Summer 2022: Foreigners Are Back, Americans In The Lead
Italy: Tourist spending by foreigners in Italy in the July-September quarter will be around 17 billion euros, thus returning to the values ​​recorded before the outbreak of the pandemic. This is the main data that emerges from a study by Confcommercio, in collaboration with TRA Consulting, on the forecasts of arrivals of foreign tourists in Italy for the summer season of 2022.
According to the report published, “The Americans will drive the recovery: 2.2 million Americans are expected to arrive, which will guarantee a total expenditure of over 2.1 billion euros, 20% higher than in 2019. Many Canadians, Australians and South Africans, while the Asian market is slowly recovering. Practically cancelled due to the war, however, the Russian one. “
“Especially the Spaniards will return (about a million is expected, at the levels of three years ago) and a good performance is also expected for the British, while German tourists deserve a separate discussion, the first incoming market for Italy. If more is expected than in 2019 in the Italian destinations more easily reachable by own means and by road, a limited arrival in the South and Islands is instead foreseeable due to the difficulties affecting air connections (in July there was a decrease 27% of German arrivals by plane compared to 2019). Not a small damage, considering that those with the highest average purchasing power usually arrive in the South. In general, however, it should be noted that last month the offer of flights to Italy was 8.1% lower than in 2019.”
Finally, the research highlights a change in the behaviour of travellers due to the uncertainties generated by the pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: airline tickets are being booked increasingly close to departure. In fact, the time between the purchase and the actual trip has passed, on average, from 79 to 61 days.
Sangalli: “good for our economy, but more attention to the sector from the next government”
“The return of foreign tourism after three years helps to consolidate our economic recovery. The outlook, however, is uncertain due to the decrease in consumption, the unrest in air transport and the unknown pandemic. Therefore, support for the tourism sector must be among the priorities of the next executive in terms of combating expensive energy and reducing the tax burden ”: thus the president of Confcommercio, Carlo Sangalli.
