It brakes consistently digital travel in 2020 but does not cause any surprises. In the past year which will go down in history (we hope since it is already behind us) as the worst in tourism, the online market is no exception. According to him Digital Innovation Observatories of the Polytechnic of Milan the digital tourism market recorded a -60% in 2020 in Italy with spending of just over 6 billion euros (decrease of over €9 billion compared to 2019).
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Digital travel predictions 2021
Always for the Digital Innovation Observatories of the Polytechnic of Milan, a partial recovery is expected during 2021 thanks to a tourist experience that aims to be increasingly continuous and not limited to the traditional holiday period, including smart working (39% of Italian accommodation facilities hosted customers working remotely in 2020) and offer content accessible online or local products via eCommerce.
The intermediation offline before Covid-19, it was not in crisis at all. However, for operators (tour operators and travel agencies), dependent on outgoing flows, 2020 was a year of survival, with a drop in turnover between 60% and 95%. A partial recovery is expected for 2021, in the order of a third of the volumes achieved in 2019. A smaller loss is noted for hospitality, transport (land and sea) and attractions, which managed to establish a turnover between 40 and 60% compared to 2019, thanks above all to local tourism.
Digital travel in Italy in 2020
Italian travel e-commerce in 2020 marked -60%, settling at 6,2 billion euros. Bookings made from desktop still prevail (65% of the total), but mobile takes on more importance (35%) and records a lower decrease than the market (-39%). Transport remains the most purchased product category on the internet (60%), but loses share (-1 percentage point compared to 2019) in favor of accommodation (34%, +3 points). Impacting this trend is the prevalence of the domestic market and the preference for the use of owned means of transport. Finally, packages and organized tours follow with 6%. Proximity tourism has increased the use of services known or accessible via telephone, email or chat, and has made the use of intermediaries less necessary. OTAs lost 57%, less those linked exclusively to the non-hotel sector (-33%).
Business Travel in 2020
Spending on business travel fell to 7,6 billion euros, down 63% on the previous year. The national market (3,2 billion euros) achieves the "best" performance (-56%), the international market (4,4 billion) is reduced by two thirds (-67%) also due to the strong reduction in transport prices and the depreciation of the dollar against the euro (-2%).
"The greatest negative change occurs in international industry spending (-68%) where the collapse of MICE trips (linked to meetings, Exhibitions and corporate events), the most expensive, also had an impact on the national segment (-58%). The tertiary sector, less exposed to intercontinental travel, shows a decidedly lower contraction in spending (-60%)" states Andrea Guizzardi, Director of the Business Travel Observatory "63% of Italian companies indicate the second half of 2021 as the moment in which they will return to travel for reasons that are not strictly necessary".
Tourism demand: proximity and sustainability
The constraint on proximity experienced in 2020 has generated a legacy in terms of the rediscovery of destinations neighbors who supported the market of experiences, which has been growing strongly in recent years. Outdoor activities were the driving force above all and, precisely in this sector, various players are working to support more professional management and digitalisation, especially in the booking and purchasing phases. The health emergency is also accelerating the emergence of some drivers of choice that have until now been little considered, such as sustainability in its various facets. Italian accommodation facilities, for example, show that they have understood the relevance of the topic and 83% have implemented at least one action in relation to sustainability.
Neverending tourism: physical and digital contents
The trend to never ending tourism it involves an expansion of the tourist experience which aims to be continuous and not limited to the traditional holiday period. The increasingly widespread possibility of working remotely can bring benefits to tourism players and businesses destinations: 39% of Italian accommodation facilities hosted remote working customers in 2020.
Il never ending tourism it is the possibility of an extension of the tourist experience, both physical and digital, in space (not only in the destination) and in time (not only during, but also before and after the travel experience). A new tourist offer made up of online content (visits to museums and cities, sporting activities set in the destinations but practicable virtually, cooking courses linked to the territories visited, etc.) or local products can therefore be produced and distributed via digital channels both by destinations and by individual operators to anticipate the relationship with the customer in the pre-trip and continue the relationship with the customer in the post-trip and generate further sources of revenue. The growing use of digital content (40% of internet users increased the time dedicated to video entertainment in 2020) and e-commerce of destination products amplify the market spaces for neverending tourism and various realities (startups, but even hospitality players) are working to derive value from this phenomenon. For example, 42% of accommodation facilities have started to offer their customers the purchase of food and wine or craft products, also via eCommerce.
Social distancing
The need for social distancing has also accelerated the already started process of digitalisation of the journey. Today 30% of accommodation facilities adopt mobile payment solutions and offer the possibility of online or mobile check-in (in 2019 they were only 8%); the offer of assistance via chatbot has seen a surge (14%, up from 2%) and virtual tours of rooms (13%).
Who will manage to emerge in tourism
Eleonora Lorenzini, Director of the Digital Innovation in Tourism Observatory, states that “gThe supply players who manage to overcome this crisis find themselves faced with the possibility of accelerating towards changes already in the pipeline on issues such as the digitalisation of the journey, sustainability and neverending tourism. A renewed capacity for collaboration between operators in the sector could be fertile ground for accepting the challenge or, on the contrary, a refuge for remaining anchored to old logic. It is up to each individual to decide whether to choose the path of recrimination or the challenge of innovation."
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