Taranto, 12 February 2026 – The XX Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026 took centre stage at BIT – Borsa Internazionale del Turismo, held from 10 to 12 February 2026 at Fieramilano Rho, reaffirming the role of the Games as a major sporting, cultural and territorial project capable of engaging an international audience of operators, media and stakeholders.
The participation in BIT forms part of the roadmap towards the 2026 edition and represented an important opportunity to present the model of the “Games spread across the territory”, which will involve the entire Puglia Region, enhancing its identity, heritage and communities through sport.
A key moment of the participation was the conference entitled “The Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026”, held on 12 February at 11:00 a.m. at the Puglia Region stand. Institutional representatives and members of the Organising Committee took part in the meeting: Graziamaria Starace, Regional Minister for Tourism and Promotion of the Puglia Region; Luca Scandale, Commissioner of ARET Pugliapromozione; Piero Bitetti, Mayor of the Municipality of Taranto; Sandro Esposito, Vice-president of the Board Members, Carlo Molfetta, Director General of the Organising Committee of the XX Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026; together with Board Members Bruno Campanile and Mattia Giorno.
In his speech, the Director General of the Organising Committee, Carlo Molfetta, highlighted the scale and complexity of the organisation: “The XX Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026 represent a major organisational challenge: 32 sports, 41 venues including competition and training facilities, distributed across a wide and articulated territory. A project that requires coordination, vision and strong institutional collaboration. The choice of Games spread across the territory enables us to guarantee high organisational standards while, at the same time, enhancing the territory and making participation one of the central elements of this edition.”
“The Mediterranean Games represent a real opportunity for cultural and tourism growth for Taranto,” declared the Mayor of Taranto, Piero Bitetti. “The city will open its doors to delegations and visitors, showcasing its beauty, the sea, the historic centre and monuments, together with its outstanding food and wine potential. The Games are not only a sporting event, but also an opportunity for urban and social revitalisation whose positive impact will be felt over time; they represent a fundamental step in the economic transition we are strongly pursuing. Moreover, the event does not concern Taranto alone, but the whole of Puglia: the city and the Region will become a national and international reference point for sport, tourism and hospitality.”
The Puglia Region reaffirmed the strategic value of the Games as a lever for territorial and tourism promotion: “At BIT we presented a simple idea: sport is a powerful intangible infrastructure capable of generating reputation, attractiveness and new tourism geographies. The model of the Mediterranean Games spread across territory reflects a Puglia that does not concentrate but connects; that does not consume places, but makes them protagonists through communities, services and hospitality. It is an opportunity to strengthen the concept of responsible tourism, work towards deseasonalisation and build a lasting legacy in terms of skills, infrastructure and identity,” declared Regional Minister for Tourism and Promotion Graziamaria Starace.
During BIT, Taranto 2026 was presented as an integrated promotion platform where sport, tourism, culture and dialogue intertwine, strengthening the image of Puglia and the Mediterranean as a space of cooperation, peace and participation.
