Tourism: Italy is the second most searched country in the world

Italy’s tourism is unstoppable: traveler searches have been increasing for fourteen weeks. In the last thirty days, the total number of searches increased by 25% compared to the same period before.

There is a desire for Italy, and travelers from around the world are searching for it more and more. This is what emerges from data coming from the first international flight metasearch, representing users’ travel intentions worldwide.

Italy, currently the second most searched country in the world, has reversed its negative trend since the beginning of April thanks to the improvement in the health situation and the easing of restrictions: since then, it hasn’t stopped, and every day an increasing number of travelers are searching for flights to reach the Bel Paese.

In the last thirty days, the total number of searches has increased by 25% compared to the same period before, growing an average of 2.1% per day: it’s a well-established trend that doesn’t seem to have been affected by the fear of the new variant but has, on the contrary, strengthened starting in June.

Rome Most Requested

The highest interest is for the most important Italian cities: Rome, with 2.8 million searches, is the most searched and represents 15.4% of the total; in second place is Milan (2.5 million) followed by Naples (1.4 million). Interest then shifts to southern destinations: Catania (1.4 million); Palermo (1.3 million), Bari (1.1 million), Olbia (972 thousand), and Cagliari (793 thousand).

Domestic Market Still the Most Important

The largest market is the domestic one, with more than 7 million searches, representing 38.2% of the total. Italians mainly search for flights departing in July, especially on weekends. The periods with the highest demand are the first weeks of July and the first week of August. Currently, there are no spikes for the August 15 holiday weekend. For 71.9%, searches are made by solo travelers, while 21.3% are couples. Families account for only 6.2%, and even less for groups, with the remaining 0.6%.

The Spaniards Most Interested in Italy

Regarding foreign travelers, Spaniards are the most interested in Italy, with 1.7 million searches (9.2% of the total), but their trend is negative: flights searched in the last ten days are 7.0% lower than the previous ten days. Spaniards are searching for flights to Italy only for July: after the weekend of July 23-25, searches decrease significantly, tapering off in September.

The Germans, second among the most active foreign markets, have the same type of searches, and most searches have a short booking window. However, the trend is positive, and in the last ten days, travel intentions increased by 8.6% compared to the same period before. Other nationalities interested in reaching Italy almost exclusively follow European countries: France (5.8%), the United Kingdom (4.4%), the Netherlands (3.6%), Poland (3.6%), and Greece (3.4%).

Long-Haul Still Not Taking Off

Long-haul markets are still of limited importance: United States (1.6%), Brazil (1.6%), Russia (0.7%), and China (0.1%).