ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo

What ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo does

ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo is an Italian non-profit foundation (Fondazione ITS Abruzzo Turismo e Cultura) established in June 2022 under Law 99/2022, which governs the national ITS Academy higher-technical-education system. The foundation operates as a public-private partnership composed of 32 founding members and 3 participating members, including vocational schools, universities, tourism enterprises, municipalities, and trade associations. Its mission is to deliver free, two-year post-diploma vocational courses at EQF Level 5 across the Abruzzo region in areas such as hospitality, food and wine sciences, digital marketing for tourism, sports and events management, and audiovisual production. Course structure consists of 1,800 hours per program, of which approximately 800 hours are dedicated to internships with partner enterprises, with headquarters in Giuliano Teatino and training delivery across four Abruzzo locations (Giulianova, Sulmona, Castel di Sangro, and Mosciano Sant'Angelo).

The foundation does not sell a product or service; instead, it is a publicly funded educational institution. All courses are tuition-free, and the foundation's operating budget is sourced from Regione Abruzzo allocations within a 7-year regional commitment totaling 21 million EUR across 42 ITS courses, with 11 million EUR earmarked for the next biennium. Go-to-market relies on a direct school outreach channel (percorso 4+2) targeting secondary school students, national visibility via participation in BIT Milano, and corporate partnerships that supply internships and hiring pipelines. Strategic partnerships include the EDIHAMO project with INFN National Laboratories of Gran Sasso for cybersecurity and AI training pathways oriented to tourism-sector digital transformation. Leadership comprises President Erminio Di Lodovico and Director Ciro Nardinocchi. Technology footprint is minimal: a standard CMS website hosted by ARUBA S.p.A., with no proprietary platform or core technology IP beyond the credentialing curriculum itself.

Name

ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo

Legal name

FONDAZIONE ITS ABRUZZO TURISMO E CULTURA

Website

https://itsturismoecultura.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo is a non-profit Italian foundation delivering free two-year EQF Level 5 vocational courses in tourism, hospitality, digital marketing, events, and audiovisual production across four Abruzzo locations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vocational Education and Training

NAICS

Technical and Trade Schools (6115), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Cooperative Education (Co-op) Technical Universities (EDAHAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Operations, Supply Chain & Logistics Management Schools (EDAHAHAF)

Keywords

• Vocational education training
• Tourism professional courses
• Hospitality management training
• Digital marketing training
• Cultural heritage education

Headquarters

HQ city

Giulianova

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding (Regione Abruzzo and EU): The academy is entirely publicly funded by the Regione Abruzzo and European Union funds (PNRR and ESF). Courses are completely free for students. No tuition or private revenue streams are mentioned. The Regione Abruzzo allocated 21 million euros for 42 ITS courses over a 7-year programming period, with 11 million euros available for the next biennium.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo delivers five free, two-year post-diploma vocational courses (1,800 hours each, including 800 hours of mandatory in-company internship) at EQF Level 5 in Hospitality Management, Digital Marketing and Communication, Sports and Event Management, Audiovisual Production, and Food and Wine Sciences. The academy targets secondary school graduates and adults in the Abruzzo region, with all tuition fully funded by the Regione Abruzzo and European Union (PNRR/ESF) sources, and students receiving a state-recognized Diploma di Tecnico Superiore valid across the EU.

Product overview

ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo is an educational institution offering five professional two-year courses (1800 hours) at EQF Level 5. The course portfolio includes: Hospitality Manager (hotel and accommodation management), Marketing e Comunicazione Digitale (digital marketing for tourism and culture), Management dello Sport ed Eventi (sports and event management), Produzione Audiovisiva (audiovisual and media production), and Scienze Enogastronomiche (food and wine sciences). All courses are free, funded by the Abruzzo Region and European funds, and include 800 hours of mandatory internships. The institution operates as a foundation connecting educational institutions, businesses, and universities to provide practical, market-relevant training for tourism and cultural sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hospitality Manager 2026/2028 Two-year post-diploma professional course (1,800 hours including 800 hours of internship) training students as Hospitality Managers for hotel and tourist accommodation facilities, covering hotel management, front office, food and beverage, and digital marketing. Free, funded by Regione Abruzzo and EU sources, leading to an EQF Level 5 Diploma di Tecnico Superiore.
• Marketing e Comunicazione Digitale 2026/2028 Two-year professional course training digital marketing specialists for tourism and cultural sectors, covering web marketing, social media, content creation, SEO, AI technologies, and destination management. Free, funded by Regione Abruzzo and EU sources, leading to an EQF Level 5 Diploma di Tecnico Superiore.
• Management dello Sport ed Eventi 2026/2028 Two-year course training sports and event management professionals, covering event organization, sports marketing, hospitality in sports, and sport tourism. Free, funded by Regione Abruzzo and EU sources, leading to an EQF Level 5 Diploma di Tecnico Superiore.
• Produzione Audiovisiva 2026/2028 Two-year professional course training audiovisual production specialists for cinema, media, and digital communication, covering video production, editing, visual effects, and immersive technologies. Free, funded by Regione Abruzzo and EU sources, leading to an EQF Level 5 Diploma di Tecnico Superiore.
• Scienze Enogastronomiche 2026/2028 Two-year professional course training food and wine specialists, covering gastronomic culture, food and beverage management, enology, and food tourism marketing. Free, funded by Regione Abruzzo and EU sources, leading to an EQF Level 5 Diploma di Tecnico Superiore.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, important and minor.

