Laura Alese - Federturismo Confindustria

💰 ItaliaRimborso reports €199 million in air travel compensation for 2024, with 498,600 passengers entitled to monetary compensation. In 2024, there were 1,736 flights with delays over three hours, 924 cancellations, and 141 cases of overbooking or baggage mishaps. Wizzair topped the list with 622 disrupted flights affecting 111,960 passengers, followed by Ryanair with 474 disruptions and 85,320 affected passengers. Rome Fiumicino had the most passengers (48,879,038) and reported disruptions (557), while Milan Malpensa followed with 451 disruptions. Lombardy had the most affected passengers (163,800), while Friuli Venezia-Giulia managed disruptions best. The report calls for regulatory interventions to ease access to refunds for Italian passengers.

🏑 TTG Italy reports a slow travel season, with high departure concentration early this month. Summer 2023 booking was impacted by a successful first four months. Key issues include geopolitical situations, global macroeconomic factors, and travel cost increases, especially airfares. Agencies find flight supply below demand, leading to higher prices and influencing vacation destination choices. Preferred destinations are short to medium haul due to costs. Egypt and cruises are thriving; Italy and Greece remain strong, while Spain, particularly the Balearics, sees a decline. Long haul, the United States and Japan remain popular, with Japan being a top destination in 2025.

🏖 Europe witnessed a 4.9% increase in international tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Overnight stays rose by 2.2% annually, while average spending per trip is expected to grow by 14% over 2024. Slovakia (+14.3%) and Norway (+13.2%) lead in arrivals, with Norway also seeing a 15.3% increase in overnights. Italy's overnights increased by 8%, surpassing Austria (-3.5%) and Switzerland (+4.5%). Eastern Europe is recovering, with Poland (+16.2%), Latvia (+27.8%), and Hungary (+18.2%) experiencing growth. Romania (+11.7%) and Bulgaria (+1.4%) benefit from Schengen Area membership. Spain alone welcomed over 10 million foreign tourists in the first two months of 2025, nearly 2 million more than in 2019. Cyprus (+15.4%) and Malta (+12.6%) gained from off-peak travel. High-value perception destinations like Romania thrive, while Iceland (-5.7%) and Monaco (0.8%) slow down. Despite new US tariffs and currency concerns, over 80% of European destinations saw increased US arrivals in the first quarter.

🏖 Italy tops Virtuoso's Luxe Report 2025 as the Top Global Destination and preferred honeymoon spot, beating Greece, France, Japan, Croatia, with Rome among favored cities, surpassing London and Tokyo. In 2024, shopping tourists exceeded 2 million, up 7% from pre-Covid times, contributing over €2.5 billion directly to Italy's GDP. Shopping tourism's projected value is set to reach $327.8 billion globally by 2027. The US remains a key market for Italy, with over 4 million visitors in 2024, accounting for 4.6% of total international arrivals and spending roughly €6.5 billion. A 10.7% increase in US travelers to Italian airports is expected between April and September 2025, totaling 1.65 million passengers. Similarly, a 10.6% rise in Latin American travelers is forecasted for the same period in 2025, with 334,200 passengers anticipated.

✈ European passenger traffic maintained a positive momentum in Q1 of 2025, growing by +4.3% compared to the same period last year. This marks a slowdown from a +10.2% growth in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023. International traffic led the growth in 2025's Q1 at +5.7%, while domestic traffic remained unchanged at 0%. Compared to pre-pandemic levels (Q1 2019), international passenger traffic in Q1 2025 reached +8.9%, but domestic traffic was down by -12.8%. Monthly year-on-year growth decelerated in Q1 2025, from +6.9% in January to +3.4% in February and +3% in March. Despite an increasingly challenging economic context, consumer demand for travel experiences has remained resilient.