A great event destined to make Cortina d'Ampezzo a benchmark for the tourism industry over decades to come, with the joint objectives of innovation and sustainability generating beneficial results for the entire Dolomite region. This is the aim the Fondazione Cortina 2021 is working towards with Enel’s support in the run-up to the Alpine World Ski Championships taking place from 8 to 21 February 2021.
The convention took centre stage at the “Effetto Cortina 2021” event, hosted by Rome’s MAXXI (National Museum of 21st Century Arts) and organised by the Fondazione Cortina 2021 in collaboration with Dolomiti Superski, Italy’s
largest skiing area. It was an opportunity to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Fondazione Cortina 2021, ENIT, Italy’s national tourism agency that will promote the event and the Dolomites ski complex. There was also an overview of the current state of preparations for the World Ski Championships, with contributions from Alessandro Benetton, president of the Fondazione Cortina 2021, CEO Valerio Giacobbi, Enel Head of Country Italy Carlo Tamburi, president of ENIT Giorgio Palmucci, mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo Gianpietro Ghedina and president of Dolomiti Superski Sandro Lazzari.
Opening proceedings was Giovanna Melandri, president of the Fondazione MAXXI, of which Enel was a founding partner. Melandri described how sustainability is at the centre of several of the museum’s research projects. Alessandro Benetton then explained how sustainability and innovation are the guiding principles behind the Cortina 2021 project, presenting the figures for the two weeks of the World Cup, which will see eleven illustrious titles awarded. The championships will involve 600 athletes from seventy countries, 6,000 jobs will be created and 1,200 volunteers will be providing assistance to the 120,000 visitors who come to watch the competitions, meanwhile live TV coverage of the event is set to be watched by 500 million people all around the world. “As the organising committee we could have stopped there,” said Benetton, “but we also wanted to facilitate the reinvigoration of the entire region, and this event provides a great opportunity to do so.” The president of the Fondazione Cortina 2021 went on to say that “this year eighteen new hotels have already been opened, with new ski facilities and new pistes,” and that new connections will be made to link the valleys involved in the event, acting as a multiplier for the creation of further prosperity and wellbeing for the community.
Finding the best solution for sustainable economic and social development in the 34 countries and the regions we operate in, in the context of total respect for the environment and communities, is one of the factors driving our company’s operations. For this reason we support initiatives like Cortina 2021. “This overarching development project involves all the Ski World Cup locations and future initiatives, and we’ve believed in this right from the start,” Tamburi said.
As a national partner in the Fondazione Cortina 2021, Enel is involved in three priority areas concerning the preparations for the Ski World Cup – sponsorship, infrastructure and business.
Tamburi went on to say that Enel’s commitment as a partner is not only a sign that we share the values of the region, it can also serve to promote the event in the countries where Enel operates. As for infrastructure, the Group is working on three fronts – quality of electricity services, fibre optics and e-mobility. We will improve the resilience and functioning of the electricity cables to ensure high standards of service quality. “We’ve already begun work in response to the requirements and expectations from the new hotels, new pistes and other infrastructure for Cortina 2021.”
In his closing address Benetton emphasised the importance for Cortina and Milan of being chosen as hosts for the 2026 Winter Olympics, a decision due to be made on 24 June.