Working in the tourism sector has its advantages, including travels and business or training trips. I have just started a new job at the booking office of a hotel chain and my office manager asks me to participate in the Mediterranean Tourism Exchange, BMT, that will take place at Mostra d’Oltremare in Naples. I am excited! Finally I will have the opportunity to visit the largest space for fairs, congresses and musical and theatrical shows in Naples!
Once in Naples, a collegue gives us our badges. On my badge there is my name followed by the description: “BMT exhibitor”. I am an exhibitor, I love tourism, I love travelling for business and participating in the BMT excites me so a lot!
The BMT occupies four pavilions. Our stand is in the pavilion dedicated to Italian regions. We begin to set up our exhibition area and I am pleased to discover that our opposite side is a Roman company that produces revolving doors for hotels. I always wished I could have one! So I take the opportunity to take a ride on that kind of carousel . . . maybe 2 or 3 !
Workshops are the most interesting part of the fair, because exhibitors can speak with tour operators from all over the world. There are four workshops:
- Incentive & Congress
- Incoming
- Social Tourism
- Wellness & SPA
Our workshop is the one about incoming, of course, and while I remain stuck at my stand to give flyers to other operators of the sector, my head clerk is lucky enough to participate in the workshop. I mean, she can meet the best International buyers from: Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, USA, Argentina, Brasil, Japan, China, India, Arabian Emirates. Suddenly my collegue leaves me at the stand to participate in a training class. I do not know what the course is about, but the topics dealt with during the fair are the following:
- Tourism Marketing
- Content Strategy
- Hospitality
- Busines Management
The row for lunch is long, but it’s worth it: pizza is very good! After lunch, we exchange roles; my bosses remain at the stand to give flyers, while my colleague and I visit the various pavilions. Our pavilion houses exhibitors from Italian regions and Campania – which is in its home ground – stands out among the others. Handicrafts and food and wine excellences have always caught visitors’ attention, so hoteliers from Campania have indulged in: Neapolitan confectionery workshops, tasting of wine from Samnium and Irpinia and, invariably, girls wearing period costumes made of the silk from San Leucio. (See also Cake Design at the Belvedere of San Leucio: https://dooid.it/desideri/cake-design-al-belvedere-di-san-leucio/ ).
Trentino-Alto Adige has invested a lot in this fair, its wooden stand is very beautiful and its typical products are very good: apples, Bresaola and sparkling wine. I feel as if I were not visiting BMT but Vinitaly!
The second pavilion hosts Italian tour operators, airlines and shipping companies. The most beautiful stands are: Valtur, MSC, Costa Crociere, International Airport of Naples, Trenitalia, Gardaland. Obviously my favourite pavilion is the last one, because it is dedictaed to foreign countries. Spain has many stands, but also the ones of South America and China are very characteristic.
The BMT exhibition is open exclusively to tour operators on Fridays and Saturdays, on Sundays it is open also to visitors. Mostra d’Oltremare in Naples is much more than just BMT. Its history began in 1937, when the fascist regime set up the Universal Thematic Exposition to host an exhibition that was to exalt Italian colonial expansionism in Africa. Naples was chosen as a strategic port in the Mediterranean. The original project included: 36 pavilions, an office building, two theatres, an outdoor arena, a swimming pool, bars, restaurants, a park, a tropical aquarium and a pre-existing Roman archaeological area. It was inaugurated on 9 May 1940 in the presence of King Vittorio Emanuele III. The Second World War led to the closure of the area, which was seriously damaged by the bombings.
The local organisation reopened on 8 June 1952 but it was re-launched only in 1999. Since 2001 the local board is called “Mostra d’Oltremare S.P.A” a new management company, owned by the Municipality of Naples, Regione Campania, the Province of Naples and the Chamber of Commerce of Naples. Its Statute provides that the society undertakes to “promote cultural, tourist and sport events also with a view to the economic development and tourist development of the city of Naples”.
Mostra d’Oltremare has not only pavilions for exhibitions but also: two olympionic swimming pools, tennis courts, an artificial lake, different sized buildings for every kind of show. The pools have the names of two great Neapolitan swimmers who have passed away: Fritz Dennerlein and Ettore D’Elia. The swimming pools are considered the best in Naples. The Fasilides Lake is a faithful reproduction of the Gondar Castle and swimming pool in Africa. The lake hosts a protected species, the Emerald Frog, whose protection is granted by the Mostra d’Oltremare in association with the Biology Department of the University Federico II of Naples. The Arena Flegrea – with its 6.000 seats – is the second concert arena in Italy and one of the biggest in Europe.
Many events are hosted by the Mostra d’Oltremare at year intervals, and some of the most famous ones are :
- TUTTOSPOSI, the largest consumer fair in Italy dedicated to products and services from the world of wedding: dresses for the newlyweds, location for wedding receptions, photographers, hairdressers, visagists, honeymooners. To see the parades, ask for invitations to the reference workshops.
- ASIAN FESTIVAL, with photographic exhibitions, bazars, food, folkloric shows, natural medicine,martial arts.
- COMICON, The international Exhibition of Comics, with comics, toys, videogames and concerts.
I suggest visiting the website http://www.mostradoltremare.it/ in order to know the dates of all the cultural, sport music and food events that the Mostra d’Oltremale hosts constantly.
Copyright photos of the article and the gallery: commune. napoli. it (photo 1); page fb overseas exhibition (illuminated fountain); exhibition besides.it (photo park with fountain and concert); Anna Visconti (photo bmt).
Article written by: A. Visconti
