(1) Italy to plan to be Top Tourist attraction in Europe within 10 years
(2) Silence: Italians in uproar over noise, seek to bid ciao to nightly racket
(3) 9 Out of 10 Italians on Holiday, But on the Cheap
(4) New Italian Aircraft Carrier Launched, Southern Italy "Pier" Re-Launched
(5) Various Italian Trade Fairs to Unite in Aggressive International Push

(1) Italy to plan to be Top Tourist attraction in Europe within 10 years
TOURISM: MONTEZEMOLO, WITHIN 10 YEARS ITALY FIRST IN EUROPE

(AGI) - Pisa, Italy, July 19. - "In 10 years Italy must become the first country in Europe for tourist attraction” said the president of Confindustria, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, speaking to industrialists in Pisa.

"No country” he added, “has what we have, therefore this is a national objective.

It means big opportunities for the South, for regions such as Tuscany:

You can’t just rely on industry and entrepreneurial development for tourism is a primary objective which needs a strong promotion of our country all over the world”.

Montezemolo concluded in saying “it’s not possible that countries which have less attractions than ours manage to get more!

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - News In English
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=
200407191833-1226-RT1-CRO-0-NF30&page
=0&id=agionline-eng.bnessitaly

By Daniel Williams
The Washington Post
Tuesday, July 20, 2004

ROME — From Alpine towns to Sicily, noise pollution has become a leading complaint in Italy, a country where having a carefree summer is a major preoccupation.

In Turin, police have mounted Green Patrols to monitor excessive nightly noise downtown. Residents of the Quadrilatero Romano restaurant and bar district hung banners from their windows this month, pleading, "We want to sleep" and "Rest is golden."

In Milan, police patrols were extended to crack down on bars that stay open beyond 2 a.m. and to clear plazas of revelers, some of whom have been pelted by bags of water tossed from the apartments of irate local residents. In Naples, beach parties along the city's seafront have created late-night traffic jams featuring the roar of motorcycles.

In 1997, the central government ordered cities to zone commercial urban areas for maximum noise, with an upper limit of 70 decibels in industrial zones. Environmental teams measure decibel levels up and down Italy, ranking the clatter of silverware at outdoor cafes and the chatter of pub clientele as hazards of Italian urban life comparable to smog and uncollected trash.

The effort was designed in part to shift discos and other thumping establishments to nonresidential neighborhoods...

Outdoor summer entertainment is one of Italy's most cherished traditions. For centuries, a stroll through the plaza was a key ritual for those interested in socializing and flirtation.

Open-air movies, especially in villages without cinemas, became a favorite seasonal pastime..

Growing affluence, and the cars and motorcycles it made possible, enabled young people to escape the watchful eyes of their parents and travel around town in search of fun in plazas far from home.

One such romping place in Rome is Campo de' Fiori, an old, open-air market square that over the past few years has become ringed by bars catering to the young.

The nightly cacophony of shouts, laughter and street music is reducing the value of apartments overlooking the square and other entertainment districts by as much as 40 percent...

In Rome and other cities, sleepless neighborhood residents complain that young people are drinking more — and socializing more loudly — than they used to. They blame a growing taste for beer as well as the introduction of fruity, hard-liquor cocktails sold in bottles.

Tour operators have lured foreign travelers, who add to the inebriated din. For about $17, tourists can sign up for a pub crawl that begins near the Colosseum with an all-you-can-drink binge and continues on to four dance halls where the first shot is included in the tour price...

Even the pope seems to have had it with Roman noise. Speaking at his Alpine summer retreat recently, John Paul II invited everyone to rediscover silence, "a blessing ever more rare in modern society."

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Italians in uproar over noise, seek to bid ciao to nightly racket
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/
nationworld/2001983574_italynoise20.html

(AGI) - Milan, 20 July - The Italians this year do not intend to get into debt for the holidays and will keep a close eye on their budgets. The keyword is austerity and for one out of three Italians the cost of holidays abroad is too high since many maintain that a real holiday costs at least 4,000 euro.

...Over 62 percent of those interviewed does not intend to seek a loan while a quarter (24 percent) says they cannot do without a holiday and will end up in debt. The holiday makers who were once prepared to do anything for a good summer holiday are now also hit by the price increase. The days of mega holidays to recover from sacrifices made during the year is over. Despite still being the holiday makers par excellence (87 percent of Italians with go on holidays compared to 80 percent on European average, seven out of every ten Italians will choose holidays in line with their budget. (AGI) .

LUNARDI, LAUNCH OF SOUTHERN ITALY FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN
(AGI) - Riva Trigoso (GE), 20 July - Speaking at the launch of the aircraft carrier "Cavour", Infrastructure Minister Pietro Lunardi stressed the importance of the Mediterranean for the relaunch of Southern Italy. He said, "Italy is a great pier for Europe, an opportunity we have never fully exploited. It is important for the EU that Italy recovers this prerogative as we are on the great routes of Suez and Gibraltar, routes which focus on the South of Italy as a natural point of reference. The exploitation of the centrality of the Mediterranean means relaunching the South of Italy and the Italian economy". (AGI) .

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - News In English
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc
=200407201934-1211-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page
=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline

(AGI) – Rome, Italy, July 20 – All the trade fairs representing the "Made in Italy" produce, from that the Fiera del Levante di Bari to those of Milan, Rome, Vicenza, Verona and Messina, are ready to grow abroad and aim decisively for the road of internationalisation. Thanks to the first agreement signed today by the vice minister of production activities with foreign trade mandate, Adolfo Urso and all representatives of the Italian fair system.

"With this agreement" commented the vice minister for the first time we have found an operational strategy involving the government, regions, local bodies and category association. All together to build that country system which only united and strong can accompany our companies on international markets. Fairs represent the most important showpiece for companies and their promotion". (AGI) .

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - News In English
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc
=200407201721-1173-RT1-CRO-0-NF30&page
=0&id=agionline-eng.bnessitaly