It will be one Easter lean, for the . If already the numbers on Italians traveling disseminated by Confesercenti in recent days they have marked a decisive decline, in recent days, fears due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels signed by ISIS have put a key sector in further difficulty for our country.
A fear perfectly expressed by Travel Alert released by the US State Department through its website: "The State Department - reads the "Travel Alert" - warns American citizens about the potential risks associated with travel to Europe after the various terrorist attacks, including that of 22 March in Brussels. Terrorist groups continue to plan short-term attacks in Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist spots, restaurants and transportation." The US State Department had not issued such an alarm, active until next June 20, not even after the attacks in Paris.
An abrupt stop in the flow of American tourists would cause enormous damage to Italian tourism. To give an example, US travelers represent around 20% of overnight stays and make up 30% of turnover for superior 4 and 5-star hotels in Venice.
But even before the advice not to travel to Europe issued by the US State Department, Italian and European travel operators had had to deal with the wave of cancellations that followed the events in Brussels, to which will be added, in the medium-long period, the impact of missed bookings.
Thus, Italian tourism receives a blow whose consequences are difficult to predict, for a sector that remains in its usual paradox: it knows no crisis (this year too it should grow by 3,3%), but it clearly does not take full advantage its potential, so much so that, against a growth in the number of tourists (which has exceeded 53 million), the average stay time in our country and the per capita expenditure of travelers are decreasing due to damage to the GDP which , according to Confturismo, it would be around 38 billion euros in the last 15 years.
For the president of Confturism Luca Patanè, Italy must rethink its tourist offer model by giving centrality to a sector that represents a very powerful lever of development and growth, but also of territorial cohesion". A growth that necessarily passes through the relaunch of tourism in the South, which pays, however, for a very strong infrastructural delay.
And the offers launched by various operators, such as for example, risk being of little use for a relaunch Italo, which offers a 40% discount on all routes for tickets purchased before March 29.
Few foreign tourists, therefore, and despite an Easter that promises to be sunny, even the Italians will mostly stay at home. Moreover, as already mentioned by Confesercenti and as confirmed by the numbers of CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, we will look above all at the wallets, limiting all expenses, even those for the sweets symbol of the celebration, which will be purchased "only" by 65% of Italians. Until Sunday, about 30 million chocolate eggs and almost 26 million Easter doves will be purchased, with a total turnover that does not reach half a billion euros.
In any case, those who decide to leave and move among the Italians seem to have preferred internal destinations. According to surveys conducted by Acs Marketing Solutions for Federalberghi, around 9,7 million Italians will move up to Easter Monday for a holiday period, marking a +7,1% compared to Easter 2015.
The favorite destinations for 91% of Italians who will remain in Italy will be the sea (29% of demand compared to 31% in 2015), major and minor art locations (28% compared to 26% in 2015), the mountains (23% against 24% in 2015), lakes (3% against 5% in 2015) and spa and wellness resorts (3% as in 2015). The president of Federalberghi, Bernabò Bocca, looks at the glass half full and sees “another push towards the recovery of the sector. We welcome the positive trend that the market is registering - concludes Bocca - and we ask the Government to support it through the reduction of the tax burden on tourism companies".
