“We are “the wheels of tourism” and we want to continue to be so with ever greater quality and efficiency”. This is what Riccardo Verona, president of An.Bti, the National Association of Italian Tourist Buses affiliated with Confcommercio, says, raising the alarm about the lack of personnel in his sector too. In fact, there are 6.700 tourist bus drivers missing in Italy, equal to 40% of the need in Europe (about 17 thousand in total).
In this regard, it is necessary to encourage the entry of young people and foreigners, lowering the entry thresholds, both in terms of costs and age, and expanding training channels. In tourism, transport-related activities represent 1% of companies, but 10% of employees, 18% of turnover and 21% of the added value generated by the sector.
Furthermore, in Italy the share of tourist transport by bus is higher than the European average (8% against 6%). “The tourist bus sector – says Riccardo Verona, president of An.Bti – has raised its head after years of extreme difficulty, but the restart is still accompanied by too many uncertainties.
Today more than ever, the support of the institutions is necessary because we need help first of all for the sustainable renewal of vehicles, which cannot be supported only by our companies. Secondly, it is essential to find solutions to overcome the shortage of traveling personnel and at the same time proceed with the structural recognition, like other sectors, of the concessions on fuel excise duties".
The uncertainty factor, linked to inflation, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the cost of fuel (price variation of up to 50% between 2022 and 2023), in fact, undermines the foundations of organized tourism, that is, long-term planning: costs and rates can vary from month to month.
According to the survey by An.Bti, the National Association of Italian Tourist Buses adhering to Confcommercio, carried out in collaboration with Isfort, “The wheels of tourism: the tourist bus sector in Italy” the sector, hit hard by the pandemic with a drop in turnover of over 50% in the period 2020-21.
It is undergoing a profound transformation and is now substantially leaner (number of companies almost halved and 10% reduction in the vehicle fleet), but also more solid (growth in the average size of companies and in the average number of vehicles) and more efficient and sustainable (over half of the vehicle fleet is latest generation and with reduced harmful emissions).
There are 42 bus rental companies with driver (-2017% compared to 3.404) in Italy. More than a third are in the North (17,9% in the North East and 19,8% in the North West), while the greatest decline (over 10% compared to 2017) was recorded in the South (excluding the Islands).
Lazio is the region with the highest number of companies in the sector (397), followed by Lombardy (389), Campania (372) and Sicily (362), while at the provincial level Rome (270) leads the ranking, followed closely by Naples (159) and Milan (116). Furthermore, between 2017 and 2022 the average number of vehicles per company grew by 52% (from 4 to 6) and the average number of employees almost doubled (from 6 to 11).
The territorial distribution of rental buses generally follows that of companies. In relative terms, the fleet is larger in the Center-North (56,9%) even if the South (South and Islands) is not far behind.
Article published on May 9, 2023 - 20:55 pm
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