CEO Sonders & Beach
Alessio Virgili is the CEO of SONDERS AND BEACH, a group of compamies operating in tourism since year 2002 and based in Italy and US with more than 100 employees.
He founded his business with his lifelong partner, Andrea Cosimi and the couple has been on the market since then, achieving success after success. Alessio supervises four parental companies: Quiiky tours, the first gay and Lesbian tour operator in Italy, QMagazine, the first gay and lesbian lifestyle magazine edited both in digital version and in paper; Sonders Hotels, facility management and outsourcing activities for catering and hotellerie; Wimbify, the innovative app featuring tour services for the gay and lesbian traveller.
Amongst his several activities to promote gay and lesbian tourism, he became IGLTA Ambassador in 2010 and that same year he founded the Italian Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association (AITGL) with TTG Italia Travel Fair, US Airways, San Francisco and Massachusetts Tourism Board, Philadelphia CVB, Thema Nuovi Mondi and Master Consulting.
In 2011 he fonded the tourism fair Expo Gay Tourism that took place at the beginning at NoFrills in Bergamo and currently at BIT in Milan. Since then, his contribution to the emersion of gay and lesbian tourism in Italy as well as his institutional involvement to assess civil rights and recognition of equality in the italian society have been endless.
In 2017, Alessio led SONDERSANDBEACH ITALY to be the first Italian tourist company to be acknowledged by The United Nations – Free & Equal for its business policy in respect of Human Rights.
In 2018, he promoted Milan candidacy as location for the 37th IGLTA International Global Convention, with Milan Municipality, ENIT Italian Tourism Board and with the American Consulate in Milan. The candidacy won, Milan hosts the Convention, first time in Italy and he was nominated the President of the Local Committee.
