Open air drives Italians’ holiday choices
An ENIT and Human Company Analysis.
Even though the tourism industry had a turbulent 2020, the easing of restrictions during the summer months helped to save a portion of the season. In this scenario, which included new elements such as proximity and almost exclusively domestic tourism, the outdoor sector has shown good resilience despite the declining data, also supported by its inherent characteristics: solution flexibility, expenditure sustainability, contact with nature, and safety.
But what about summer 2021?
According to a survey conducted by Enit – the National Tourism Agency and Human Company (a prominent company specialised in open-air hospitality) in partnership with the Piepoli Institute, the outdoors is confirmed as a stable trend in the summer of 2021. The newest Open Air Tourist Observatory, commissioned to the Piepoli Institute by Enit and Human Company, is measuring the perimeter of the tourism category.
The research, conducted in June with a qualitative-quantitative method on a representative sample of the Italian population, investigated the previous year’s outdoor holidays, changes caused by the pandemic, forecasts of outdoor stays for summer 2021, and the impact of the vaccination campaign on the upcoming summer holidays.
According to poll projections, more than one in every two Italians has planned an average vacation of more than a week for the summer of 2021, with a quarter considering an outdoor structure, village or farmhouse, followed by camping and mountain shelters.
65% of those planning an outdoor vacation will choose a seaside destination, 20% will go the mountains, 16% to cities and places of art. The profile of the outdoor traveler is comparable to last year’s, with a large number of young people (21%) and a small number of people over 64 (3%).The statistics on the timeframe are also very interesting: while August is reaffirmed as the dominating month (with 48% of Italians and 54% of outdoor visitors planning their vacations during this month), September has a significant share, particularly among those who prefer to spend time outside (28%).
A quarter of open-air vacationers have already booked their trip, while nearly half plan to do so between June and July. Over 80% of visitors interested in outdoor facilities will choose a structure in Italy, with Sicily leading the way (16%), followed by Sardinia (14%), and Liguria (12%).
For tourists attracted to outdoor facilities, the assurance of compliance with preventive hygiene norms (26%) is the second consideration of choice after convenience (29%), demonstrating a high level of sensitivity to the pandemic issue. In fact, the vaccination campaign’s progress has a significant impact on the tendency to book: it motivates seven out of ten Italians to plan a trip.