While Italy has not seen a huge decrease in overall visitors in recent months, the increase in domestic and European visitors versus North American visitors shows a general decline in the number of long-distance international travelers to Italy. Additionally, the number of internationally arriving travelers from Asia has been negatively impacted by growing tensions in the Gulf Region and continued uncertainty about the global economy. Despite a slight overall 1.6% decrease in total visitors to Italy versus last year, the behavioural changes in the travel preferences of international long-distance visitors to Italy tell an even larger story.
Domestic and European visitors are continuing to travel more frequently than ever to Italy, while long-distance and international travellers are being more cautious about choosing their destination, timing, and how far away they would like to travel.
Long-Haul travel is also decreasing in popularity as travellers prefer to book shorter-distance travel after they have left for their destination, as opposed to planning months in advance like they used to.
Today’s traveller values flexibility very highly when making travel plans.
The volume of traveller bookings by an airline reflects the level of change in the types of travellers.
The growth rate of low-cost carriers is continuing to grow at about 2.6%, whereas the number of flights coming through the world’s busiest airports has decreased by approximately 4.9%. This indicates that there is increasing interest in travelling to regional areas and decreasing demand for international travel.
In uncertain times, people are now focused on finding affordable and convenient travel options and taking practical routes.
This trend can also be seen across the map of Italy.
The central and southern regions of Italy are now more popular than before, as the northern cities have seen a decrease in traveller numbers. For example, Rome was the most popular city among foreign visitors, and there was also an increase in visits to Palermo and some growth to Naples.
In contrast, Venice, Milan and Florence had significant declines in the number of foreign visitors.
Overall, the tourist flow is moving southward.
There are several possible reasons why the southern regions are becoming more appealing; warm climate, cultural experiences and lower prices.
By examining the countries where tourists are coming from you can see the overall trend in more detail.
Stable markets close to Italy (Canada, Germany, UK) and domestic travel from within Italy (all have shown stabilizing or slight increases) are the only markets that still show any level of consistency. Meanwhile, long-haul markets have been reducing in all cases (Australia, USA and many other European countries).
The impact of distance, cost and safety perceptions are greater than they have ever been on how people travel.
Travelers want to mitigate risk and are looking for travel experiences that are more predictable.
Tourists may cancel trips that they booked far in advance, but quite often they will re-book on a more last-minute basis prior to their date of travel. This shows an ongoing interest in Italy from travelers — they would just like some additional assurance and flexibility before they actually make reservations.
It is not that people want to stop traveling to Italy altogether. It is more a matter of timing and confidence.
As soon as conditions seem more stable, travelers typically will book again.
So what does all this really tell us?
Italy’s tourism industry is not in danger of collapse; it is adapting to worldwide uncertainty. As much as Italy continues to draw visitors, travel patterns have now become shorter in duration, more rapid in time from booking to travel date, and much less risky.
Travelers are generally choosing to stay closer to home, to book travel when they have the least amount of time before departure, and to choose travel destinations that are perceived to be more desirable because of lower risk or easier access by other means.
In the end, Italy will always remain one of the most popular places in the world to visit.
The only difference now is that travelers are waiting to decide before they board a long-haul flight — and this slight amount of hesitation is gradually changing how tourists flow throughout the entire country.
