Skal Roma and Skal Prague twinning – Press Release

Rome, February 28, 2021. On February 25^th, 2021, Skal International Roma and Skal International Prague held a twinning ceremony at the historical headquarters of the Czech Club, located at the magnificent Grand Hotel Bohemia.

The ceremony took place after Skal Prague’s Annual General Assembly in the Boccaccio Bar, a beautiful neo-baroque hall where high ranked debutantes were introduced to society around the turn between the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The twinning event was conducted in a hybrid way, partly in physical presence and partly over the internet. The two Club Presidents, Heinz Reigl and Paolo Bartolozzi conducted the ceremony in presence of some members while hosting over the platform representatives from the Italian Embassy in Prague, Dr Alessandro Pitotti for the Ambassador H.E. Francesco Saverio Nisio and the Italian Institute of Culture Dr Alberta Lai, the Italian Czech chamber of Commerce, Dr Mariani, the chairman of ENIT Italian tourism board Giorgio Palmucci, the President Bill Reheaume and Director Juan Ignacio Steta Gandara of Skal International Executive Board, past Skal International President Karine Coulanges, Skal Europe President Eric Etienne, Armando Ballarin President of Skal Italia, Antonio Percario and Augusto Minei, amongst other Officier positions Former Presidents of Skal Roma, Luigi Sciarra and Tito Livio Mongelli vice Presidents of Skal Roma, together with over 30 between Club Presidents and officers of European Clubs and National Committees.

The overall attendance was over 100 people across 12 time zones.

The President of Skal International, Bill Reheaume, underlined the value of twinnings as a “unique relationship for exchanging ideas and cooperating in fostering tourism, (…) overcoming obstacles in the name of friendship”.

The President of Skal Europe, Eric Etienne, remarked that “every effort to blend Club activities and aggregate members through the values of Skal is a step in the right direction for overcoming this terrible crisis”.

During the ceremony, the two Club Presidents introduced a program of shared activities, including setting up soon B2B sessions for operators involved in the tourism inter-exchange existing between the two countries, establishing technical collaboration on web development and club management best practices, and planning common online and in presence events.

The ceremony ended with a strong statement of resilience during the crisis, and new energies and creativity ready to be deployed for the recovery of tourism industry.

During the traditional toast to the event, the two Presidents remarked how many points of contacts exist, many of them going back hundreds of years in art, culture, architecture, and human values. Both countries have similar economies, based on tourism, high-end agriculture, wine, and industrial production.

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