CIT, the Compagnia Italiana Turismo, was an Italian

travel agency A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

promotion

quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where NG ...

, privatized in 1996. It was established by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

in 1927 as the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

tourist promotion agency, in contrast to the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

ENIT ENIT—Agenzia nazionale del turismo, known in English as The Italian Government Tourist Board, formerly the Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo ('Italian National Agency for Tourism') is the Italian national tourism board. The national Touri ...

and the bourgeois

Touring Club Italiano The Touring Club Italiano (TCI) (Italian Touring Club or Touring Club of Italy) is the major Italian national tourist organization. The Touring Club Ciclistico Italiano (TCCI) was founded on 8 November 1894 by a group of bicyclists to promote the ...

. Its first president was Ezio Maria Gray, an enthusiastic Fascist and

corporatist Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

.Bosworth, ''passim'' Its goal was to promote Italy as an international tourist destination and to support Italian foreign tourism. To do this, it created a network of

travel agencies A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...

in Italy and worldwide. Its founding members were the

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

, the

Banco di Sicilia Banco di Sicilia was an Italian bank based in Palermo, Sicily. It was a subsidiary of UniCredit but absorbed into the parent company in 2010. History It was founded as ''Banco Regio dei Reali Domini al di là del Faro'' in 1849 and was renamed in ...

, the

Banco di Napoli Banco di Napoli S.p.A., among the oldest banks in the world, was an Italian banking subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo group, as one of the 6 retail brands other than "Intesa Sanpaolo". It was acquired by the Italian banking group Sanpaolo IMI (the p ...

, and

(the Italian national tourist board). After its 1996 privatization, CIT was never able to establish itself financially, and was liquidated in

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

court in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 2008.

References

* * Taina Syrjäma, ''Visitez l'Italie : Italian state tourist propaganda abroad 1919-1943: administrative structure and practical realization'', 1997 in ''Turun yliopiston julkaisuja''/''Annales Universitatis Turkuensis'' Series B, Humaniora, , 217. (not seen)

Notes

Travel and holiday companies of Italy Tourism agencies Transport companies established in 1927 Transport companies disestablished in 2008 Italian companies established in 1927 Italian companies disestablished in 2008 {{tourism-stub