Sicily Guide

Italy has been without a web portal. Therefore, the Berlusconi administration appointed the minister of innovation to have a modern web site for the promotion of the country about three years ago. The portal was launched some time ago. The initiative cost the Italian taxpayer 47 million Euros! I am in the business and I know how much a destination portal can cost. I have the numbers for visiteurope.com and other European web sites. I can tell you that the cost does not go any close to the amount of money spent for Italia.it, the new web portal for Italy. A few weeks ago, Rutelli, the cultural minister, affirmed that the portal was a pure failure. The cost of the site was abnormal and I feel it for the Italian taxpayers, but Mr. Rutelli launched the site with an inauguration ceremony. Now is it all fault of the previous administration? A web site is not a static tool: it needs to be integrated with all the other marketing efforts to promote Italy. You cannot launch a web site and hope that it does all the work for you. It is not 1995!

Last week, Mr. Rutelli told that the web site is going to be managed by ENIT, the association in charge of all tourism promotions for the country. About time. Don’t you agree?

Technorati Tags [ italia.it | enit | rutelli ]