(Finance) – Six billion euros: this is how much the turnover of the Immaculate Conception Bridge will amount to between Thursday 7th and Sunday 10th December. This is predicted by a survey conducted by CNA Turismo e Commercio among its members throughout Italy.
Italian tourists are destined to replicate the performance of 2019, foreigners to improve it, thus definitively archiving (hopefully) the sad years of Covid. Overall, holidaymakers who will stay overnight in hotel and non-hotel facilities will reach four million, of which 2.4 million will be Italians and 1.6 million will be foreigners. Foreigners will register an average per capita of three overnight stays (extending the holiday in some cases until Monday) compared to two for our compatriots. To these figures must be added the ten million holidaymakers, almost entirely Italian, who will limit their trips outside the home to just one day.
Foreigners will arrive approximately half from the Eurozone and the other half from extra-continental countries, the latter also attracted by the weakness of the euro. As far as Europe is concerned, Italy’s admirers will be mainly French, German, Spanish and British. North Americans, Asians and Brazilians, the majority of whom are non-European enthusiasts in our country.
To act as a tow yet another result worth remembering from Italian tourism will be the snow-covered slopes; the towns, villages and urban centers decorated with increasingly sophisticated lights; the cities of art; the spa resorts. With enviable, almost unique magnets, such as food and wine reserves and experiential activities that hinge on craftsmanship and agriculture, which are anything but complementary.
Meanwhile, according to initial estimates Coldiretti and Terranostra Campagna Amica has seen over half a million Italian holidaymakers who have chosen to stay in farmhouses in the Immaculate Conception Bridge, driven by the favorable location of the holiday. In fact, December 8th represents the first real test for Christmas tourism. A choice dictated by a renewed push – underlines Coldiretti – towards a local holiday, with the rediscovery of small villages and minor centers in the Italian countryside which are appreciated by many of the Italians who will be traveling during the long weekend.
The structures have also increased their offer with innovative services for athletes, those nostalgic for traditions, the curious and environmentalists, but also with cultural activities such as visiting archaeological or nature trails or wellness. Without forgetting the activities more closely linked to Christmas such as cooking courses for the preparation of holiday specialties or decoration lessons for setting up the tree. But cooking remains the most popular activityand by the guests of the farmhouses who preserve country recipes handed down for generations, in a country like Italy where approximately one third of the holiday budget is usually allocated to the table.
There are a total of – recalls Coldiretti – around 25,400 agritourism companies present in Italy which are able to offer a potential of more than 294 thousand beds and 532 thousand covered for refreshments and almost 2000 educational farm activities for the little ones. The farmhouses also represent an excellent starting point for visiting one of the surroundings 5500 small villages in Italy capable of offering – detects Coldiretti – an unparalleled natural, landscape, cultural and artistic heritage.