Distribuzione e Revenue

📅 Chinese tourism sector faced significant challenges over the last four years but shows signs of optimism, according to a December 2024 survey by Dragontrail among 465 Chinese travel agents. More than half predict outbound travel will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2025, especially to Asia, North America, and Europe. Agents are focusing on niche segments and using platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin to boost sales. A full recovery is expected by 66% of agents by the end of 2025, with Asia and Europe leading. The Chinese market is divided into three main demographic groups, with post-00 and post-90 generations being the primary target for 43% of agents, mostly from first-tier cities. Silver tourism is also growing, with retirees seeking high-quality travel experiences. To reach Chinese travelers effectively, Douyin (69%), Xiaohongshu (56%), and Ctrip (56%) are the platforms with the highest conversion rates. Trade fairs in Mainland China and Hong Kong are essential for networking. Travelers are increasingly looking for Chinese language services, niche attractions, timely travel product updates, smooth electronic payments, competitive pricing, and dedicated offers.

✈ Airlink, serving 45 destinations in Southern Africa, will provide two weekly flights between Johannesburg and St. Helena and between Cape Town and St. Helena until March 2025, with a refueling stop in Walvis Bay, Namibia. From April 1st, Airlink will operate three direct weekly flights between Cape Town and Gaborone, Botswana. Starting March 28th, three weekly flights will connect Johannesburg with Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Domestic routes include Cape Town to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Cape Town to Bloemfontein.

🖤 Marocco surpasses Egypt as Africa's most visited destination with 17.4 million tourists in 2024, just a year after Marrakech's earthquake devastation. Outdoing its own record, Egypt attracted 15.7 million tourists. Morocco's tourism revenue hit a new high of $11 billion in 2024, up from $10.5 billion the previous year. The country saw a 20% increase in visitors from 2023 and a 33% rise from the pre-pandemic peak in 2019. Minister of Tourism Fatim-Zahra Ammor aims to position Morocco among the top 15 global tourist destinations, ahead of the 2026 goal.

🏦 In 2024, Italy's hotel sector investment reached €2.1 billion, a 36% increase from the €1.54 billion in 2023. Q4 alone saw €650 million. Rome and Milan dominated the market, with luxury hotel openings and renovations. Secondary locations like Turin, Assisi, Padova, Arzachena, Portofino, and Rome also saw significant deals. CBRE and Data Hub report a resurgence of confidence in leisure and art cities, with a boost from international tourism.

🏦 Ávoris Corporación Empresarial expands to Italy with its renowned brands Travelplan and Welcomebeds, targeting Italian travel agencies. Initially, Travelplan will operate from Rome, Milan, and Venice, with plans to extend to Florence, Turin, Naples, and other airports. Ávoris offers vacation packages to destinations like the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Balearic Islands, and Canary Islands, with full Italian-language support for agents and clients. Ávoris's commercial team in Italy is already promoting their product offerings, featuring innovative distribution tools such as the 'Ávoris Store', API connectivity, and integration with Travel Compositor. Juan Carlos González, CEO of Ávoris, emphasizes Italy as a strategic opportunity, offering quality products and a commitment to excellence.

⛷ Pila spa reported a 7% increase in early season ski resort entries, with around 150,000 accesses recorded from season opening to January 6. This period includes peak holiday season. Aimé Pernettaz, director of the Espace de Pila consortium, expects the positive trend to continue in the coming months. Pila is recognized as an ideal destination for families, athletes, and mountain enthusiasts.

🏡 Puglia Paradise closed 2024 with a 30% revenue increase and a 35% rise in gross operating margin. The company added 8 new properties, reaching a total of 31 luxury trulli and villas. Top international clients are from the US (30%), UK (21%), and Northern Europe (21%), with Italian clientele at 10%. There was a 9% increase in average price and a 72% increase in sales of extra services, accounting for 10% of total booking value. Over 150 new 5-star reviews and 11 video reviews were acquired, with the Guest Angel mentioned in 74% of them. Puglia Paradise aims for a further 25% revenue growth in 2025, with the addition of three new villas.

🏖️ Thailand's National Tourism Authority reported 940,051 tourists from Southern Europe and the Mediterranean visited the country in 2024. Italy ranked second with 267,474 tourists, behind Israel (281,803) and ahead of Spain (207,710). Tourism revenue exceeded 64.39 billion Baht (approx. €1.8 billion). Nanthasiri Ronnasiri cited strategic airline partnerships as a growth factor. For 2025, the 'Amazing Thailand Grand Tourism and Sports Year 2025' campaign aims to enhance tourism quality and sustainability.

✈ In the European airspace, traffic is growing on average, yet countries like France, UK, and Germany lag behind. Germany's airports have called for political intervention due to the traffic shortfall. Southern and Eastern Europe surpass pre-pandemic levels, with Greece at +18%, Turkey at +12%, Portugal and Poland at +9%, Spain at +7%, and Italy seventh in Eurocontrol's ranking at +6%. Germany trails, only ahead of Finland and Sweden, at 84% of 2019 levels. Nordic countries face issues due to Russian airspace closures, whereas Germany's decline is due to national factors, including doubled governmental taxes and charges since 2019. From January 1 to December 1, 2024, nearly 10 million aircraft movements were recorded in European airspace, a 99% recovery rate from the same period in 2019. However, Germany is 16 percentage points behind in recovery. Without cost reductions, German airports' growth momentum may continue to decline yearly until 2030. Full recovery to the 2019 passenger volume of just under 250 million is not expected before 2029. For more, visit: www.eurocontrol.int.

🏬 Firenze leads winter sales with 40.1% of shops visited by tourists, followed by Milan (36.3%), Rome (34.4%), and Naples (32.1%). Milan holds the highest foreign tourist receipt average at €182 per purchase. Over half of foreign tourists prefer Italian high fashion brands (55.6%). According to Giulio Felloni, President of Federazione Moda Italia-Confcommercio, 60% of shops report sales in line or better than 2024, with a strong start and sustained interest, partly due to the reduced tax-free threshold from €155 to €70.