, fine food and hospitality.
Dr.Alessandro Martini – Director of the MarcaTreviso Consortium for Tourism Promotion – gave a presentation on the renewed Treviso Tourism Promotion Consortium, supported by practical examples of how mere information to tourists was turned into promo-marketing of the tourist offer in the Marca Trevigiana.
The focus then moved to interesting experiences - valuable for benchmarking - and very significant topics for the Chamber of Commerce at large: in particular dr. Maria Valeria Pennisi from Dintec, a body connected to the Union of Italian Chambers of Commerce for the diffusion of innovation, spoke about the Union’s hotel classification project. There also was a presentation on the pilot experience of the Siena Chamber of Commerce.
The consumer’s point of view was significantly analysed by dr. Mauro Zanini – National Vice President of the Consumers’ Federation and in charge of its Tourism Office – who spoke of tourist protection as a quality factor of the offer.
The regulatory aspect in particular involved the news concerning the agrifeeding sector with dr. Gabriella Conti – biologist and nutritionist – who clarified the main modifications and innovations in European food regulations: food safety, traceability, labelling.

Finally, Treviso Tecnologia brought to bear some experiences in setting up security tools, assuring suitable guarantee and building trust in the use of eCommerce, therefore highlighting the high potential afforded by new technologies in offering qualified services to the tourism sector also for small and medium-sized businesses.
Finally, some important presentations included case studies in certifying and upgrading the services offered.
This conference could well be the first step of an important process towards the inception and development of Quality Management tools in such an important area for our country’s economy, which is still rather fragmented at local level.

Roberto Santolamazza
Excerpt from "The Economy in the Treviso Area", August 2004