Altagamma creates Italian fashion firm visits to boost luxe tourist sales

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 2, 2016

Italy’s Altagamma Foundation is taking a proactive approach to promoting the country’s fashion sector with an innovative plan to target high-spending consumers. It is linking with travel firm IC Bellagio to offer exclusive behind-the-scenes access to major Italian brands in what could be an interesting idea for other countries to try.

The project is aimed at increasing the number of luxury travellers to Italy, which account for around 5% of the 50m-plus foreign tourists who have visited the country in 2016 and who are big spenders on Italian fashion.

“The aim of the program is to present the Italian brands as tourist destinations in their own right,” Altagamma said.

Companies signed up so far include some of the biggest names in Italy’s luxury sector, including Alberta Ferretti, Bottega Veneta, Emilio Pucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, Etro, Fendi, Gucci, Missoni, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace and Valentino.

The experiences include visits to ateliers, design houses, workshops, and company HQs, plus meetings with entrepreneurs and owners to better understand their businesses.  

Launching next year, Paolo Zegna, Altagamma Foundation vice-president, said: “[This] represents an extraordinary possibility of promotion for the entire country. This is an answer to the growing interest from an international clientele towards the heritage and the craftsmanship of our products.”