BIT Milan 2026: Italcares and Italy's new positioning in medical and spa tourism

What is BIT: International Tourism Exchange

TheBIT Milanis one of the leading European events dedicated to the tourism industry. Hosted atFiera Milano Rho, the event brings together institutions, international buyers, tour operators, hospitality operators and stakeholders from the leisure, luxury and MICE segments.

In recent years, the BIT has devoted increasing attention to high value-added sectors such as wellness tourism and medical tourism, recognizing their economic and strategic potential for country systems.

In this context, the presence of Italcares is inserted, with the aim of consolidating Italy's positioning as an integrated health and wellness destination.

The global context: why medical tourism is growing

Wellness and medical tourism is now among the most dynamic segments of the travel industry.

According to industry data:

• The wellness tourism is growing at an average annual rate of + 9.1 percent;
  
• An aging population and pressure on public health systems are pushing for integrated solutions between treatment, prevention and stay.

Countries such as Spain, Germany, Slovenia and the UAE have already developed structured models of medical tourism. Italy, despite possessing some of the world's most prized thermal springs and an excellent healthcare system, did not have a nationally coordinated system.

Italcares was created precisely to fill this gap.

BIT 2026: strategic vision and system consolidation

In BIT,within theVillage Thermalia, we presented a strategic vision for the future of this tourism in our country: to transform the national spa and healthcare heritage into a coordinated, scalable and internationally recognizable system.

During the panel "Italian thermalism between system, health and future perspectives", Director Raffaella Di Sipio illustrated the evolution of the project: from a pilot initiative to a national operational infrastructure capable of integrating health facilities, spas, hospitality and digital platform into a single ecosystem.

Partnership with the Global Wellness Institute

During the panel, the partnership with the Global Wellness Institute, which has led to the creation of the first Country Report dedicated to Italy.

This step is strategic: entering the Geography of Wellness means positioning Italy within the global maps of wellness, where investors, buyers and operators define the future strategies of the sector.

It's not just about visibility, but systemic recognition.

Health integration: the role of the San Donato Group

During BIT, the San Donato Group was a guest at the Italcares corner.

The synergy between hospital excellence and spa heritage is one of the pillars of the Italcares model.

Modern medical tourism requires integration between:

• Clinical Supervision
  
• Thermal Therapies
  
• Specialty medicine
  
• High-quality care

This integration allows us to move beyond the purely "recreational" concept of wellness and position thermalism as a recognized complementary therapy, with impact on prevention and healthspan.

Conclusion: from widespread heritage to market leadership

The presence of Italcares at BIT Milan 2026 was not just an exhibition moment, but a strategic statement.

Italy has some of the most valuable thermal springs in the world, a healthcare system of excellence, and a unique cultural/landscape heritage.

The challenge today is to organize all of this into a competitive and scalable country system.

Italcares has proven that the model works. The next step is to consolidate it as a national medical tourism infrastructure.