RTR, a leading sports marketing company, won the prestigious ESCA Italian Sponsorship Awards 2000 for the sports sector thanks to the partnership developed between the Emilia Romagna Region and Ducati Motor for the organization of the World Ducati Weekend (Misano Adriatico, June 9-11, 2000).

The official award ceremony took place on Thursday, February 8, in Milan atIULM University. “The idea of RTR was born out of the need for the tourism industry in Romagna to identify interesting and innovative offers for customer segments that have never considered the Emilia Romagna region, and in particular the Riviera, as a place in which to spend a vacation,” said Riccardo Tafà, RTR Administrator. “With this in mind, the target “mototourist,” Ducatista in particular, was identified.

This type of customer, in fact, upon analysis from a marketing perspective showed considerable potential in terms of tourism demand.” The project developed by RTR meets all the dictates set by the tourism promotion discipline of the Emilia Romagna Region (Law 7/98 legislator Vasco Errani), according to which projects submitted by private entrepreneurs can access public funding, provided they enclose a tourism offering designed specifically to satisfy a specific clientele and some inducement in terms of hotel hospitality is ensured.

“After a careful study of Law 7/98, RTR formulated the program through which the activities of Ducati Motor (particularly the World Ducati Week-end WDW), a world gathering of ducatists organized on a biennial basis- could be at the same time powerful tools for the tourism promotion of the Riviera Romagnola and the entire Emilia Romagna region,” said Carlo Merlini of RTR, project manager.

The result was that WDW was a unique vehicle for the region to develop a tourism offer specifically aimed at those who spend their vacations on “two wheels.” For the organizers and the WDW audience, the benefits of the sponsorship translated into the availability not only of one of the largest accommodation facilities in Italy, but also of an efficient organizational structure, capable of relieving Ducati of any issues related to the hospitality of the participants.

The 23,000 Ducatistas from all over the world were thus able to combine the motorsport event with one of the vacation packages designed especially for them, which generated a truly remarkable induced revenue of 13,800,000,000 Lire, especially considering that it was produced during an off-season period. For the amount of money spent, the event produced a return 46.9 times the investment. In the wake of this collaboration (and as a testament to the kind of attention paid to “mototourists”) Ducati Motor and the region have identified 20 tourist itineraries to ride on motorcycles on the most characteristic stretches of Emilia Romagna. These routes are collected in a book to be published in spring 2001 and will be the subject of a further program to promote them.