The Roman Association was, after the Lombarda, the first to organize itself in Italy. There wasn't a venue, the promoters met at the Cav's house. Francesco Reina, in via Varese, 5. It is here that the Romana had her birth certificate on February 16, 1952, when the first provisional coordination and propaganda committee was set up  which saw Arturo Loeb - President, Francesco Reina - Vice-President and Arturo Gambogi - Secretary. The first meetings between members took place at the home of Reina (to whose memory the headquarters of the Romana will be dedicated) or of some other member, or at the café or in some hotel room kindly granted, and the venues for official appointments in the life of those early years will be the restaurants: Alfredo alla Scrofa, Mare Nostrum, La Rupe Tarpea, La Casina delle Rose. Also part of that group of "pioneers" and promoters were: Lorenzo Colasanti, Erich Costantino, Italo Spingardi, Albino Zambon, Fulvio Salvati, Dino Tiberi, Franco Crippa, Pietro Seri, Mario Lalli and others. A few years later, when the Association managed to have its first headquarters, it was a basement studio flat in via Quattro Fontane kindly offered by the owner of the Italia hotel, where Mario Lalli worked.

In Italy since 1949 there was already an Italian section of the Goalkeepers connected to the French of Ferdinand Gillet,  e when the National President Franzetti arrived in Rome on March 29, 1952 to preside over the establishment of the Roman section of the Keys of Oro and its Steering Committee, found himself in front of a large group of associates; the professional association of the capital was born on solid foundations and would count more and more in the life of FIPA In fact in the same year the 1st Congress of the Italian "Golden Keys" was held in Pisa and on that occasion FIPA (Federation Italiana Portieri d'Albergo “Le Chiavi d' Oro”) and the Romana represented by Loeb, Reina, Gambogi and Spingardi, was one of the six founding regional associations. Briefly, the objective is that of cooperation between each individual goalkeeper in order to increasingly strengthen working relationships, improve performance and render customer service at the highest levels. In the same year, Ferdinand Gillet founded the European Union of Porters of Large Hotels (UEPGH).

In the meantime in Rome the presidencies follow one another from Arturo Loeb to Alberto Pinto, and to Lorenzo Colasanti who will remain in office until 1959, and always in the 50s and up to the early 60s the Romana rises to the national top and the activities of the FIPA will move in Rome. In fact in the Montecatini Congress of October 1955 Alberto Pinto was elected President, Italo Spingardi Secretary and Erich Costantino Treasurer and after three years at the following National Congress in Venice in 1958 the national summit was reconfirmed for the next three years. At the Romana in 1959 Egidio Canestrelli became President and he will remain there for 12 years and in 1960 he will replace Erich Costantino at the National Treasury while Lorenzo Colasanti will replace the National Presidency for the resigning, for health reasons, Alberto Pinto.

The 60s see Romana at the national Vice-Presidency for three terms until 1971 with Italo Spingardi, founder of the chain of solidarity, which will take his name, when he suddenly dies in November 1967 and the last term in the Vice-Presidency, in his place, he was filled by Erich Costantino. In 1969, on the occasion of the FIPA National Council held in Rome, the conventioneers and family members were received in private audience in the Vatican by Pope Paul VI.

The 70s in Rome are the years of Adolfo Lodigiani and Renzo Chiaranda who will be respectively presidents for 6 and 5 years. These were the years in which from the monthly meetings of the Hotel Morgana, it was finally possible to find a venue worthy of the "Golden Keys", and in March 1976 the first meeting was held in the registered office in Via Monte della Farina 19; but above all these were the years in which Rome returned to being the headquarters of FIPA In fact Lodigiani, head of the Romana since 1971, realized  the need for legal recognition of the role of hotel porter and the need to interact with other trade associations; in 1977 at the National Congress of Turin he was elected National President of FIPA, remaining in office for 18 years and six mandates until 1995! It is impossible to follow in detail the activity of FIPA from Turin onwards, Adolfo Lodigiani and his collaborators  have given this body a decisive "change of gear". During this cycle, Lodigiani with the collaboration of Erich Costantino first and Antonio Puoti then, as Vice-Presidency, Giancarlo Marchi - Secretary, Martano Neri - Treasurer, Vincenzo Arciola - Archivist, Bonifacio Ottavo - Press Officer, also Vincenzo Bami and Carlo Duca. other trade associations the UGOI (General Union of Italian Hospitality, a synonym at the time of today's SOLIDUS) was founded, of which Lodigiani was Vice-President.Lodigiani will eventually become International President (1993-1995), the only Italian to hold this charge together with Spartaco Giarola (1978-1982).

The 27th World Congress of the UIPGH took place in Rome from 25 to 30 November 1979 (in the meantime, to extend the partnership to non-European colleagues as well, since 1970 the Golden Keys had gone from European to international and had changed their denomination) where over a thousand attendees, an extraordinary figure at the time and perhaps never equaled in subsequent appointments. An organizing committee chaired by Lodigiani, headed by Chiaranda and assisted by Canestrelli, and an executive committee  formed by Arciola, Colasanti Lorenzo, Costantino, Di Giulio, Durante Piergiorgio, Ercolini. Neri, Marchi, and Puoti, and then again Albanesi, Fantin, Furlan, Galiena, Leonardi, Malmignati, Olmeda, Jorg and others for a total of over 40 associates, fifteen days before the congress they took their holidays to set up the organization . All in uniform, they were then employed, with different tasks, during the Congress. 25 coaches and 11 cars were available to the congress participants: all movements, for congress work or for trips, benefited from the police escort. The Hilton hotel offered the availability of its largest hall for meetings and gala dinners. Politicians, civil and religious authorities came and the major Italian and foreign newspapers were present. Even today, on any occasion where "Romana" and "Golden Keys" are mentioned, reference is made to the event and still today many names of that brave group are still actively part of our Association!

