Outdoor tourism is declining among Italians, foreigners are growing. Here are the structures of excellence
The numbers of the Outdoor Tourism Observatory edited by Human Company and Thrends
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Key points
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For the summer of 2024, the "open air" tourism will confirm the positive numbers of the last two years (56.49 million presences, +0.3% over 2023) with a full recovery after the pandemic crisis of 2020. MThere are two diverging trends: in searches published by foreign operators Italy is consistently among the most desired destinations and this capacity of attraction is confirmed by a foreign presence given growth (+2% over 2023). On the other hand, however, the Italian open-air holiday market falls (-1.04%): the travelling across national borders (long haul and Mediterranean destinations) but a negative factor is also the increase in tariffs expected by operators for the coming season..
These are the numbers contained in the fourth edition of the Outdoor Tourism Observatory curated by Human Company and Thrends, a snapshot of a sector with a direct economic impact of 4.79 million euros in 2023, with a c contribution to tourism spending in Italy of around 5%.
The Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè recalled that the government will intervene in the sector with 33 million euro 'also to develop camper van parks in order to bridge the gap with other European countries and develop the enormous yet unexpressed potential of open-air tourism on which Italy can still give so much'.
Numbers for 2023: months out of summer growing
Holidays in Italian campsites and villages in 2023 recorded an increase in presences over 2022 (+2% and +3% over 2019, the last year not affected by Covid) reaching a never-before-reached level of 68.6 million in total presences (the second European market behind France) and demonstrating that the crisis triggered by the pandemic restrictions is behind us.
Behind the growth is the strong and further increase of foreign tourists (+5.6%), who reach a record share of 37.1 million presences and thus become the main segment (54% of total presences in 2023). By contrast, the domestic market declined: -2.0%.
