Geopolitics and tourism at BTM Italy 2026: Marco Valigi leads the reading of new scenarios

Among the most captivating and strategic themes of the rich program of BTM Italy 2026, one that profoundly influences flows, investments, and strategies is geopolitics. At the center of the debate will be Marco Valigi, one of the most authoritative Italian scholars on the relationship between the international system and the business world.

Born in 1980, graduated with honors in Political Science from the University of Pavia and holds a PhD in International Relations, Valigi has built a profile that combines academia, institutions, and business. He is a lecturer in Strategic Studies at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, has taught at ESCP Business School, and has collaborated with organizations such as NATO, European Commission, European Investment Bank, and Presidency of the Council of Ministers, where he was a consultant during the Draghi Government on issues related to defense and the extended Mediterranean. He was an advisor to the CEO of E&Y Italy, worked with the ENI Enrico Mattei Foundation, and today collaborates regularly with think tanks such as ISPI and Aspen Institute Italy. In 2025, he published for Egea Università Bocconi Editore the book Geopolitics for Businesses – Rethinking Business in Post-Global Markets, a reference point for those analyzing the link between economy and new international balances.

His intervention at BTM Italy 2026 is part of a phase of profound transformation in global tourism. It is Valigi himself who explains how we have moved from an era of unprecedented expansion to a much more complex context: “During the 90s and 2000s, the tourism industry experienced a long phase of expansion, the very concept of travel has democratized, the free movement of individuals, goods, and capital, the emergence of new platforms that have substantially disintermediated the market, the proliferation of new flight routes, and the rise of low-cost airlines have certainly profoundly changed the market, not always positively, it is clear, but they have certainly determined a strong expansion of the tourism market itself.”

However, a scenario that exists less today. “For some years now, things have been changing and they have been changing for reasons essentially of a political nature”, emphasizes Valigi, clarifying the meaning of his contribution to BTM: “for this reason, during the BTM of 2026, within a specific seminar that I will personally take care of, I will address the theme of the relationship between geopolitics and the tourism industry, trying to illustrate to industry operators and those who will participate in this event, how geopolitical analysis can help generate value within the tourism sector itself.”

The heart of his reflection lies in breaking down a false cultural barrier: “Geopolitics and the tourism industry are not like oil and water, however, the relationship between a discipline that until recently was confined within the limits of academia and a business that is generally associated with the concept of entertainment still needs to be explained.” Because today tourism is one of the activities most exposed to global tensions, conflicts, and new material and immaterial borders: “The international system and the international environment are changing rapidly, a series of borders sometimes visible, sometimes less tangible, are characterizing the reality around us, which is why the relationship between geopolitics and the tourism industry deserves to be explained.”

The appointment is set: Marco Valigi will be a protagonist at BTM Italy 2026 on February 26 at the Fiera del Levante in Bari, to help the world of tourism read the present and plan the future with the tools of geopolitics.