ENIT says the average expense for a trip to Italy is around USD 1,936
Italian airports are expected to record 702,500 passenger arrivals in August, up 1.1 pc compared to 694,800 passengers in August 2022.
According to a press statement by ENIT, or Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo, the Italian Government Tourist Board, the numbers are composed of mainly transiting foreign tourists where only 19.9 pc are Italian, while US tourists still stand out at 17.3 pc, followed by Spanish at 4.9 pc, French at 4.2 pc and Canadian with 3.6 pc.
The statement adds that the travel class is 87.8 pc economy, owing to the high prices for flights in summer. In 35.7 pc of cases, they are couples on vacation, says ENIT.
It adds that the largest arrivals are from five airports of origin for August: New York JFK in USA, Toronto Lester B Pearson in Canada, Madrid Barajas in Spain, Seoul Incheon in South Korea and Buenos Aires Ministero Pistarini in Argentina.
According to the statement, seaside resorts and cities of art are the most popular destinations, hosting respectively 36.6 pc and 31.2 pc of the foreigners. But lakes also arouse significant interest, accounting for 11.3 pc tourists, followed by the mountains at 6.9 pc and villages 6.2 pc. The destination of the stay is mainly chosen to appreciate the natural beauty of the place, accounting for 41.5 pc, to see a new place, for 34.3 pc and to admire the artistic heritage for 30.5 pc of tourists, says ENIT.
Ivana Jelinic
“A more widespread distribution of international tourists who visit Italy throughout the year emerges from the ENIT study, conducted in June on 10 foreign markets with 5,000 interviewees. Holidays in Italy are planned well in advance of the trip, mainly between 2 and 6 months before departure, a period indicated by 29.3 pc of the interviewees. Only 11.1 pc booked the week before leaving. And so, even for the current summer, more and more foreigners are willing to stay in Italian places. Among the most attracted are the Americans, Poles and Spaniards” says Ivana Jelinic, president and CEO of ENIT.
Analysing the last five years, ENIT says the average expense for a trip to Italy is around USD 1,936. Americans invest the most in international tourist, with 32.3 pc spending between USD 2,197- 5,493 for the last stay in Italy and, also for long-distance travel, well beyond the overall figure of 18.5 pc. The tourists who spend the least come from Spain and France, with 50.6 pc of Spaniards and 44.5 pc of French people having spent between USD 548 and 1,646.
The ENIT survey shows that 70.4 pc of the interviewees have travelled abroad for holidays in the last 5 years. 49 pc say they have been to Italy, with 51 pc only once, 27.8 pc twice, 21.2 pc at least 3 times. The survey voted summer as the most popular period, with 66.7 pc of respondents having visited Italy during the summer, 30.2 pc in autumn, 13 pc in winter and 29.8 pc in spring.
More than half of the sample, at 56 pc, resorted to online booking while travel agencies were chosen by 18.4 pc, says the survey. The most practised types of tourism, as indicated by over 80 pc of respondents, and which most satisfy travellers, average score equal to 7, are cultural, food and wine and naturalistic ones.
The Italian style is one of the aspects that remains most impressive in the memories of the interviewees, with a value equal to 44.5 pc. Following are the naturalistic beauties at 38.8 pc, the cultural heritage with 33.4 pc, the food and wine products at 32.2 pc and the traditions at 30.4 pc. Sustainable travel obtains an average rating of 6.4, considering a scale from 1 to 10, adds ENIT.
