Digital tourism purchases in Italy are increasing, reaching 15.5 billion euros, with 23% from mobile.
The value of the digital component of Tourism in Italy is increasing, +9% (in line with 2018). 77% of reservations are still made from Desktop or Tablet (+4%), but Mobile continues to gain ground (it was at 19% a year ago).
The Transport sector still accounts for 62% of the market, followed by Accommodation facilities which rise to 30%, and Travel packages and tours with 8%.
The sharing economy in accommodation now represents one-third of the digital turnover. Bookings still largely come directly to the structures (49%), market share of OTA (Online Travel Agency) and various aggregator sites remains stable at 35%.
77% of accommodation structures collect various data, but few still have a CRM system to manage it effectively. The non-digital market is also growing. The breakthrough of Artificial Intelligence does not replace the need for human relationships: one in four digital tourists (23%) went to a travel agency to make a reservation.
The development of the digital market of Tourism in Italy continues: in 2019, the forecasted growth is confirmed at 9% (as in 2018) for a total value of 15.5 billion euros in purchases by Italian travelers.
Prevalent are still reservations made via Desktop (+4%, 77% of the total), but today almost one in four transactions (23%) are from Mobile (smartphones only), showing a 32% growth compared to 2018. Transport remains the main category (62%) in digital travel, followed by accommodation (30%) and packages and tours (8%).
Regarding tools and sales channels, the direct channel still accounts for 68% of reservations, mainly due to transportation; the transaction volume from indirect channels continues to grow significantly (+10%) of the total digital market, but the market share of OTAs (Online Travel Agency) and aggregator sites remains stable at 32%.
These are some of the findings presented at TTG Travel Experience, during the annual event where the Digital Innovation Observatory in Tourism of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano presents the first results of the sixth edition of the research aimed at outlining the value of the digital industry of travel and the trends in innovative tourism service offerings.
“The market also grows thanks to ‘traditional’ players: in particular, the sample of Tour Operators interviewed by the Observatory, which covers 70% of the market, recorded an average growth of 7%,” states Filippo Renga, Director of the Digital Innovation Observatory in Tourism of Politecnico di Milano. “However, the sector demands increasing personalization, and the offer seeks to keep pace and innovate through support from both artificial intelligence and human support. On one hand, solutions like chatbots, virtual assistants, or systems that automatically offer personalized proposals based on collected information come into play. On the other hand, data confirms that the role of human experience remains crucial: 23% of digital tourists book their trips through agencies.”
Summary
The digital tourist and the relationship with the Agency
In 2019, one in four (23%) tourists visited a travel agency to make a reservation. The main motivations include the confidence of obtaining accurate information (32%), managing the entire travel package—including insurance (29%), the experience of the agent or consultant (26%), and assistance during planning (25%).
Digital travel: accommodation structures strengthen their direct channel
Considering 100 as the total number of bookings made in 2019, on average 49 are made directly by the final customer (21 via email, 18 by phone or at the counter, 10 through website, app, or social networks).
The percentage of direct bookings rises to 52% in the hotel sector, while digital intermediation exceeds the average (38%) when it comes to non-traditional structures like B&Bs, farms, apartments, camping sites. Leading this trend is the so-called sharing economy (and more generally all peer-to-peer platforms that facilitate the rental and sharing of accommodation among private individuals), which now accounts for one-third of the digital accommodation market.
“We wanted to delve deeper into how digital supports industry players. We know that, for example, 77% of structures collect various types of data, but few have effective CRM systems to manage this data,” says Eleonora Lorenzini, Director of the Digital Innovation Observatory in Tourism. “There is also a strong imbalance concerning the moment when the customer is contacted: 56% of structures use their own information to contact guests before arrival, but few use it for additional services (32%) before or during the stay or for post-trip feedback (21%).” Innovations like virtual keys or mobile check-in are spreading to improve processes and meet user needs, but opportunities are still to be seized.”
Digital travel: trends in the Transport world
Transport remains the most significant component of Travel eCommerce and a testing ground for major digital innovations. Besides enabling innovative services like sharing and pooling, which are revolutionizing both demand and supply sides, digital has also impacted the way services are delivered. One ongoing trend is multimodality, i.e., using multiple transportation modes for a single trip (19% of leisure travelers and 40% of digital business travelers in Italy used more than one mode in their last trip). Hence, there is an increasing presence of services aggregating various solutions. The most common (22 in Italy) are aggregators allowing comparisons among different travel options, but only five of these are fully multimodal (i.e., allowing planning trips using entirely different transportation means).
Digital travel: Anna Bruno’s book
The topic of Digital travel was addressed by Anna Bruno, director of FullTravel, in her new book. “Digital Travel” is a practical guide for tourism sector operators. The first book with this title in Italy aims to guide industry professionals step by step through the complex but fascinating world of digital.
Pubblicato in Digital Travel
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