• Istituto d'Istruzione Superiore V. Crocetti - V. CerullicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead school (scuola capofila) of the ITS Academy. Hosts the main training location in Giulianova. Luigi Valentini serves as Dirigente Scolastico of this institution and plays a key governance role as member of the Giunta Esecutiva and President of the CTS.
• Università degli Studi di Teramo – Campus 'Aurelio Saliceti'coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner contributing academic expertise. Andrea Ciccarelli from the university serves on the Giunta Esecutiva. Giammarco Cifaldi (docente universitario) participated as a speaker at the study day in May 2025.
• Camera di Commercio Gran Sasso d'ItaliacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChamber of commerce partner represented in the Giunta Esecutiva by Dario Colecchi (Vice Presidente). Contributes to the bridge between education and the job market.
• Camera di Commercio Chieti PescaracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChamber of commerce partner represented in the Giunta Esecutiva by Lido Legnini. Contributes to regional economic development and tourism industry connection.
• CNA Regionale dell'AbruzzoimportantStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNA (Confederazione Nazionale dell'Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa) is a founding member providing business network access for internships and student placement in the tourism and craft sectors.
• SIGET S.r.l.importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerTourism services company led by Erminio Di Lodovico, who serves as President of the ITS Academy Foundation and chairs the Giunta Esecutiva.
• DMC Hadriatica S.r.l.importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerDestination Management Company providing industry expertise in tourism management and serving as a partner company for internships and curriculum development.
• Confesercenti AbruzzoimportantStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrade association of service businesses (commercio, turismo, servizi) contributing industry network for student internships and placement.
• Comune di Mosciano Sant'AngelominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality partner, with Mirko Rossi serving on the Giunta Esecutiva. The legal headquarters is located in this municipality.
• Comune di Castel di SangrominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality hosting the local training unit (Unità Locale) in the Castel di Sangro area, supporting training activities in the Alto Sangro tourism zone.
• Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di TeramominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation providing financial support and local development resources for the ITS Academy as a founding member.
• CE.S.CO.T. AbruzzominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentro Sviluppo Commercio, Turismo e Terziario - a founding member consortium providing expertise in commerce, tourism, and tertiary sector development.
• MAtch 4.0 / INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerITS Academy participated in an EDIHAMO project meeting organized by MAtch 4.0 at the INFN Laboratori del Gran Sasso. The academy is a partner in the EDIHAMO project, with plans to develop cybersecurity and AI training pathways for tourism businesses.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CNOS-FAP: Italian Salesian vocational-training network offering free, publicly funded courses including hospitality and food/wine specializations. Comparable as a national-scale vocational provider competing for similar students and regional funding in adjacent verticals.
• ENGIM: National Italian non-profit vocational-training organization operating across multiple regions and sectors, including hospitality and tourism. Comparable in delivering publicly funded, work-integrated vocational courses to post-diploma youth, though broader in sectoral scope.
• IAL Innovazione Apprendimento Lavoro: Major Italian vocational-training network (affiliated with CISL and historically Manpower) offering publicly funded technical courses including in tourism/hospitality. Comparable as a publicly funded, employer-linked vocational provider serving similar post-diploma cohorts.

Others

• INDIRE: Italian National Institute for Educational Innovation, the public research body supporting ITS Academies' pedagogical innovation. Comparable as an institutional ecosystem partner in the same national ITS framework and a likely collaborator on curriculum modernization.
• Confesercenti Nazionale: Italian trade association of tourism, commerce and service SMEs, a founding member of the academy. Comparable as an ecosystem participant providing employer-network access and policy advocacy relevant to Abruzzo's tourism vocational-training market.

Direct peers

• Università degli Studi di Teramo: Public university located in the same Abruzzo region and a founding member of the academy. Comparable in serving Abruzzo's tertiary-education market and overlapping in tourism/agriculture faculties; the academy explicitly positions itself as a higher-technical alternative for students not choosing university.
• Fondazione ITS Tech & Food: Another Italian ITS Academy foundation under the same national ITS framework (Law 99/2022), operating the identical public-private-foundation model, EQF Level 5 diplomas, and PNRR/regional funding. Comparable as a same-model peer in an adjacent vertical.
• Fondazione ITS per il Made in Italy – Calzature e Moda: Italian ITS Academy operating the same foundation model, EQF Level 5 diploma, and PNRR/regional funding structure, but focused on fashion/footwear. Comparable as a same-system peer, useful for understanding funding dynamics and curriculum co-design practices in the broader ITS network.

Regional players

• Università Ca' Foscari Venezia: Italian university with a leading tourism-economics and cultural-heritage management faculty. Comparable in producing graduates for the Italian tourism sector and competing for the same student pool, though operating from a different region (Veneto) and with a longer-cycle academic model.
• Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (Rimini Campus): Italy's oldest university with a Rimini-based faculty specialized in tourism sciences. Comparable as an Italian tertiary tourism-education provider targeting similar students, though academic rather than vocational in orientation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/its-academy-turismo-e-cultura-abruzzo

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ITS Academy Turismo e Cultura Abruzzo