Apart from allowing all luxury hotels in Italy to open up casinos on their premises, there is still no sign of any tangible country wide marketing or communication initiative from the recently set up Ministry of Tourism. Until now that is. Some Italian regions have decided they can’t wait any longer and are going it alone in the style of many country ads doing the rounds eg Go Goa, Incredible India. Not least Campania. First seen in 2009 ‘Campania così bella che è vera!’ is

A new Grana Padano Cheese television spot is about to hit our digital screens. The last one was iconic and ran from 2002. The ad featured a cheese knife slicing through grapes, honey, walnuts etc to land with a thud in a round of Grana Padano. Difficult to beat. View the commercial here The new one is located in a romantic Paris by night as a couple enjoy a meal on a classic barge as they drift along the Seine. The hook hangs around him

All summer on our satellite television screen, we watched luscious commercial spots produced by the Greece and Croatia Tourism Boards. They were beautiful, enchanting and persuasive and created a wonderful image for both countries as a visitor destination. We were almost tempted to go ourselves! What was impressive was the emphasis on those aspects of the country you would normally associate with Italy first; food, art cities, archaeology etc. Both countries have sensed an opportunity. The messages are clear. Croatia ‘The Mediterranean as it once