ALES S.p.A.: A rare success story in Italian cultural services

In 2007, the Colosseum recorded 4,441,453 visitors, while the top 30 Italian museums totaled 19,373,103 visitors. ALES S.p.A., founded in 1997 as a state-owned cultural services company, reported a production value of €14,380,152 but closed with losses. By 2022, the Colosseum had more than doubled its visitors, and the top 30 museums reached about 29 million visitors. ALES, now an in-house company of the Ministry of Culture, achieved a production value of €95,740,475 with a profit of €13,304,037—equal to its entire revenue 15 years earlier. Key milestones include: in 2014, ALES supported the Great Pompeii Project; in 2015, it managed improvements at the Uffizi Galleries; in 2016, it absorbed Arcus S.p.A. and took over exhibitions at Scuderie del Quirinale, acquiring the Special Company Palaexpo. In 2022, ALES posted a net profit of €7,404,617, with revenues increasing by €24 million from 2021. Personnel costs rose from €12 million in 2007 to €70 million in 2022, employing 1,970 people (5 executives, 22 managers, 1,583 employees, 112 workers, 248 temporary staff). Its core business involves technical-specialist services for conservation, management, and promotion of cultural heritage, including archival and library assets, security systems, and communication. The article questions why, despite the sector's profitability, few private companies reach ALES's scale, and notes a disconnect between humanities graduates' job pessimism and the sector's potential.