{"id":24604,"date":"2026-06-14T23:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/24604\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T23:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:42:09","slug":"lefebvre-urges-tourism-beyond-italys-postcard-landmarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/24604\/","title":{"rendered":"Lefebvre urges tourism beyond Italy&#8217;s &#8216;postcard&#8217; landmarks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Abercrombie &amp; Kent Travel Group Executive Chairman and World Travel &amp; Tourism Council Chairman, Manfredi Lefebvre has called on the tourism industry to focus on destinations beyond Italy\u2019s landmark cities, to disperse tourists further afield in the country, as a means to handle the overtourism debate.<\/p>\n<p>Italy is constantly at the front of mind and the top of bucket-list destinations for ultra-luxury and high-net-worth individuals, whether it be first-timers or returning serial visitors, as reported by the likes of Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the annual assembly of the Federturismo Confindustria, Italy\u2019s national travel and tourism federation, the billionaire travel expert, said: \u201cItaly is not merely a tourism destination. It is the world\u2019s most powerful cultural influence machine and we are undervaluing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gsbp-88fa91a\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/manfredilefebvre-Federturismo-1132x620-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1132\" height=\"620\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gsbp-88fa91a\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/manfredilefebvre-Federturismo-1132x620-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1132\" height=\"620\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Manfredi Lefebvre, Executive Chairman, WTTC and Abercrombie &amp; Kent Travel Group, <br \/>speaking at the 2026 Public Assembly of the Federturismo Confindustria | Credit: LinkedIn<\/p>\n<p>Travel and tourism account for one in nine jobs worldwide, Lefebvre said, \u201cyet Spain \u2013 with fewer visitors than France \u2013 earns 40% more in international spending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVolume is not value,\u201d the Italian-born luxury travel and cruise icon argued. \u201cItaly understands this instinctively. We have not yet turned that instinct into strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe next chapter is not in our icons. It is in everything beyond them in the borghi, the regional cuisines, the landscapes, the craftsmanship, the quiet valleys and coastal towns that the world is actively searching for but has not yet found,\u201d Lefebvre said.<\/p>\n<p><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gsbp-2c5a1cd\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ricardo-gomez-angel-dBOZ7XL4b_E-unsplash-1132x650-2.jpg\" alt=\"Portofino, Italy | Credit: Ricardo Gomez Angel\/Unsplash\" width=\"1132\" height=\"650\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gsbp-2c5a1cd\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ricardo-gomez-angel-dBOZ7XL4b_E-unsplash-1132x650-2.jpg\" alt=\"Portofino, Italy | Credit: Ricardo Gomez Angel\/Unsplash\" width=\"1132\" height=\"650\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Portofino, Italy | Credit: Ricardo Gomez Angel\/Unsplash<\/p>\n<p>He continued, saying: \u201cItaly has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any country on earth. We have barely scratched the surface of what that means for destination travel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must promote this country not as a collection of postcard images, but as a living civilisation that rewards those who go deeper,\u201d he told delegates at Federturismo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is our competitive advantage. That is what no algorithm can replicate and no competitor can copy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lead image: Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy | Credit: Jeff Ackley\/Unsplash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Abercrombie &amp; Kent Travel Group Executive Chairman and World Travel &amp; Tourism Council Chairman, Manfredi Lefebvre has called&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17028,17029,5,17030,17031,27,6030,17032],"class_list":["post-24604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-aktg","tag-federturismo","tag-italy","tag-manfredi-lefebvre","tag-overtourism","tag-rome","tag-trevi-fountain","tag-wttc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}