Modernising Italian hotel industry: the touring club Italiano and the Mostra delle Forniture Alberghiere in the interwar period (1922-1939)

This article analyses the contribution of the Touring Club Italiano to the modernisation of Italy’s hotel industry through the Mostra delle Forniture Alberghiere (Hotel Equipment Exhibition), held annually from 1922 to 1939 at the Fiera Campionaria Internazionale di Milano (Milan International Trade Fair). The study addresses these research gaps: the neglected relationship between exhibitions and tourism in Italy and the significant role of associations in shaping tourism development. The study draws primarily on contemporary trade journals to reconstruct the Exhibition’s organisation, participants, and reception. The argument is developed in three sections. The first situates the exhibition within broader interwar transformations, marked by the growing intervention of the state, changing demand patterns and structural limits of the hotel industry. The second examines Touring Club’s initiatives, emphasising its engagement in renewing tourism enterprises. The third focuses on the exhibition, its orientation toward medium – and small-scale hotels, exhibitor selection, and initiatives such as competitions designed to stimulate innovation. The article concludes by evaluating the exhibition’s contribution to the modernisation of Italian hospitality, highlighting its uneven but tangible impact on hotel infrastructure.