Holidays: 18 million travelling in August, 70% stay in Italy. Expenditure of 18 billion

More than 18 million Italians will take a holiday in August. This emerges from the focus on the August holidays of Italians by the Confcommercio Tourism Observatory in collaboration with Swg, which forecasts a per capita expenditure of 975 euro, thus totalling 17.6 billion. August means the sea for 26 Italians out of 100, mountains for 11 and, for as many, the search for a place immersed in nature. This is followed, in order, by cities and places of art, small villages, destinations in the countryside, lakes and cruises.

All in Italy in 68% of cases, with 4 out of 10 respondents planning to travel beyond the borders of their own region, while 32% will choose foreign destinations and only 1 in 10 non-European destinations. The most popular regions are Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Trentino Alto Adige. Following close behind are, in order, Sicily, Apulia, Lazio, Liguria and Campania. However, if we consider only holidays of 7 days or more, the ones that make up half of the departures in the month, Emilia Romagna and Trentino Alto Adige are confirmed in the lead but, immediately following, we find Sardinia.

For foreign travel, all European destinations are at the top: Spain in the lead and then France and Greece. For long-haul trips, it is the United States that prevails. In detail, half of the departures planned for the month - 20.2 million - are for trips of more than 7 days, in tourist accommodation facilities in 59% of cases, of which more than a third, precisely 22%, will stay in a hotel, while 15% will stay in a second home they own or with friends and relatives and 12% in short-term rentals of up to 30 days. Long-term rental houses and farmhouses complete the picture.

For the vice president of Confcommercio, in charge of attractiveness and tourism, Manfred Pinzger, 'the contribution of tourism to our GDP is set to grow, and the conditions are all there: the confidence index is at its highest level in the last six years, the number of Italians travelling in August is growing, and there are good prospects for September as well. Let us accompany this recovery with adequate support'.