(Finance) – End of the year with a ‘full house’ for tourism: for the last weekend of 2023, Italian accommodation facilities are preparing to host 4.1 million visitors on the nights of 30 and 31 December, with 89% of available rooms already reserved. And with last minute bookings, some locations could be sold out.
The estimate comes from the Florence Tourist Studies Center for Assoturismo Confesercenti, starting from the analysis of the availability of the accommodation offer on online platforms over the weekend of 30-31 December.
Positive forecasts, therefore, for the final two nights of the year, which also extend to the first days of 2024: between New Year’s Eve and the Epiphany, in fact, the Italian hospitality system should record 12 million overall presences.
Recording the greatest increase in bookings mountain resorts, especially those in the Alps, with average saturation rates rising to 94%. High values are also found in the lakeside areas, where the average occupancy is 91%. Similar trends for spa and countryside/hill locations, with occupancy of 90% and 91% respectively.
The structures of the cities of art instead stop at 89%, but as always they will be crowded mainly by foreign tourists. Values below the average, however, for the structures of the seaside resorts. THEThe highest occupancy rate was recorded for structures active in the North East and North West regions, 92% and 93% respectively. The regions of the Center stand at 89% and those of the South and Islands drop to 76%.
With the latest departures, the number of Italians on holiday at New Year’s Eve to spend at least one day away from home during the end-of-year holidays rises to almost 6 million, Coldiretti estimates on the occasion of the weekend that kicks off the “mini exodus” dthose who will travel to reach the locations where they will spend the night of December 31st. For holidays during the holidays there is a strong tendency to stay in Italy, chosen this year as the destination by 75% of holidaymakers, according to Coldiretti/Ixe’. But there are also 19% who have chosen to go to a European country and 6% who have opted for non-EU destinations despite concerns related to international tensions and the risk of terrorism.
The average duration of the holiday is 5 days and on the podium of destinations Cities and art locations rise with 49% followed by the mountains with 27% while the rest is divided between the countryside, small villages, the sea and spas. The most popular accommodation are the homes of relatives and friends, where more than one Italian in 3 (35%) will spend their holidays, plus 6% who will use their second homes, combining conviviality and savings, while in second place are hotels and apartments for rent are tied, even if alternative formulas such as bed and breakfasts and farmhouses hold their own.
Growing rcompared to last year, the average expenditure will be 604 euros per person with an increase of 5%, albeit with a strong polarization among half of the holidaymakers (48%) which will be kept under 250 euros and 15% who will spend over 1000according to Coldiretti/Ixe’