Italy’s Tourism Sector Fails to Take Off: Uncertainty Prevails

The usual FullTravel Trade update on flight searches to the country indicates that tourist Italy "is not taking off". Searches show stability (0.3%). This reflects uncertainty and stagnation in recent weeks.

L’Italy for tourism is still stagnant, and the lack of planning for the summer season results in a high level of insecurity among tourists: this is confirmed by flight search data, which shows our country in a situation of stall for many weeks. After the brief recovery following the vaccine announcement, the trend remains stable, with growth over the last thirty days at only 0.3%: despite recent positive news regarding the possibility of tourism during the summer months, demand has not reacted strongly.

Other Mediterranean countries are also slowing down

Other Mediterranean countries are experiencing a slowdown, especially in recent weeks: after a false start fueled by the UK’s opening policies, searches for Spain, Greece, and Turkey have decreased, with growth over the past thirty days at 0.4%, 1.1%, and 0.7%, respectively.

The trust of travelers is very low: the booking window is mostly less than 30 days, and the most searched destinations are major cities. Lombardy and Lazio are the most active regions, with Rome and Milan respectively registering 923,000 and 812,000 searches, collectively accounting for 35% of the total.

Low interest in seaside destinations

Despite being on the cusp of summer, interest in seaside destinations remains low: for Apulian airports, 120,000 searches were made for Bari, 120 for Brindisi, and 1,000 for Foggia. Other airports received fewer than 1,000 searches in the last thirty days. For Calabrian airports, searches for Lamezia Terme totalled 117,000, Reggio Calabria 20,000, and Crotone 4,000. The most searched southern airports are Catania (437,000), Naples (343,000), Palermo (311,000), and Cagliari (211,000).

Sardinia showing growth

Sardinia appears to be the only Italian region experiencing growth: with 475,000 searches, it ranks as the fourth most searched region in Italy, with a 21.9% increase in the last 30 days. Sicily, with 939,000 searches, is the second most popular region, showing no significant changes (-1.5%) but with fluctuating trend patterns.

All other regions have shown a decline in traveler interest: some lightly, such as Trentino-Alto Adige (-0.1%), Sicily (-1.5%), and Puglia (-6.9%), and others more significantly, such as Piedmont (-23.7%), Veneto (-18.8%), and Lazio (-18.8%).

Finally, regarding origins, the foreign market is predominantly European: after Italians, travelers interested in Italy are Spaniards (9.1%), British (8.1%), Germans (5.6%), and French (44.8%). The long-haul market is still underperforming: the United States, despite ranking sixth among nationalities, accounts for only 3.0% of travelers, with 156,000 searched flights.

Among growing markets, the British saw an 11.8% increase in the last week; Germans followed with +11.2%, and Italians with +6.9%. French and Spanish markets are slightly declining.