In the second summer season marked by the Covid la Sardinia raise your head and record numbers above all expectations. An undoubtedly particular season that of vaccines and the green pass, of the white area by a whisker, of increasing infections and fires, but which has not stopped tourism on the island. And among the accommodation facilities enjoying this positive trend is the luxurious Forte Village Resort, one of the most renowned on the island and visited each year by entrepreneurs, politicians, celebrities, cinema, sports and high finance. The Italy national football team also met there before starting its triumphal journey towards the conquest of the European Championship. And it brought good luck.
located Santa Margherita di Pula, one of the most beautiful coasts of southern Sardinia, a few tens of kilometers from Cagliari, the Forte Village Resort is the exclusive "resort pieds dans l'eau", with a breathtaking beach, crystal clear water, surrounded by a park of about 47 hectares surrounded by tropical plants and flowers typical of the Mediterranean scrub. Built in 1970, it was named the best resort in the world by the World Travel Awards between 1998 and 2014.
A calendar full of events for the summer of 2021 for the Fort: the inauguration of Palazzo Fiuggi, the national team in retreat for the first meeting, Louis Vuitton who has opened the first shop at the Resort, the new Olympic discipline of climbing, many shows in the square and then the fourth edition of Filming Italy Sardinia Festival focused on sustainable development, with guests of the caliber of Harvey Keitel, honorary president, Heather Graham, Rachel Brosnahan, Elena Sofia Ricci (godmother of the event), Claudio Bisio, Remo Girone, Claudia Gerini, Sarah Ferguson, Paola Cortellesi and many others .
Even if the 2019 numbers are far away, the season has reserved some nice surprises, clearly higher than last year. We asked the Doctor Lorenzo Giannuzzi, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Forte Village to draw up an initial assessment of this anomalous summer season for FIRSTonline.
Doctor Giannuzzi, how is the 2021 tourist season going?
“The current season is giving us great satisfaction and, overall, we are registering higher attendances than expected, with much better levels than last year. We believe that vaccinations and the green pass have restored travelers' confidence and greatly favored their freedom of movement".
And in particular at Forte Village?
“Since last year, we have introduced a meticulous protocol to guarantee the safety and tranquility of all guests and employees, recreating a protected bubble, where everyone is tested upon their arrival. The implementation of the protocol has made possible the dream of spending the holidays carefree and in total freedom, becoming a real case study at an international level. We are proud to be able to say that the work carried out since the beginning of the pandemic last year, which we have continued to carry out also in 2021 with the further upgrade of the protocol, has borne fruit and we hope for an equally positive end of the season, thanks to the removal of the quarantine requirement on arrival for British guests”
What was the average bed occupancy in August?
“We are proud to have recorded a very high average in the month of August, which is around 96%”.
Who are this year's tourists? Only Italians or are foreign tourists back?
“At Forte Village, the extraordinary demand encountered nationally and from various European countries, such as Germany, France and Switzerland, compensated for the absence of two historically very important markets for us, such as Eastern Europe and Russia. The Italian market was king”.
Are there also big spenders or has the pandemic reduced average customer spending?
“At Forte Village we have a very high percentage of repeating guests who we are pleased to welcome back year after year. We have a wide segmentation of our hotel offer, which aims to satisfy different market segments. We can say that this season we have not noticed a significant change in the spending power of our guests"
Have you changed your prices?
“We have slightly changed our rates and made our cancellation policy less stringent, which was received extremely positively by guests and operators, given the uncertainty of the period”
The tourism sector has complained about the difficulty in finding staff due to social shock absorbers, was it like this for you too?
“We have a strong percentage of employees who have been working with us for several years, linked to Forte Village by a strong sense of belonging. In fact, it is not uncommon for several generations within the same family to work at our facility with different roles and assignments. The experience at Forte Village also represents an important calling card and we are fortunate to have our own Hotel Business School which allows us to train and give work to very promising and motivated young people. Despite these premises and the very low turnover rate, like all operators, we too have encountered some difficulty in finding particular professional figures".
Sardinia has been avoiding the yellow zone for 3 weeks. Do you think a color change could affect the final part of the summer season?
"We believe that the passage in the yellow zone, despite the high level of safety that our resort is able to offer, could negatively affect the perception of the destination and consequently the final part of the season".
Has having hosted the Italian national football team before the victory at the European Championships represented an important driving force for the summer season?
“We are extremely proud to have hosted our amazing national football team in May. The work already undertaken last year has allowed us to be the first Resort in the world to be able to offer guests a safe holiday to be enjoyed with maximum serenity. This has allowed us to give all the players and their families the opportunity to spend a few days together in absolute tranquillity, relaxation and happiness. We can say with a pinch of pride that we have contributed to their unforgettable victory."
