A new way of thinking and experiencing the Romagna, enjoying its many resources – from nature to wine and food, from sports to hospitality, from wellness to relaxation – in the name of a complete and high-quality well-being. This, in essence, is the concept of the Wellness Valley, a project born in 2002 from an idea of the founder of Technogym, Nerio Alessandri, with the aim to unite and standardize the local excellencies in the fields of tourism, health, economy, culture, volunteering, sports, school, university, and wine and food. The first international district for competences on wellness and quality of life is thus born. A physical and social place that puts the focus back on people and their health. After all, both the vocation for hospitality and entrepreneurial inventiveness are in the DNA of the Romagna. Just think of the success of the Romagna Riviera, today an active holiday destination among the most appealing for entertainment, quality of facilities and services, good food, lifestyle, and friendliness of the locals. Many are the local attractions: from the coast, with its equipped beaches, to the inland, full of evocative nature trails - there are 30 trails branded Wellness Valley to be enjoyed by foot or bicycle that touch all the main locations of the Romagna, from Ferrara to Rimini, from Ravenna to Bagno di Romagna. And let’s not forget the villages, castles, farms with DOC wine cellars, and cities rich in art and culture.

The best operators united to promote the destination In the Wellness Valley Consortium, the excellencies are not only the resources of the territory, but also the entrepreneurial companies. Some of the best operators and professionals of the tourism industry are in fact part of the network, all committed to promote the Romagna in the world as a destination for a high-level wellness experience. In just over two years of work, the Wellness Valley has also become a hospitality system of excellence with fifteen 4 and 5-star hotels and fifteen or so beach resorts, and a wide range of customized packages for regenerative team building and innovative meeting offers by virtue of the excellent presence in this territory of the Rimini conference Centre, the first conference and wellness location in Italy that created, in collaboration with the Wellness Foundation, a new way of interpreting the time of a meeting or a convention.

From fitness to wellness, a trend that appeals to hospitality The evolution of the great Rimini Expo event ‘Fitness Festival’ to ‘Rimini Wellness’ is symptomatic of the passage, promoted by the Wellness Valley of Romagna, from fitness (looking good), to wellness (feeling good). The Consortium’s objective is to promote a soft, holistic approach to well-being, which ranges from a healthy culture of proper nutrition to a philosophy of balance between mind and body. A trend, that of the complete wellbeing, that on an international level is taking root more and more also in the hospitality industry to answer a demand that is growing at a rate of about 12 percentage points per year and that, according to SRI International, will continue to increase at least until 2020. Just in 2015, the ‘wellness tourism’ yielded a return of around 500 billion dollars, with an incidence close to 15% of the total world tourism revenue.