Distribuzione e Revenue

🏖 Stefano Pompili, co-CEO of Veratour, reports that about 70% of clients plan their trips 60-90 days in advance, indicating a demand for quality, surprise-free vacations. Despite economic challenges, Veratour has contained price increases, sometimes absorbing costs to stabilize demand. Travellers prioritize vacations promising high emotional and qualitative impact, with Egypt, the Caribbean, Maldives, Italy, and Tunisia as popular destinations. Veratour focuses on the Mediterranean, launching two new villages in Cyprus and Rhodes and an exclusive Cyclades cruise.

✈ Italy achieves three first-place rankings among the world's best airports in the 2024 Airport Service Quality report by Aci World and Amadeus, surveyed from 700,000 passengers over 30 indicators in over 360 airports globally. Rome Fiumicino wins in the hub category for over 40 million passengers, also ranking first in all four categories: staff quality, ease of routes, airport pleasantness, and cleanliness. Milan Linate takes first place for airports handling 5 to 15 million passengers, while Ciampino Airport tops those with 2 to 5 million passengers. Spain dominates the small airport category, Morocco leads Africa with Casablanca and Marrakech, and the USA and Mexico triumph in North and Latin America, respectively.

🏎 On March 7 in Rome at Centro Studi Americani, the first day of the third edition of WoW-WomenMotor took place, focusing on female empowerment within the automotive sector and beyond. Organized by ANCI Città dei Motori and the Municipality of Imola, the event highlighted motor-related tourism's importance for Italy's economic development. Marina Lalli, President of Federturismo Confindustria, reported that mototourism generates about €3 billion in revenue for the Italian tourism economy and promotes year-round discovery of both popular and less congested destinations through museums, sports circuits, historic races, and enthusiast gatherings.

🏖️ Phocuswright reports travel market growth into 2024, with a 9% increase in spending from 2023 to 2024. Tourism growth surpasses global GDP growth but at slower rates. Travel product prices contribute to spending increases. Online vacation planning and booking lead in Europe at 66%, followed by North America and Asia-Pacific at 63%. Facebook and Instagram are top booking websites, with YouTube and Reddit gaining among younger customers. Total booking figures are expected to hit $2 trillion by 2026.

🍕 TheFork generated €2.1 billion economic impact for 55,000 European restaurant partners. In Italy, TheFork brought 23 million consumers to restaurants, contributing €690 million in revenue and €73 million in savings to diners. Top cities for bookings in 2024 were Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, and Naples, with Turin and Naples seeing the most significant growth. Consumer behavior showed a preference for dinner reservations (75%), Italian cuisine (31%), and spending €25-€50 per person (64%). Around 80% of bookings were made via the app. INSIDER restaurants constituted 25% of the platform's offerings and accounted for 30% of total bookings. The top 10 restaurant chains on TheFork showed substantial booking increases in 2024, led by brands like FraDiavolo and ROSSOPOMODORO.

🏡 Raffles Hotels & Resorts launched 'The Butler Did It' campaign, featuring bespoke packages by Raffles butlers. Omer Acar, CEO, emphasizes the brand's personalized service since 1887 and immersive travel experiences. Itineraries include stays at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor and Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Cambodia, Raffles London at The OWO with historical tours, and helicopter transfers in Istanbul, private yacht excursions in Bali, and wellness treatments in Bahrain.

🏢 By 2025, Italy's trade, catering, and hotel industries may face a shortage of 258,000 workers, a 4% increase from the previous year. The shortage, highlighted by Confcommercio, includes specialized salespeople, butchers, and fishmongers, as well as waiters, bar staff, cooks, pizzaioli, and gelato makers. Causes include a demographic decline of 4.8 million young people (ages 15-39) since 1982, changing job preferences, lack of skilled labor, and reduced willingness to relocate. Solutions involve active labor policies, skill development, tighter industry-education links, and internships. The renewal of the Terziario CCNL, impacting 2.5 million workers, addresses precise skill classification for market needs.

✈️ Sichuan Airlines will commence a new direct route from Chengdu to Madrid on April 27, with four flights per week, using Airbus A330 with 305 seats. China’s Capital Airlines adds a fourth weekly frequency to Madrid-Hangzhou summer flights from June 22 to August 24, making Madrid's Barajas Airport a key hub with eight Chinese destinations and 30 weekly flights by six airlines. Other operators, China Southern and Xiamen Airlines, may also target Madrid post-pandemic, while Barcelona-El Prat maintains its connectivity without new routes.

🏧 Following the reduction of the minimum spending threshold for Tax Free Shopping from €154.95 to €70.01 by the Italian Ministry of Tourism and Minister Santanchè, Tax Free transactions surged by +44% from February 2024 to January 2025. Spending volumes increased by +5% and over 500,000 new shoppers, mainly from the USA (18%), Latin America (12%), Switzerland (9%), and Turkey (7%), were attracted. The lower threshold led to a spending contribution from major cities (Milan, Rome, Florence, Venice) falling to 52%, down 25 percentage points, while spending in less frequented destinations rose from 11% to 27%. Notable increases were seen in locations such as Catania (+73%), Como (+69%), and Amalfi (+65%). Transactions for local retail and small crafts surged by +56%, and spending volumes by +12%, with the leather goods and bags sector seeing +56% in transactions and +17% in spending.

🗽 In 2024, 50 nationalities, including over 20% under 25, traversed Italy's main religious route, the Via Francigena, for spiritual and cultural experiences. Departures spread throughout the year, with April favored (26%). The Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, supports the sector with funds and agreements. 87% walked, while cyclists decreased to 13%. There's a slight male majority (51.4%). Italians are the largest group (70.7%), followed by France, the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands.