Bologna 08/02/2001
Oggetto: Esca Prize 2000 in the sporting sector goes to the RTR project for the funding of the World Ducati Weekend on Weekend on behalf of the Region of Emilia Romagna.
RTR, leading society in sports marketing, has been awarded with the prestigious ESCA Italian Sponsorship Awards prize 2000 in the sports sector thanks to the partnership developed between the region of Emilia Romagna and Ducati Motor which enabled the organization of the World Ducati Weekend (Misano Adriatico, 9th-11th June 2000).
The official prize-giving ceremony took place in Milan on Thursday 8th February, at the IULM University.
“Romagna’s tourist industry’s need to develop interesting and innovative services for client groups who have never considered Emilia Romagna and in particular the Riviera as a holiday location, was behind the idea of RTR” declared Riccardo Tafà, RTR’s Manager. “Based on this, we chose “biker-tourists”, in particular Ducati enthusiasts, as the main targets. In fact, this type of client showed great potential from a marketing perspective, in terms of demand for tourism”.
The project developed by RTR provides an answer to all established by the region of Emila Romagna’s order for Tourism Promotion (law 7/98 legislator Vasco Errani), according to which projects proposed by private entrepreneurs can receive public funding, provided they envisage tourist services tailored to a specific clientele and provide some kind of hotel accommodation.
Carlo Merlini, manager of RTR stated: “After having carefully studied the 7/98 law, RTR formulated the programme by which Ducati Motor’s activities – in particular the World Ducati Week-end WDW (a rally of Ducati enthusiasts from all over the world taking place every two years) – are placed alongside the existing powerful methods for tourist promotion on the Riviera in Romagna and throughout the entire Region of Emilia Romagna”.
The outcome of this is that the WDW constituted for the Region a unique means of developing tourist services aimed specifically at those who spend their holidays on “two wheels”.
For WDW’s organisers and public, the benefits drawn from receiving sponsorship were the availability not only of one of Italy’s biggest accommodation facilities but also of an efficient organizational structure, able to relieve Ducati from any problem concerning the hospitality of participants.
RTR is a leader in sports marketing and sports sponsorship. For over fifteen years we have been helping companies to achieve their objectives by using sport and its stars as a winning communication tool.