In the international tourism landscape, an increasing number of Italian entrepreneurs are choosing to build their businesses beyond national borders, driven by the pursuit of dynamic markets, development opportunities, and favourable fiscal environments. The journey of Saro Spadaro, an Italian entrepreneur who graduated from Bocconi University and today serves as President of The Maho Group in Sint Maarten, represents an emblematic example of how strategic vision, territorial roots, and innovation can transform an individual project into a structured group of international significance.
For a law firm such as LexGo, which daily assists Italian entrepreneurs in their cross-border endeavours, this type of experience offers invaluable insights: not only in terms of inspiration, but above all for understanding the legal, fiscal, and operational challenges that those who invest abroad are required to face.
Investing in Hospitality and Real Estate Outside Italy: A Complex Journey
Developing resorts, tourist residences, and accommodation facilities in a Caribbean context — such as Sint Maarten — means confronting a regulatory framework profoundly different from the Italian one. Those who undertake this path must manage at least three levels of complexity:
- Corporate structure: selecting the most appropriate legal form for the local jurisdiction, while simultaneously evaluating the fiscal implications in the founder's country of residence;
- International contractual arrangements: from real estate development contracts to agreements with tourism operators, hotel brands, and service providers, every document must be drafted with careful attention to local regulations and international standards;
- Risk management: extraordinary events such as natural disasters — Hurricane Irma in 2017, which severely struck Sint Maarten and which Spadaro faced by remaining on the island to coordinate evacuation and reconstruction efforts — demonstrate how crucial it is to have a solid legal and insurance framework in place to protect assets.
The resilience demonstrated on that occasion is not merely a personal quality: it is the reflection of an organisational and legal structure that had anticipated crisis scenarios. A lesson that every entrepreneur operating in geographically exposed areas should take to heart.
Artificial Intelligence in Hospitality: Opportunities and Legal Implications
One of the areas to which Saro Spadaro has devoted particular attention in recent years is the integration of artificial intelligence into operational processes within the hospitality sector. The vision is clear: AI does not replace human capital, but rather supports it, improving efficiency, service personalisation, and operational sustainability.
Concrete applications already identified in this context include predictive maintenance
