Re-imaging the Metropolitan Region of Milan: from a business area to a sport and cultural city

After having been for decades primarily an industrial city, currently Milan has an economic composition characterised by the high incidence of the sector of service activities, especially those provided for enterprises, financial intermediation, credit, insurance, logistics and communication, which as a whole comprise 66% of local companies . In recent years the outwards image of the city met especially the interest of the business segment, while the appeal of Milan for activities related to leisure (sports, arts, cultures, etc.) was not very high. Nevertheless, tourism is a strategic sector to Milan given its weight to the city's economy and its potential development. If until now the growth of this sector has been mostly induced by trade fair-related activities and the business segment connected to it, in recent years the city and its metropolitan area seem to have adopted a deliberate strategy aimed at improving the tourism offer by enriching it with products and services related to local resources (history, art, culture, tradition, sports, major events, etc.). Both by being the European Capital of Sport in 2009 and with the nomination to host the EXPO in 2015, the city government in cooperation with various actors such as local authorities, Universities, Chamber of Commerce, local Department of Tourism and Sport, etc. has developed a strategic plan to change the city's image perceived by citizens and visitors at national and international level, by identifying policies designed to change the positioning of the Milan destination through several activities such as the upgrading of accommodation services and the development of infrastructural and cultural, art, entertainment and sports facilities. Although we are still far from the repositioning of the city as an "interesting destination for a holiday”, some recent surveys highlight a slight changing “perception” of Milan. Until few years ago the composition of tourist flows was mainly business oriented. However in 2010 the city has slowly started to change the mix of demand towards a leisure segment: Milan is becoming known also for a cultural offer, museums, exhibitions, food and wine, sports events, etc. Especially sports seems to be one of the main attractions that last in the memory of tourists. Positive are also the expectations of people visiting Milan for recreation and leisure: 45% of respondents see the city better than how it was expected. The strategy that the city is pursuing towards the enhancement of infrastructural and sports facilities, the organization of cultural and sports events as well as the significant investments to host the EXPO in 2015, thus seems it is helping to attract leisure tourists and to communicate a new image of this area. We will see in the next future if all the efforts and investments supported by the local authorities and the public-private partnership (Municipality, Province, Region, Universities, hotels, clubs, etc.) will favour the repositioning of Milan as an ideal destination not only for a business tourism but also for art, cultural and sport tourism, through the valorisation of heritage of local excellences.