Winter Olympics 2026, one in two companies ready to invest

MILAN - One out of every two companies in the area involved in the Milan and Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will invest in improving their offer in view of the sports event. Forty-three per cent of these have already started the process, while the remainder intend to start in the coming months. The small and medium-sized companies in the reception and catering sector are the ones with the highest expectations. Moreover, 40 per cent of these most responsive companies have already decided that they will invest 14 per cent of their turnover, i.e. they are starting actual planning. This is what emerges from the research conducted by Ipsos for Visa, partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, on a sample of 250 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. In general, the expectation in the area is positive. Ninety-five per cent of the small and medium-sized enterprises located in the Northern Italian regions involved - Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige - expect a positive economic impact in their respective areas, with 64% expecting concrete benefits for their business. Again, 95 per cent of companies are aware of the event and most consider themselves moderately ready to seize the opportunity. Expectations regarding visitors vary according to location: in Milan, 71% of companies expect more local and national visitors, while 83% of those in mountain areas expect a greater flow of international tourists. Among other data from the study, it emerges that 64% of SMEs expect a high impact on their business, also in terms of turnover and margins (34%). As far as the local economy and tourism are concerned, 95% of SMEs expect a positive impact and among these, 88% believe that the economy of the host territories will benefit the most, while 86% see the influx of tourists and visitors as the main advantage. Furthermore, 84% believe that the Olympic Games will bring new infrastructure, redevelopment of urban and peripheral areas, and improvements to the mobility of the territories involved. For Stefano Stoppani, Visa Country Manager, "more than half of the companies that will invest will focus on payment infrastructures, this attests to the fact that digital payment is no longer seen solely as linked to a physical pos, but as a relevant element of their business strategy. We know that the Italian SMEs surveyed by us spend up to 75 per cent of their time on non-core activities, with a significant loss in terms of efficiency, so the role of the ecosystem is extremely relevant