Taobuk – See Sicily with the Sicilian Region and ENIT at the International Tourism Exchange in Berlin

Antonella Ferrara: 30,000 attendees are expected for the 13th edition of the Festival, with an impact on Taormina’s economy estimated at over 10 million euros

With three full days, crowned by the presentation at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse, Taobuk – See Sicily, together with the Sicilian Region and Enit, unveils theme, guests and above all the impact on the territory of the thirteenth edition of the Festival.

It is also an opportunity to retrace the historical and timeless link between Taormina and Germany. Speaking at the ENIT pavilion at the IBT 2023 – one of the largest events in the tourism sector at global level with over 110,000 attendees and 10,000 exhibitors – Antonella Ferrara, President and Artistic Director of the Taormina International Literary Festival, first of all illustrated the implications that the event will have this year for the local economic fabric.

In fact, with the 13th edition of Taobuk – scheduled from 15 to 19 June – the special combination of culture and tourism that has made the Sicilian city and Taobuk a destination for visitors from all over the world, is strengthened.

This year at Taobuk – President Ferrara explained in Berlin, addressing a large audience of sector and media operators – 30 thousand attendees are expected, with a direct and indirect economic impact on the area’s activities estimated at at least 10 million euro. Numbers that add up to the last edition, which also saw 8 million users reached online and an equivalent advertising value of media presence calculated at over 4 million euro.

The thirteenth edition – dedicated to the theme ‘Freedoms’ – is one of the gems of the tourist season that the Sicilian Region can once again showcase to German and international operators in Berlin this year. For 2023, the Festival – which allows visitors to Taormina to enjoy a unique experience with over two hundred initiatives including meetings, exhibitions, theatre and dance performances, film retrospectives and workshops – sees See Sicily associated with its naming. The Region’s project – designed to renew the fascination that Sicily has always exerted on travellers – gives away one night every three to those who stay in the Region and provides vouchers for excursions and discounts on transport, to allow visitors to appreciate the island for a longer period of time.

The meeting with the public at the Tourism Exchange – where the Region is present with its own stand – was also an opportunity to retrace the strong link between Taormina, Germany and in particular German culture, which was structured in the era of the Grand Tour, nourished by the long presence in the city of men of letters and artists sometimes right up to their last days: with the writing of Wolfgang Goethe, the painting of Otto Friedrich von Geleng and the photography of Wilhelm Iwan Friederich August von Gloeden among others.

Taobuk,Ferrara explained, was born precisely by taking up these sediments that are admirably preserved in the city of Taormina in order to re-propose them to audiences all over the world using the languages and means of the contemporary world: with images, audiovisuals, online and streaming up to the new frontiers of artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the metaverse.

The appointment at the Tourism Exchange was preceded by an important meeting at the Italian Embassy in Berlin, which Antonella Ferrara attended together with – among others – the Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanché, ENIT Councillor representing the regions Sandro Pappalardo, Enit CEO Ivana Jelinic, and the Councillor of the Sicilian Region for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment, Elvira Amata. The meeting – hosted by Ambassador Armando Varricchio – was also attended by several members of the Italian Parliament and a large delegation of councillors from the country’s various regions.