Companies like Essential Italy, which offer holiday accommodation in Sicily, may already be reaping the benefits of the focus placed on the region by Anthony Bourdain’s hit CNN travel show Parts Unknown. 

According to an expert survey carried out 48 hours after the episode’s air date, online searches for Sicilian airports in the United States had increased by a staggering 88.8 percent since the airing. In comparison, the demand for airports in other parts of Italy had suffered a minimal 5 percent increase, which proved the surge in interest was directly related to the focus of that week’s programme. This tendency extends, of course, to holiday rental companies such as Essential Italy, which may very likely experience an increase in bookings from American tourists. 

The Sicily episode was part of the second season of Parts Unknown, which premiered on April 14th of this year and has already won two Emmys since then. The first of these prizes pertained to Series One’s episode on Myanmar, which came away from the television award ceremony with the honour for Best Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming. Later the same evening the series as a whole was presented with the award for Best Information Series, rounding up an impressive start for Bourdain’s band of travellers. 

The presenter and crew of the show were themselves ecstatic with the reception this episode has received. When presented with the staggering results of the Sicily survey, the ZPZ Productions staff declared themselves very happy with the interest they had managed to raise, and considered that if any one of their episodes contributes to encouraging people to want to visit the location it focuses on, then their mission is accomplished. 

Parts Unknown airs on the American branch of international news channel CNN on Sundays at 9pm. The show’s title derives from its focus on more remote locations, off the beaten path of international tourism, as well as lesser known areas of some of the major cities around the world. 

For Media Contact:
12 George Street
Cambridge, CB4 1AJ
United Kingdom
+44(0)1223 460100
[email protected]