The survey conducted by Tecnè on behalf of Federalberghi has outlined a vivid picture of Italian tourist movements during the Christmas holidays of 2024. The data collected highlights intense travel activity, with a total number of 18,3 million Italians who have chosen to travel for the holidays.
Destinations and Preferences
The panorama of destinations chosen by Italians has proved to be diversified, with a clear prevalence for the national territory. A good 16,9 million travellers have opted for Italian destinations, while 1,4 million have preferred foreign destinations.
National destinations: The mountains are confirmed as the favourite destination, followed by seaside resorts and art centres. Within the national territory, regions such as Sicily, Lombardy and Campania were particularly appreciated.
Stays: The average length of stay was 6,1 nights for the Christmas holidays, with a tendency to extend the stay for those who opted for a “long holiday” that included at least 11 days of festivities.
Traveler Profile
Data analysis has allowed us to outline a profile of the Italian Christmas traveler:
Accommodation: The most common solution was staying with relatives or friends (59,8%), followed by owning a home (16,3%).
Spending: The average per capita spending was 1.398 euros for the entire holiday, with travel and meals accounting for 28,2% and 25,5% of the budget respectively. Accommodation accounted for 9,8% of the total spending, while shopping accounted for 18,1%.
Economic Impact
The economic impact of Christmas tourism has been significant, with an overall turnover estimated at 14,7 billion euros. The Christmas holiday alone generated a turnover of 4,1 billion euros, while the long holiday contributed 7,4 billion euros.
Influencing Factors
Several factors influenced travellers' choices:
Cost of Living: The rising cost of living has led many Italians to reduce their overall vacation spending.
Trip Length: 19% of travelers decided to shorten the length of their trip, while 10% reduced the overall length of their vacation.
Comment by Federalberghi
Federalberghi President Bernabò Bocca expressed satisfaction with the positive data that emerged from the survey, underlining the growing attraction of Italian tourism. However, he also highlighted the need to address the challenges posed by the growing competitiveness of the international tourism market and to support businesses in the sector.
The article is very interesting and shows how many Italians travel during Christmas. But I think it would be useful to have more information on how different regions influence travel choices, even if the data is already very clear.