What a Roman holiday adds to the bottom line

 

Suzanne Bearne
Thursday 07 May 2015 17:18 BST
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Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain and to Roma you'll return. REX FEATURES
Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain and to Roma you'll return. REX FEATURES

Against the backdrop of Rome’s breathtaking renaissance, baroque and classical architecture, pilgrims of the global media, advertising and marketing industry will come together this weekend to soak up the Festival of Media, which takes place on May 10-12.

With archaeological eye-candy on nearly every corner, Rome makes for a compelling destination for trade show organisers. In fact, this will be the second consecutive year the Festival of Media has held the event in the Italian capital. “There’s a great spirit to the city,” says Festival of Media chairman Charlie Crowe. “You choose to come to Rome because of the history and grandeur of the city. It offers something different. It is the Eternal City and it’s a compelling place to come. The venue, the Rome Cavalieri, enables great vistas of the city.”

Rome’s historical prowess certainly helps pull in major international and cultural events, such as the forthcoming Expo Ire - International Exhibition Real Estate trade show later this month (May 14-16) and World Retail Congress in September, but its unrivalled level of grandeur makes it the perfect backdrop for the big screen. Look out for the city in the next James Bond film Spectre after the film’s cast and crew descended on the city in March to shoot car chases across its cobbled streets.

Home to the Colosseum, Pantheon and Vatican Museums, Rome is the tourism star of Italy, pulling in 13 million tourists in 2014, up 5 per cent year on year, according to Ente Bilaterale del Turismo nel Lazio, with many arriving through one of Rome’s two airports: Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) and Rome Ciampino. Thanks to this influx of visitors, the service industries accounted for 87 per cent of Rome’s GVA in 2013, compared to 75 per cent in Milan, according to Euromonitor International.

The city, the base to energy groups including Eni and Enel, generates about 9 per cent of the national GDP, second to Milan, which contributed 12 per cent. In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that Italy’s GDP will increase by 0.5 per cent in 2015 and 1.1 per cent in 2016. It also estimated that Italian unemployment rate will stand at 12.6 per cent this year and down to 12.3 per cent in 2016. Inflation is forecast to remain level this year and edge up to 0.8 per cent next year.

Luxury fashion labels Fendi and Bulgari have their HQ's in Rome IMAGE REX FEATURES

Milan it is not, but Rome is still considered a fashion world capital. It’s home to the headquarters of some of the biggest luxury fashion houses such as Fendi and Bulgari, and is sprawling with flagships from premium designers including Chanel, which swung open a new four-level flagship in the city in February. Last month Valentino unveiled its largest-ever store in the city, with a 15,800 sq ft flagship in Piazza di Spagna, just a step away from Valentino’s headquarters in Palazzo Mignanelli.

“The boutique has a symbolic value, it’s in the most central square in Rome near our headquarters, and the city has always been a source of inspiration for us,” Valentino co-creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri told fashion trade title WWD in April. In another boost for the city, Valentino will host its couture show in July at Alta Roma Alta Moda, Rome’s fashion week, rather than showcase in its usual city of Paris. The event, which takes place on July 7-11, will feature designers from all over the globe, and attract journalists, buyers and celebrities alike.

Rome’s also home to a burgeoning start-up scene. Many would-be entrepreneurs will be attending Startup Weekend Rome (May 29-13), which sees participants build a startup in 54 hours. One business born during the first Startup Weekend in the city in 2010 was Qurami, an app that allows people to queue from their smartphone and then sends out a notification when you need to rejoin the queue. Guido Giordano, head of the accelerator program at Working Capital Rome, the corporate accelerator of Telecom Italia, says the economic crisis spurred entrepreneurialism in the city. “After five years of investing and education, we are starting to see a structured scene with companies that have a level of maturity and growth similar to other large cities.”

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