ITALY in Focus!

Reminder before coming:

  • Learning/doing business Italian style is important to strengthen relationships
  • Valuing  the country at its best  is necessary to develop effectiveness
  • Increasing understanding is essential to create synergy
  • Avoiding stereotypes, and understanding the local culture is fundamental for generating team-work  leading to success

Italy is, indeed, a fascinating country but its inner culture and red tape may be baffling and require assistance in arranging and planning efficiently. This is very true for business, travel, projects, relocation, visits and even wedding planning!

Whatever your personal feelings, professional and business support in any overseas experience can really make the difference for a smooth and comfortable “landing”!

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No matter if you are …

 

Curious – Hesitant – Excited – Indifferent – Worried – Lighthearted – Open-minded – Concerned – Thrilled – Pleased – Sad – Uptight – Happy – Eager – Perceptive – Overwhelmed – Philosophical – Judgmental – Angry …

It will be a WORTHY CHALLENGE!!!

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Curiosities…and Daily life……

  • Bureaucracy is a serious matter and getting anything official done  wherever in Italy may be a frustrating and drawn out process, very time consuming to manage!
  • In Italy there is a large number  of motor vehicles on the road… and this makes distance, schedule, departure time and arrival time all variables!
  • Drive on the right and pass on the left. But be alert for people passing on the right anyway!
  • Many gasoline  service stations in Italy are manned, meaning a pump operator will fill the car while the driver stays in his/her seat. The driver will have to instruct the operator on the type of fuel and how much is required:

                           Unleaded fuel: benzina senza piombo 

                           Diesel: gasolio

                           Full/fill up: pieno

Do not be surprised if gasoline prices differ from one station to another, it is a fact!

  • Rules and regulations are OFTEN perceived quite  differently from one area to the other of the country as well as  from one city or village to the other!
  • Gasoline – fuel – electricity are expensive and limited. You may not have too many appliances running at the same time or you’ll short-circuit the system.
  • Holidays are part of the daily life and are fully respected by all! Siesta time and the national summer break period are something Italians take very seriously and with priority. There are national, civil and religious holidays, as well as city holidays and even villages holidays…in addition,  each location in Italy celebrates its patron Saint … Mark the dates on your calendar!
  • There are about 800 banks in Italy inclusive of main banks, foreign banks, private banks, regional banks and their branches. The oldest continually operating bank in the world is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which has been operating as a bank in Italy since 1472!
  • Credit cards are accepted in major cities while in small places and villages or in open markets you are expected to pay cash! Most used and accepted credit card is MasterCard followed by Visa; American Express is not preferred and in most places not accepted except in major Hotels.
  • There are different kinds of pasta, over 200 pasta shapes and over 120 pasta plants producing “la pasta“!!! In the South, the Campania region,  ranks 1st among the Italian regions exporting pasta.

There is even a Pasta Museum in Rome, “the only one of its kind in the world”!