The Belpaese continues to be one of the world's favorite tourist destinations. In this article, we will analyze the situation of the past year, trying to understand what the trends are for 2023.
Article Key Points
Tourism in Italy and digitalization of services
One of the characteristics of tourism in recent years is the growing impact of digitalization. There are now many apps dedicated to those who want to travel (for pleasure or work), and they guarantee a variety of useful and quality services. It is possible to book flights, train tickets and plan complex itineraries, taking advantage of the best offers and without the need for intermediaries. Even with regard to accommodation facilities, even the smallest players manage to impose their presence thanks to the possibility of being present on online booking sites. After all, technology has become indispensable, even on vacation.
Nowadays almost all hotels, holiday homes and B&Bs are equipped with an internet connection: a fundamental requirement for the majority of visitors. It is not a question of work needs, but also of leisure. For example, while on holiday you may want to watch a film with a streaming service, play a game of poker taking advantage of the offers of the casino bonus or connect to a gaming platform to challenge other users online. In this sense, the expectations of the users of accommodation facilities must never be disappointed.
Furthermore, more and more museums and cultural sites have apps that exploit the potential of virtual reality to accompany visits, providing interesting information just a click away. Among the most engaging experiences are visits with AR viewers, as has been the case for several years now at the Colosseum and Circus Maximus in Rome. With augmented reality, it is possible to take a totally immersive visit - a real leap into the past - to admire monuments and sites in their ancient splendor.
2022: Post-pandemic tourism
Even though we are still far from the numbers of the pre-pandemic situation, the tourists who chose Italy as their holiday destination throughout 2022 were around 400 million, both Italians and foreigners. In particular, tourism from the United States seems to be recovering strongly. This gives us hope for next year: to close the gap with the years before Covid, in fact, we still need to recover a few percentage points, between 5 and 15%, depending on the quarter of the year taken into consideration. Among the trends that are destined to establish themselves also for 2023, there are short holidays, with stays of up to 3 nights: in this case the increase (between 2021 and 2022) was almost 50%. Sustainable tourism and tourism linked to gastronomy are also growing.
As for the individual regions, the high tourist reputation index of Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Trentino Alto Adige is stable, according to the report that the Demoskopika agency draws up every year to monitor the performance of the sector. On the podium we also find the Marche and, for its exceptional results compared to previous years, Umbria. A curiosity: always according to this study, the most "social" region seems to be Trentino, as it has the highest number of photos and likes shared on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. And if Tuscany continues to be the most searched holiday destination on Google, Umbria, with its immaculate nature and cultural richness, is quickly climbing the ranking of regions preferred by both Italian and foreign tourists.
Among the new trends, we find “holiday working”, that is, stays in holiday resorts for those who, working entirely remotely, can afford to reside in places far from home. The demand for zero-impact or in any case eco-sustainable tourist experiences is also growing: the structures are quickly adapting to their customers' attention to the environment.
Article published on 5 June 2023 - 10:45
