Fairs and Expos are a significant catalyst for business and opportunities for companies, as well as one of the main driving forces for business tourism, characterized by significant spending capacity and movement of people. According to reports from Aefi, the Italian Exhibition and Trade Fair Association, every year more than 1,000 trade fairs are held in Italy involving 200,000 Italian companies, and more than 25,000 foreign companies, with a total of over 20,000,000 visitors. This is a system capable of generating a significant economic impact and stimulating growth both locally and internationally.

Therefore, the results that emerged from the Prometeia-Aefi report, presented last June 7 at the Tempio di Adriano in Rome, for the World Fairs Day and the 40th anniversary of the Association are not surprising: in Italy, fair tourism generates a production value of  over 10 billion euros a year, corresponding to an added value of 4.8 billion and a quantifiable impact in terms of employment of at least 90 thousand employees. This, as specified by Aefi, means that every euro spent by visitors to the various Italian expos generates 2.4 euros in production and 1.1 euros in added value for the national tourism economy.

The Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanché, who spoke at the event, highlighted the fundamental role of the trade fair chain in the seasonal adjustment of tourism. “As Minister of Tourism - she emphasized - I have always said that fairs are an important segment for the sector: not only for the promotion of the region, but also because they are held in periods of the year when there are no peaks and, therefore, they help to deseasonalize and stabilize workers. Fairs - she continued - also increase the quality of our tourism, because they attract a quality tourist, who has a higher spending capacity". The sector, in fact, involves tourists who travel mainly during the off-season and spend 60 percent more than the average.

Trade fairs, like BIT, represent an important segment for tourism not only for direct promotion of the region but also, Santanché herself pointed out, because their importance lies in the physical relationship between people and in making their products known up close.