Good but not great. Perhaps better than the forecast of the last few days, but below the forecast at the start of the season. This is the unequivocal primary analysis of the national tourism planet insiders on the eve of the mid august holiday. A favorite month for Italian holiday registries is dropping especially in seaside resorts, while spas and lake regions are being saved. And in the case of record numbers, the advantage is over all arrivals from abroad. Citizens, if they do not really give up the mid-August break, they should shorten the duration of the holiday and try to spend less.
Assoturismo, 17 million admissions between the eleventh and the sixteenth
The survey conducted by the Center for the Study of Tourism in Florence in Assoturismo speaks of the presence of 17 million presences (i.e. the result of the number of tourists arrived multiplied by the nights spent) in official hotels, boarding houses and B&Bs, 60 per cent of Italians, in the time period between today and Aug 16th. The numbers are increasing compared to the last few weeks, but certainly there will be no sold-outs: in the main period of the Italian holidays there are several tourist resorts that have recorded an increase in bookings, but at levels far from the “traditional full houses” of mid-August.
The average occupancy rate for the show is 90%, one point lower than in 2022. Even if due to a calendar effect, the August 2023 bridge will run one day longer. For the next 5-night bridge, supply saturation will fluctuate between 94% lake resorts and 80% spa resorts, which is however only the one to post a positive plus 1% balance compared to 2022. The lakes contain the 1 percent loss, and cities Art decreased by 2 percent (82 versus 84 percent), rural, hilly and mountainous areas by 3 percent, and the sea by up to 4 percent. And so – reads the press release – after two months d
Confcommercio, “turn off” 14 million Italians
The Confcommercio analysis, carried out in collaboration with SWG, indicates that the Italians who will go on vacation in the week of August will total 14 million and will spend about 7 billion. At sea, in Italy, with friends or relatives, in hotels or second homes, in search of fun and relaxation: these are the holidays that vacationers plan, 8 out of 10 of them will stay in Italy, in 36% of cases close to home or with it within the residence area.
Approximately 50% of the citizens would choose the sea, and just over 20% would choose the mountains. All this is confirmed by the most popular regions of Belbaisi, Liguria, Trentino-Alto Adige, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Emilia-Romagna in the first places followed by Sardinia and Sicily. Artistic towns and small villages together account for 10% of preferences and you have to add destinations in the countryside, lakes and places surrounded by nature to add another 17%.
Apart from the 34% of people interviewed who would spend their anniversary in their own or rented second home – or with friends and relatives – for those who stayed, the most popular accommodation solution was a hotel – for 4 out of 10 – followed by boarding and lodging – With over 22% – while camp sites, resorts and villages total another 15%.
Not quite an automatic choice is the choice of Italians traveling in this period. Almost 4 out of 10 cite, among the main reasons, the need to adapt their holidays or those of their traveling companions. Given the choice, 2 out of 10 would choose to spend their main summer vacation in mid-July. There are two main reasons behind this preference: looking for lower prices and trying to avoid crowds. However, there are 16% of ‘amateurs’ who explicitly choose mid-August because it is the period when destinations are most lively, enlivened by cultural events, shows, festivals, etc.
Cna. The record of foreigners and Italians is declining
Cna Turismo e Commercio’s research examines the entire second ten days of the month. Between August 11th and 20th, it is estimated that the hotel and non-hotel presence will reach 25 million against sales of over 10 billion. This is a record result, however, the merits of which must be attributed above all to foreigners, who are able to compensate for the inconvenience of Italians, who are grappling with the cost of living, and who are trying in any way not to give up at least a mid-August break.
Foreigners must break the wall of 15 million stays, with an increase of 15 percent compared to 2019 and an average stay of 4 nights each. On the contrary, domestic tourists due to the cost of living will reduce their average rest: in general, the Italian presence will reach 10 million, down from both last year and 2019. Also the trend this year is towards the use of second-family homes, sometimes closed for years.
In terms of the type of destination, the sea, mountains, but also artistic villages and towns, lakes, and hills are the main attractions for Italians. Cities of art, villages and the sea will be at the height of preferences of foreign tourists, well placed, with the ancestral countries of origin of vacationers from abroad with Italian roots. The USA, South America, Japan, Germany, France, Spain and the UK are the countries from which the largest number of foreign tourists will arrive in Italy.
