Eataly [2] New York is not only about great Italian food and products. The popular store in the Flatiron District is now hosting a “A Vintage Tour of Italy,” an exhibition of historic travel posters. Organized by ENIT [3], the Italian Tourist Board, the show is an opportunity to travel back in time and re-visit favorite evergreen destinations. Eataly is one of the City's most popular destinations, a place that every day sees thousands of people walk through its doors, and it could not be the most appropriate place to welcome these lovely images. So just look up, and let them transport you to the home of La Dolce Vita.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony, local and international travel operator and media representatives were welcomed by Enit's director, Eugenio Magnani [4] along with Consul General Natalia Quintavalle [5], the Italian Trade Commission [6]'s director Pier Paolo Celeste and Eataly's own Dino Borri. “This show was conceived by our desire to focus some attention on the art of communication Italian-style, a style that brought promotional instruments, in this specific case posters, and advertising graphics to great heights,” director Magnani said at the opening, “We believe this program fits perfectly in the celebrations of the Year of Italian culture.”

And by doing this show, the Italian institutions are proving how Italians still are great communicators. “We know that people who shop at Eataly love everything Italian,” Magnani continued to explain, “the average Eataly shopper, who is not Italian, is emancipated and well educated and knows Italy or has a strong wish to go. We wish that when they come here, they not only think of food and drinks, but also about their favorite destinations.”

And how do you entice people to go back for one more visit or to finally go for the first time? “anybody who is going to eat at any of the Eataly restaurants and bars will receive a postcard featuring an image of all the posters. There is a code and when you scan it with your cell phone it takes you directly to Enit's web site where you can see the images of the posters and get more information on each and every city people can be interested with. There is also a lot of practical information on travel to Italy in general.”

The Italy represented in the posters is the Italy the American traveler is craving for – beautiful, classic and classy, artsy, full of sunshine...there is Genova and the Riviera, Capri, Palermo, Montecatini, Lecce... and more, like Milan, Venice, Verona, Rome and Florence... and according to director Magnani  2013 has been a good year for American tourism to Italy. 2014 promises to be even better!

“This was also an opportunity to meet with some of the local tour operators and travel agents,” Magnani added, “and to find out how the year went. We don't have any official data but the general feeling is that the year was incredibly positive and tourism is always increasing. We all are working very hard to remind potential tourists that Italy, despite all the rumors of crisis, is still an attractive and diversified destination. Through this show we also want to remind people that yes there are the classic destinations but there many other interesting places, so they can keep coming back!”

Let's look at Montecatini for example, the largest and most famous of Tuscany’s spa towns or Lecce, “the city of Baroque splendor,” (this is a translation of the text featured on the poster).
“A Vintage Tour of Italy" will tour the States throughout the year 2014 – it will land in Los Angeles, Chicago and  Washington, cities that already have fallen in love with Italy. But it will also go to states that are less known to be obsessed with Italy, like Texas. “We are looking forward to that,” Magnani concluded, “I believe this collection of posters is a powerful tool, because it is direct and speaks to everybody.”