Italea Piemonte celebrates the opening, on April 5th, of the new Turin headquarters of the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci group, in Piazza San Carlo: Palazzo Turinetti di Pertengo, in the historic premises of the Goethe-Institut, returns to be a beating heart of Italian culture for foreigners.

A tourist stay that turns into an Italian course. This is the proposal of CiaoItaly, the school that teaches the Italian language to foreigners through the formula of a study holiday for adults. 750 students a year from 110 countries, generating an induced income of 3.5 million euros. Average stay: 7.5 weeks. 10% stop between 6 and 12 months. The most massive arrivals come from Germany and the United States.

The average stay of each student is 7.5 weeks, with a weekly expense of about 500 euros for the course and accommodation. It is estimated that the city of Turin will generate an annual income of about 3.5 million euros, with important repercussions on trade, tourism, hospitality and catering. 10% of CiaoItaly students spend periods ranging from 24 weeks to 12 months in Turin: in this case they are young people who study Italian for academic reasons with the aim of enrolling in Turin universities and spending at least 3 years in the city.

Students come from 110 countries. The top ten nationalities by number of presences are: Germany (14%), USA (13%), France (9%), Switzerland (8%), Brazil (7%), China (6%), United Kingdom (4.5%), Netherlands (4%), Canada (2%) and Australia (2%).

The top ten countries in terms of economic importance, measured by weeks of stay, are: China (1655 weeks), USA (705), Brazil (349), Germany (211), Switzerland (182), Japan (157), France (152 weeks), Spain (151 weeks), Netherlands (148 weeks), Turkey (94 weeks).

“Our mission is twofold,” says Chiara Avidano, director of CiaoItaly. On the one hand we teach Italian to foreigners, on the other we promote our culture through experiential tourism programs. Our students are real Italian Lovers and our goal is to make them Turin Lovers as well. This role was ideally also recognized with the registration in the register of incoming operators of Turismo Torino. Particularly appreciated is our Dolce Vita program, the most touristic format, designed for more mature students, which offers the best of Turin. We often collaborate with other incoming operators for special proposals, such as Torino Magica, Torino Sotterranea or guided tours of the Museum of Urban Art, or with the pro loco of the villages. We also have a strategic partnership with the Italea Piemonte group for the development of programs dedicated to the so-called roots tourism, where the study of the Italian language is an integral part of the interests of the descendants of Italians abroad ».

Founded in 2008, since 2021 CiaoItaly has been the Turin branch of the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci group, the Italian circuit that in 50 years has welcomed over 200,000 international students eager to study the Italian language and learn about the cultural and artistic heritage of our country. For the last four years, the school has received the prestigious STAR AWARDS, organized by the international magazine Study Travel Magazine which selects, through the preferences expressed by the most renowned international agencies specialized in language stays, the best schools that teach foreign languages in the world.

The Scuola Leonardo da Vinci group has been operating since 1977 and has offices in Florence, Rome, Milan, Viareggio and Turin. The study holiday sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, has shown an extraordinary capacity for innovation and resilience, returning in 2023 to be an engine for the promotion of our country and a catalyst for the development of cities that host schools specializing in teaching Italian to foreigners.

Italea Piemonte is proud of this new reality that enriches the regional tourist offer and contributes to strengthening the link between Piedmont and the communities of Italians abroad. The Italian language, a tool of communication and a vehicle of culture, is confirmed as the protagonist of an exciting journey to discover its origins.

 

© photo credits (opening image): Mario Sofia