Coldiretti: 20 million Italians on vacation in August
Instead, Coldretti Exe analyzed the entire month. There will be more than 20 million Italians who will take a vacation in August, an increase of 25 percent compared to July, and with a rush to the beaches, the countryside and the mountains able to fill the streets and highways, despite the heat and the high prices. .
At the height of summer, the sea takes the lion’s share with August, which, as Coldiretti explains, brings up price lists for the most expensive accommodation, food and even umbrellas and sunbeds and which this year has been affected by a jump in inflation with price increases relating to all aspects of the holiday, starting with the cruise. For the majority of Italians on holiday (50%) the duration of the holiday is less than a week while for nearly 25% it is between 1-2 weeks, but there is a very lucky 4% who will stay away for even longer than a month.
This year there is a clear preference for national destinations but, as Coldiretti explains, there are also 29% of Italians, among those who travel, who have decided to spend a holiday abroad.
Particularly appreciated are the alternative options to get to know the so-called Little Italy from the gardens to the countryside, from the mountains to the small villages that up to 72% of Italians on holiday declare that they are visiting, perhaps even only with them. One day trip.
In the event of a market downturn, Italian accommodation firms’ expectations to regain a few percentage points of occupancy in the central week of August appear to be ignored.
Boca (Federalberghi): “It’s only good when there are American tourists”
The synthesis comes from Federalberghi President Bernabò Bocca. “The cost of living and the carovacanzi bite,” he explains, “but the money in the Italians’ pockets has remained the same, so it’s more difficult. We try to shorten the vacation period by concentrating it on August 15th. So it was the first ten days of this month. Less than last year but in less than double digits. There is no full house in Sardinia, in Versilia we have 70% occupancy (last year we were 87%). In short, we can say a generalized decrease of 15% but in some places unfortunately much more, Even less than 30%.
After all, a destination like the Italian Sea works above all with Italian and European tourists: “It’s different for destinations that work with Americans – Boca grounds – like the Amalfi Coast and Capri. But they don’t count. We’re talking about 4 destinations in Italy”.
“Then without a doubt – he continues – we will have a great exodus on the 15th of August, but it will be very concentrated. Artistic cities play another championship, but comparisons cannot be made. It is not that a vision of Rome is complete, one that tourism can be said to flourish in Rome And Florence and Venice are working in one market at the moment, that is, they only have the Americans. The Americans are back to travel in a big way, the dollar is strong, and they are full of liquidity because with Covid they filled it with stocks and printed money everywhere and this is a very booming market. But let’s make it clear that 80% of Americans coming to us for the first time and therefore obviously concentrating in Rome, Florence, Venice…”
Enit: More Americans arrive at airports than Italians
Additional confirmation comes from Enit’s periodic analysis of airport traffic in Italy. The number of passengers arriving for the month of August will be 702,500 overall, an increase of 1.1 compared to 694,800 in August 2022. But above all it will be the foreign tourists who will pass through the airports: only 19.9 percent will be Italians, a share almost equivalent to ( 17.3% ) by the Americans. Hispanics (4.9 percent), French (4.2 percent), and Canadians (3.6 percent) follow at a distance.
In 35.7 percent of cases they are couples on vacation. 87.8 percent of travel is economy class, also due to higher airfares in the summer of 2023. The largest arrivals are from 5 origin airports for the month of August: New York JFK, Toronto Lester Pearson, Madrid Barajas, Seoul Incheon, and Buenos Aires Minister Pistarini (source: ENIT Research Office on data from Data Resume).
A more widespread distribution of international tourists visiting Italy throughout the year is shown by the ENIT study, conducted in June in 10 foreign markets with 5,000 interviewees. Holidays in Italy are planned well in advance of the trip, in particular between 2 and 6 months before departure, the period indicated by 29.3% of the interviewees. 11.1% only booked the week before departure. Thus, even this summer, more and more foreigners are willing to stay in Italian places. Among the most drawn out are those from Americans, Poles and Spaniards, Ivana Jelenic, President and CEO of Enit.
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