In August 1981, under the presidency of Chiaranda and with the collaboration of the highly efficient secretary Aldo Leonardi, la Romana was the protagonist of a professional updating seminar carried out in the United States where the American press wrote articles on the "Keys to Roman 'gold'. Our representatives were received by the Italian Ambassador in Washington, by the mayors of Philadelphia  e Los Angeles and by the most important tour operators including the vice president of the Hilton Las Vegas.

From 1982 and for 8 years the Romana was chaired by Alberto Olmeda. During his mandate some very important events took place which brought prestige to the Association: Olmeda himself and a group of members including Alviani, Aniballi Dino, Bertelà, Canestrelli, Carbognani, Colasanti, Durante Giovanni, Fantin, Fort, Lodigiani, Masci, Ottavo, Puoti, Turella and Zamberlan, gave life to our magazine, in April 1982,   “A Guest in Rome”, whose first president was Tommaso Masci. “A Guest in Rome” is still a source of pride and satisfaction for the Roman Association and in 2012, under the presidency of Zamberlan, it celebrated the 30th anniversary of its foundation. In April 1989, the Roman Association completed the purchase of the current headquarters in Via Domodossola 29, which was also possible thanks to the financial help of "Un Ospite a Roma". In November 1989, President Alberto Olmeda, the FIPA National Congress was organized in Rome, one of the most numerous in terms of membership participation.

The successive presidencies of the Romana in the 1990s were followed by Manrico Monnati, Vincenzo Arciola and Giorgio Galiena with the latter for six years. During the presidency of Galiena, Rome had the pleasure of hosting for the second time, under the patronage of FIPA, in January 1997, the 44th International Congress Le Chiavi d'Oro - UICO, contributing to the successful outcome of the event.   

During the presidency of Bonifacio Ottavo (1998-2001), the Roman Association intensified the collaboration relations with the Professional Hotel Institutes, for teaching in the Third Area, with satisfactory results. But it was not an easy presidency because in December 1999 the FIPA dissolved due to the expiry of the statutory terms and, due to a strong contrast of opinion which arose within the board of directors of the successor UIPA, due to the new statutory rules concerning both the new members and those already in place, rules not shared not only by the majority of the Roman members but also by other regional associations, he took action for the common good to find a solution to the problem shared by all. Unfortunately his attempts failed, and it is for this reason that the new President Carlo Duca (2001-2007), sharing the work of the past presidency, also worked hard to find a just resolution, and failing to do so, called a General Assembly of the Romana Members who, in 2001, decided to leave the UIPA by majority vote

During his mandate, Carlo Duca and the Roman Association experienced a long and exhausting judicial epilogue brought unsuccessfully by the UIPA on the legitimate use of the "Le Chiavi d'Oro" trademark. Despite everything, during Duca's presidency, La Romana celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation in the presence of numerous personalities and authorities, and had the honor of being part of the committee that awarded the "Marco Aurelio" prize; prestigious honor that is awarded to the personalities and institutions that promote Rome in the world. Among other things, the award was given to the President of “Un Ospite a Roma” Luciano Zamberlan.     

 

In the light of the disputes listed above, in January 2002 in Bologna the Romana Association and five other regional associations set up the FAIPA Federation of Hotel Porter Associations "Le Chiavi d'Oro". The first three years saw our associates as protagonists of this new "adventure": Natale Mastrantonio was elected National President, Maurizio Pangrazi Vice President, Enzo Lucidi Treasurer and Paolo D'Angelo Secretary who was replaced shortly after and for professional reasons by Ivan Crisante.

Currently our associates present at the highest national offices are Luciano Zamberlan   (as well as President of "Un Ospite a Roma") as Vice President, Bonifacio Ottavo as Grand Councilor vita and Carlo Perret as External Relations Officer and National Representative within SOLIDUS.

Giustiniano Genovesi becomes the thirteenth president taking over from Carlo Duca and is the first representative of the Romana of the post Fipa era and part of the Faipa and post 2001 generation. His election is the result of the awareness of all active members, to give the Romana an imprint appropriate to the times and which can guarantee it a long associative life in the 2000s; but due to a professional transfer to another region he was forced to leave the leadership of the Romana. It is a brief and interrupted experience in the initial phase, but so significant and constructive that the person he wanted to support him in this project as secretary of that managerial group, Cosimo Carrieri, takes up the baton by completing that three-year period (2007 -2010) and remaining at the helm of the Romana also in the following (2010-2013).

The three-year period (2013-2016) is directed by Michele Gruttadauria who, in addition to giving greater visibility to the Association through participation in FARE TURISMO and the fire TIRRENO CT, organizes language courses and management demos for both members and students of the Hotel Institutes who want to participate.

We have tried to tell 60 years of history in a limited space by quoting and listing the most salient episodes and the most representative characters who have lived the Association in the foreground and according to their roles. But the Romana was also the expression of many who, with their perseverance and daily commitment, contributed to making this story come true. To dutifully represent this category of associates, we remember Antonio Puoti, multi-year Vice President of both the National, both of the Romana and of the Guest, and Giovanni Durante, secretary of the Romana for 18 years from 1983 to 2001. Today this extraordinary story and, at the same time , a heavy legacy, is collected and continues thanks to a motivated group of associates and thanks to the contribution of the older members, who together are committed to maintaining the name and prestige of the Roman Golden Keys high.