August tourist slump in Palermo, bookings up until November

There has been a slump but the data on bookings for September and October or even November bodes well. This, in short, is what emerges from a survey among the members of Assoturismo Confesercenti Palermo, which has thus tried to give a clear picture of the tourist trend for summer 2025 and the week of Ferragosto on the entire supply chain: from hotels to restaurants, from B&Bs to bathing establishments, from tourist guides to non-scheduled public transport. The conclusion, at the moment, is this: 'Summer 2025 marks a change in tourist flows in Palermo: fewer tourists on traditional dates and a season that extends into November. Starting from an awareness: there has been a slowdown in the expansive hold of tourism due to the drop in domestic demand. The attendance of foreign tourists grew by 5%, partially offsetting the sector's economic losses, especially in quality hotels.

'International tourism,' says Corinna Scaletta, president of Assoturismo, 'has recorded a higher spending capacity than last year. There is another consideration to be made: our city is perceived as an art and culture destination, with a strong gastronomic identity, but not as a mass beach destination. This year, it is as if the summer season has been extended: the lidos expect attendance until November. As early as next week, the occupation of beds in non-hotel accommodation facilities resumes. Historically, the months from November to Easter, and July and August mark a physiological drop in the number of visitors to the city. This year, however, there are also good expectations for the month of November'. The figures also concern the airport front: "If we look at the numbers," says Scaletta, "from January to July 2025, Palermo's airport recorded 5,198,351 passengers, an increase of +3.47% compared to 2024. In July alone, 1,012,300 passengers passed through, with a record airport load factor of 87%. The distribution was: domestic routes for 59.36% and international routes for 40.64%, so domestic demand is not marginal'. For Marco Mineo, president of Assohotel Palermo, "the increase, albeit contained, in demand for international tourism has supported the hotel sector, which has marked an increase in terms of average rate compared to 2024, also safeguarding the same employment levels".

Meanwhile, the contraction of domestic demand led to drops in attendance in August of 20 per cent and up to 25 per cent compared to 2024 for non-hotel accommodation and 30 per cent for catering. Bathing establishments did not record the traditional full house either. "It was an August bank holiday without crowds or long queues to enter Palermo's lidos," says Alessandro Cilano, president of Fiba Confesercenti Sicilia. "Habits have changed: fewer and fewer fixed and regular customers for long periods and a large turnover. Paradoxically, Ferragosto no longer represents the peak of the season, the flow becomes more constant from the following week, both in terms of local and Sicilian presences and of Italian and foreign tourists'.

According to Assoturismo, the exponential increase recorded in Palermo of extra-hotel accommodation facilities, which rose from 2022 to 2025 by about 1,000 units to 5,380 structures, had a significant specific weight. "The average drop recorded in terms of presences in extra-hotel accommodation facilities in the capital is the result of the boom in supply on the one hand and the contraction in demand from the Italian market, which remains the most inclined to stay in facilities complementary to hotel accommodation," they explain. Assoturismo Confesercenti Palermo highlights the need to prepare a development model for Palermo's destination that acts on precise guidelines: invest in major national and international events linked to culture, entertainment and sport; build a structured tourist offer that enhances craftsmanship and traditions, involving those who work in the historic centre; support quality catering, focusing on food and wine experiences that are true and memorable; and make legality and decorum increasingly non-derogable themes.