Tourists Choose Italy: Rising Search Trend

Tourists' searches for Italy have continued to increase over the past month. Puglia, Sardinia, and Sicily are doing well.

During the last few weeks, the growth trend has stabilized, confirming the strong interest of tourists in Italy and the recovery of the travel sector: this is what emerges from the Lybr Destination Travel Report, which periodically analyzes data on flight searches from the world’s leading flight metasearch.

Positive growth rate for weeks

During the period from May 15 to June 13, searches for Italy continued to increase, consolidating the shift that began in April: in the early months of 2021, data showed a stagnation, a market freeze that lasted for at least four months. Only with Easter holidays and relaxation of restrictions did travelers start searching for flights to reach the Bel Paese, and today we can say that the positive trend has stabilized.

The growth rate has been positive for ten consecutive weeks, and currently Italy receives an average of 507,000 searches per day. Over the last thirty days, approximately 15.2 million searches have been conducted at an average daily growth rate of 2.3%, and the country remains the third most searched destination worldwide, after Spain (22.7 million) and the United States (18.8 million).

Users are 58.2% foreigners with 8.8 million searches, while the domestic market accounts for the remaining 41.8% (6.3 million searches). Among foreign markets, the most active are Germany and Spain, both with 1.3 million searches, and over the past thirty days, they grew at a higher-than-average daily rate, respectively 3.6% and 3.8%. Followed by France (871,000 searches), the UK (667,000), and Greece (455,000).
Each nationality has its preferences regarding arrival dates, influenced not only by cultural factors but also by different travel regulations: Italy recently lifted quarantine requirements for arrivals from abroad (with some exceptions), but for certain origin markets, such as the UK and the USA, traveling to Italy for non-essential reasons is still strongly discouraged.

What tourists are searching for

For example, Germans search for flights with an average booking window of 39 days and show strong interest in June: considering the four summer months, 41% of searches are for arrivals in June, 34% for July, 17% for August, and 7% for September. Spaniards have an average booking window of 44 days and no particular preferences for months of arrival; however, September remains a less popular month (7%).

Italian tourists tend to be more cautious: data clearly show a last-minute trend, with strong interest in the weekends of June, which drops significantly from July onwards. There is some increase only in the first weeks of August, but for the rest of the month, travel interest is very low, as is interest in September.

Sicily, Sardinia, and Apulia the most requested

The destinations receiving the most searches from Italians are mainly islands: Catania ranks first with 737,000 searches, followed by Palermo (661,000), Olbia (481,000), and Cagliari (392,000). Strong demand is also seen for Apulia: 364,000 searches for Bari and 299,000 for Brindisi.

Foreigners prefer large cities

Foreigners prefer major Italian cities, mainly searching for Rome (1.9 million searches), Milan (1.5 million), Naples (686,000), Venice (676,000), and Bologna (357,000), but they are also very interested in Palermo (497,000), Catania (486,000), Bari (461,000), and Cagliari (327,000).