(Finance) – New Year’s Eve accelerates tourism once again. Between the New Year’s weekend and the Epiphany, 10.2 million visitors are expected in official accommodation facilities, with one shot of +9.2% over the same period last year, also thanks to the return of foreign tourism. To value it for Assoturismo Confesercenti and the Tourist Studies Center of Florence, based on a survey conducted on a sample of 1,334 hospitality entrepreneurs.
Good news for the sector. “New Year’s week – he emphasizes Assotourism – is undoubtedly the most important for tourism in the winter season, and it is hoped to recover what was lost in a difficult autumn, conditioned by the increase in energy costs and the physiological slowdown of tourist flows. Which, on the other hand, show great vitality in these last moments of the year”. Overall, for the holiday season Assoturismo estimates 13.8 million presences in official structures, +8.1% compared to 2021, of which the 74% concentrated precisely in the New Year period.
A growth driven byincrease in foreign visitors (+19.5%). Above all, the presence of Germans and French is increasing, but Swiss, British, Dutch and Belgians are also arriving in force. Among the non-European markets, on the other hand, the most significant increases reported are for the US market, with a great return of US tourists especially in the cities of art. Some signs of recovery are also coming from tourists from Canada, Brazil and China, even if for now it is a timid recovery.
Among the destinations, the cities and art centers which should register an increase of +11%, while for the mountain resort the estimated increase is +8.4%. Good expectations for the hill/countryside and lake locations, with an increase of +7.2% and +6.2% respectively. More contained, but still significant increases, for spa resorts (+5.3%), marine (+5%) and the locations of Other Interest (+3.1%). In general, the trend would be slightly better for women non-hotel facilities (+9.1%) and for the hotel (+7.7%).
The investigation reveals a quite uniform trend between the different areas of the country: the best predictions are from companies in the Center (+9.1%) and del northwest (+8.2%), but a positive trend is also expected in North East (+7.9%) and in regions of the South and Islands (+6.7%). On the other hand, a certain differentiation can be seen with regard to the presence of foreigners: in the North-East and North-West areas, the share of foreign demand was reported at 42% and 40% respectively. In the regions of the Center it should settle at 33%, while in the South and Islands it would drop to 19%.