ROMA (ITALPRESS) – Italian tourism is preparing for its technological revolution and this morning the Press Office of the Chamber of Deputies was presented the next edition of GatewAI, the second edition of the National Conference of Artificial Intelligence in Tourism promoted by Turismo.ai. Gianluca Caramanna, FDI group leader in the Commission productive activities, commerce and tourism and adviser of the Minister of Tourism, Edoardo Colombo president of Turisms. AI, Mirko Lalli, Ceo and Founder The Data Appeal Company, Antonio Barreca general manager of Federturismo Confindustria and Paolo Bertagni president of Travel Guide and partner of the initiative and Laura Testa Sales promotion specialist of Repower. On May 5 in Milan, in the presence of the representatives of the institutions, will gather important players in the field like Google, USXRobot, Booking, Blastness, Bluvacanze MSC, Vox, Traveltech.vc, and institutional as the International Smart City Council.
With 480 million presences recorded in Italy in 2025 and a sector that aims to contribute 237 billion euros to national GDP in 2026, the adoption of artificial intelligence is no longer an option, but a strategic need to maintain the competitiveness of the Italian tourist system. GatewAI 2026 responds to this urgency with a unique format: a bridge between tourism and innovation to make dialogue with those who develop technologies with those who have to adopt them, showing solutions already operational and immediately implementable. During the National Conference will be presented artificial intelligence systems already operating in different areas of hospitality, distribution, data analysis for personalized services in real time. A scenario in which AI emerges as the strategic lever to move from mass tourism to precision tourism: not only an economic sector, but a supply chain able to return value to the time of the traveller and to the quality of the life of the residents, managing in a sustainable way also the seasonal trend of attendance in the different locations. Gianluca Caramanna stressed that “for Italian tourism companies, especially for SMEs, the adoption of Artificial Intelligence is a decisive factor in competitiveness. It means reducing operating costs, increasing productivity, improving service quality and strengthening positioning on international markets. On the international level – Mr Caramanna continues – the G7 also recognised the central role of Artificial Intelligence for industrial competitiveness and sustainable and inclusive growth. At the same time, innovation must be accompanied by responsibility, protection of rights, data protection and enhancement of human capital. Artificial Intelligence must be a tool for people, businesses and communities, not an end in itself. The human factor is, and it will remain more and more, a determining factor.”.
“We are experiencing the prehistory of tourism of the future” – said Edoardo Colombo, president of Turisms. AI – Comparing with travellers coming from countries in which to plan a trip has already become a habit to avail of AI is a great stimulus and we must seize this extraordinary opportunity to satisfy expectations. The Strategic Plan of Tourism currently in force expires in 2027; in this perspective, Turisms. AI intends to offer a structured and scientific contribution based on the definition of the next five years of programming, updating the plant to the new dynamics that are redefining the tourist ecosystem in depth”. In his speech Antonio Barreca, Federturismo, says that “The Artificial Intelligence represents for Italian tourism an accelerator of modernization and a strategic factor to strengthen the competitiveness of the entire supply chain. It is not only a question of adopting new technologies, but of rethinking organizational models, processes and skills. For our companies – continues Barreca – in particular AI can translate into greater efficiency, better flow management, customization of supply and operational sustainability. Events like GatewAI are fundamental because they connect institutions, enterprises and innovators, creating conditions to accompany the tourist system towards a concrete, responsible and inclusive transformation. ”
“Five years ago travelers were looking for. Today travelers ask. Tomorrow travelers will delegate – explains Mirko Lalli, The Data Appeal Company – this is an invisible revolution. Soon the discovery of the trip to AI agents will be completely delegated. The problem is that our tourist system is still optimized for research, and it is absolutely not ready for the official delegation, because our destinations are not structured to be discovered recommended by artificial intelligence. GatewAI was born to face this urgency: how to make the Italian tourist system ‘AI-ready’, how to prepare for a future AI agents choose whether to recommend our destination or not”.
“Today everyone speaks of Artificial Intelligence – added Paolo Bertagni president of Travel Guide – too often abstract, theoretical and distant from reality. GatewAI goes beyond words and brings AI to tourism out of books and into the best best practices, not only through the futuristic vision of what will be, but also showing the best real, realized and verifiable cases. In the event, the boundary between vision and reality is thinned to disappear, making an experience to be brought back to their own companies.”.
During the presentation, the new edition of the White Paper Innovation & Tourism of Repower, which will be officially presented on the occasion of GatewAI and will offer a systematic reading of the transformations in place in the sector, deepening how artificial intelligence can be governed within complex territorial systems. GatewAI 2026 therefore represents an unmissable opportunity to understand concretely how artificial intelligence is already transforming the tourism sector, to evolve the Italian tradition of hospitality into a cutting-edge technological excellence, where innovation is at the service of human experience enhancing its value and uniqueness. The second edition of the National Conference of Artificial Intelligence in Tourism will take place on 5 May in Milan at the Congress Centre Enterprise Hotel in Corso Sempione 91.
– photo office press Gatewai –
(ITALPRESS).
