Pictured: Nicholas Carter from the ACL board and the Ricoh Arena's Lisa Fisher (third, right) with members of the group who visited from Italy

Leading clubs from Italy and the Italian Football Federation have been on a fact-finding mission to the Ricoh Arena.

The 20-strong group came to England to visit the Ricoh, Brighton's new Amex Community Stadium, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and The O2 in London.

Daniel Gidney, chief executive of the Ricoh Arena, impressed the FIGC (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio) - the Italian Football Federation - when he gave a presentation in Rome in April on generating stadium revenue.

Senior staff from Serie A's Fiorentina and Cagliari and Serie B's Sampdoria, Padova, Bari, Albinoleffe and Modena joined Michele Uva, the director of development at FIGC, on a tour of the award-winning Ricoh Arena.

The group was shown round the conference and exhibition facilities, attended a Coventry City fixture and stayed at the on-site De Vere at the Ricoh Arena hotel.

Ian Nuttall from Xperiology, who organised the visit, said the quantity and range of non-match activities held at the multi-purpose venue had made a lasting impression on the Italian visitors.

"The group was really impressed with the Ricoh Arena and Daniel's insights into non-matchday events were invaluable as the Italians begin their own stadium renaissance," he said.

"The Italians loved the match atmosphere at the Sky Blues match, the hospitality that visitors enjoy pre-match and their special overnight stay. It was a really worthwhile visit to the UK."

Daniel said it was more important than ever in the current economic climate to ensure a football stadium was in operation seven days a week.

"It is important to develop multi revenue streams and that has certainly occurred at the Ricoh," he said.

"In fact, for many of our visitors the Ricoh is not synonymous with football but with attending conferences, exhibitions, the casino or concerts and that is the way forward for stadiums across the globe.

"The fact that the Ricoh was chosen as one of four examples in England for the FIGC UK stadium tour underlines the strong reputation we have built in Europe over the last six years.

"From talking to the chief executives, marketing directors and general managers who visited the city, we gave them plenty of ideas to go home with as the FIGC looks to improve venues and build new stadiums in Italy."